Results Day

17th Jun 2011 | Posted by Staff Writer

Image courtesy of Barrie Peers

Tim Burrows a German born British player and a product of the Telford junior development system began his hockey career in the EPL at just 15 years of age.

Spending the last three years with the Devils ENL side where he’s showcased a mass of potential. Tim made a big impact when called upon by the Devils Elite Side towards the end of last season and has this year been signed to the Elite side.

We caught up with Tim at his place in Bristol and he kindly gave us some time in his busy Exam and training schedule and answered some questions.

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Who do you think is the best forward you have played on a line with and against?

Starting off with a tough question! Obviously the chance to play with the likes of Tylor Michel and Stuart Macrae was a great experience for me at the end of last season; two of the best forwards you will see on a third line at Elite level and I noticed a big improvement in myself through those few games I had with them. These are undoubtedly two of the best players I have played on a line with but I wasn’t with the team for long enough to build any on-ice chemistry with any Devils players.

In terms of my favourite player to play on a line with, that was probably Milan Kostolny back with the Tigers in the EPL. He’s the most selfless player I have played with, rarely kept the puck for longer than a couple of seconds, and didn’t shoot much either; a real setup man. That’s pretty unusual for an experienced player playing on a line with a youngster. I’ve found that it takes time to gain the trust of older players when you’re young, and this can make it frustrating because you don’t always get the passes you perhaps would or should get if you were a more experienced player. I scored my first senior goal with an assist from Milan and learnt a lot from his example (as well as how to swear in Slovakian!).

I also had the chance to play up a couple of age groups and play on a line with Tom Carlon and Adam Brittle for the U19s as an U14. This stands out for me because it was my first experience of being chucked onto a line where I knew there was an obvious gap in standard between me and the other two on my line (they were junior national team players at the time) but it was an experience that gave me a lot of confidence and gave my game a boost, despite it being for only a couple of games.

The best player I have played against at the junior level is Brett Perlini. He now plays for Michigan State in the NCAA who recently played in that college game in front of over 100,000 people and will probably make the NHL. At the senior level I always found Dwayne Newman very tough to play against, particularly because of the size difference between the two of us back when I was 16, 17! He always looked to step up and was a very strong, aggressive defenceman in the corners.

Another player who stood out for me was Mauro Jörg. I never played with or against him but he attended a hockey school I was at years ago, and he was recently drafted by New Jersey and currently plays in Switzerland in the NLA, and will also find his way to the NHL.

You’re playing Hockey and attending university in Bristol how did you find fitting in university around playing hockey? Will you be studying again next season or have you finished your studies. What are/were you studying?

I have to say it was very much a case of fitting hockey around studying at University rather than the other way round, and that’s why I’m very glad that I’ve got my chance with the Devils now. I studied neuroscience, but thankfully I’ve just finished my studies. It was difficult juggling the two and very tiring at times, rarely had a day off from October through to April.

In my first year I can remember napping pretty much every afternoon after a full day at Uni and then having to get up and go to Cardiff for training. It was also pretty tough finding my way around two new cities (without satnav), as I’d only passed my driving test a month prior to coming to Bristol.

I don’t want my answer to sound like a rant, but there were a few things that made doing both Uni and hockey quite tough at times. For my next two years I lived in the centre of Bristol but I wasn’t able to gain a parking permit for where I lived, so on top of all the driving I walked around 20 minutes to wherever I could park my car. I was quite lucky in my first year at the flat because I had Alan Armour to take me to Cardiff and back as he travelled from Swindon (for which I’m very grateful!), but this this past year he played for Bristol so I had the walk to do on top of the driving.

Then as more roads became ‘pay for parking’ areas I had to park even further away, I think the furthest I have walked is 40 minutes, then to drive an hour. So if you look at how much time was spent travelling, it would accumulate to around 10 hours every week, just to play hockey in my final year. It’s quite funny really because I live around a 3 minute walk away from Bristol ice rink! And a couple of times it would be late into the night and I would see the Bristol players on a night out as I came back from my car! It would seem strange to most that I didn’t just play for Bristol but Cardiff have the elite league team, and that was the biggest factor for me.
I was on a two-way with the Elite Devils in my first ENL year but was only able to train a handful of times the whole year round so I definitely missed out on a chance earlier on, especially as some of my ENL teammates were getting their chance. I don’t know how I managed it now; in my first two years with the ENL team I trained just once a week, but this past year I trained twice a week, just as the workload had peaked. My toughest time was stepping up for the Devils because with 3 months left of my degree I had to start attending at least one morning session a week, with longer road trips and later nights from their games. But the hard work has definitely paid off, I didn’t expect my chance to have come this soon so I’m very happy.

My social life was affected at Uni slightly and unfortunately that is a by-product of playing hockey, but some of my teammates in Cardiff are some of my best friends so it’s a double edged sword really. I won’t be studying next year, I definitely want to take the chance to concentrate on hockey now and see where that takes me. I do feel as though it’s held me back for the last 3 years because my focus was obviously split between both Uni and hockey and it became difficult to attend every training session and get down the gym as often as I would’ve liked.

What aspects of your game would you most like to improve? Where do you think your game Shines?

I think I have good speed but this is still an area I wish to develop further, I want to become known for my speed. For me it’s one of the most exciting aspects to a player’s game and I want to work on being able to stickhandle, make dekes and so on at top speed.

I have also concentrated on my hitting over the last couple of years. As a junior I always had a small frame and tended to shy away from the physical aspect of the game, particularly when playing up an age group. I really want to carry on in that regard, very similar to how Tylor Michel plays. I want to be a productive player in terms of points, but the feeling after making a big hit is almost on par with scoring a goal for me. My Dad used to tell me I looked a far more effective player when I used my body so that was definitely an area I have worked on subconsciously.

I think with my game, there aren’t any major weaknesses which makes me an all-round player, with my skating speed and hitting being my strongest areas. But I need to step up each aspect of my game to suit the demands of the Elite league, especially getting used to the quickness of the passes and being able to play at that higher pace. In terms of carrying my hitting through into the elite league, there is still a lot of strength training that needs to be done so that this area of my game has the same impact that it does at the ENL level.

It’s not so much an improvement, more an addition to my game… but I would like to have another aspect of the game that I can make my speciality, like Datsyuk for his takeaways or Cammalleri for his one-timers. In fact, whilst we’re on that subject, I do need to improve on my one-timers which I’m sure a couple of my ENL teammates will attest to!

How big a step up did you find it from the ENL to EIHL? Can you tell us a little about the amount of training involved in each?

In ENL you can get away with making mistakes to a certain extent, but playing with the Elite Devils, especially in my position where I have to gain the trust of G, one mistake could cost me future ice time. So it’s definitely a case of staying 100% focused at all times. But I mean the professionalism of the players has a big impact and helps you to keep focused throughout the game.

Obviously the pace is much quicker, I was one of the fastest in the ENL but now I need to keep training harder in order to stand out in that regard over the next few years. I noticed the increase in the tempo of the stick-work the most, so having to receive harder passes and give it on again even quicker. I could keep up with the pace skating-wise but the speed of passing took a little time to get used to.

In terms of on ice training, the ENL team have 2 one hour evening sessions a week, whereas the Devils have 4 morning sessions, with the chance to stay on for an extra half hour to work on whatever you like afterwards, which is a great opportunity that I’ve never had before and will definitely be using this to my advantage.

With regards to off ice training, some players can probably get away with not working hard down the gym in the ENL but each Elite league player will be down the gym working their ass off regularly. I would be down the gym in Bristol whenever I could be, but work prevented that to a certain extent. The ENL team didn’t have gym memberships until the season just gone, but the Devils have some very tough gym sessions as I understand, which I’ve not been able to attend yet but am looking forward to them!

You started playing in the EPL at 15- how much has this helped you develop your game to get you to where you are today?

For the couple of years following I was chucked throughout the lines but for a small portion of both seasons I was playing on a line with Claude Dumas and Milan Kostolny, both former NHL draft picks and this was a great experience for me and gave me some confidence I probably needed at times. They weren’t particularly vocal but it was a great opportunity to learn through their example.

Although it helped me tremendously, Telford wasn’t always an enjoyable experience… older players blaming the youngsters for their mistakes and so on, so I split my time with the U18s for portions of both my seasons there. It would have been more valuable to me if I had completed two full seasons in order to gain some consistency at that level, but the chances I got helped me enormously nevertheless.

Craig Weller was obviously a huge signing for the Devils last season - what did you feel was his biggest impact? Did he have an effect on your development?

Well his impact on the team was massive, I mean it wasn’t coincidence that the team had a World record breaking winning streak shortly following his arrival so this was definitely the biggest impact he had! In terms of my development, I‘ve picked things up without him needing to say anything. Since he’s played in the NHL my focus was probably automatically shifted towards him and the things he does to pick up on his tendencies both on and off the ice. He would always be one of the last off the ice after training, which is mostly what you see the youngsters on any team doing so to see an NHL player doing that will definitely make me feel guilty about leaving the ice early in the future! He’s a model professional and you can tell he hasn’t taken anything for granted so his impact on me was probably more in terms of the way he approaches hockey rather than any individual details of the game.

Which one current player in the British leagues (Brit or import) would you like to have playing in Cardiff?

I’ve been stuck on this question for a while, I can’t attempt to think through every player in the British leagues, but I suppose there isn’t a single name that springs to mind. I think perhaps playing with someone who came through the Telford junior system would be pretty cool but there’s no-one in particular I have the desire to play with. The team chemistry was great last year so I’ll just be hoping for the same again next year and I’m sure it will be.

Did last seasons purchase of the Sheffield Steelers mid season have an impact on the Devils locker room?

Not that I noticed. I mean there were probably a few jokes thrown around but nothing serious at all. I joined the team late in the season anyway, a few months after the purchase so any immediate reactions to it had probably died down by the time I got there. But it definitely increased the rivalry between the two clubs at the top of the table and made the games between the two teams that little bit more intense.

Coming into your first full season what are your aims for the year? Have you set yourself any targets?

It’s hard to set myself individual on-ice targets when I don’t know how much ice time I will get so I haven’t anything specific in mind. It’ll just be a case of taking my chances when I get them and my immediate aim is naturally to gain a regular spot in the team.

Off the ice there’s a certain weight I want to achieve and I want to be as fit as I can be for the start of new season. I’m not at all lazy in that regard and constantly make new routines for myself, so it’s exciting for me now that I don’t have Uni standing in the way. I’ve still gained a lot of strength since I joined the ENL team in ’08 even though this was hindered by Uni… I would definitely still be scrawny if I hadn’t put some effort in!

Where do you see hockey taking you? Would you look to play abroad in the future?

Yeah I do have an ambition to play abroad. Being half German, I want to live in Germany at least for a short while and if I could combine that with hockey then that would be great. My ambition is to play for as long as I can, it’s great to be doing something you love doing and if my hockey can allow me to see a bit more of the World at the same time then that’s all the better. I’m already thinking about my future beyond hockey, 6th form and Uni were my first steps towards this but I definitely want to play hockey whilst I have the chance to.

After playing hockey - what’s your plan/would you like to do?

It would be good if I could pursue neuroscience but the field will have changed dramatically by the time I aim to finally pack it in that I’m not too sure what I’ll be doing. I still haven’t found a passion outside of hockey that makes me want to have a career in it, but I think it will end up being something scientific. I haven’t really thought about it in any great detail; I’ll be looking for part time work as well as playing so who knows if I’ll find something else that I really enjoy doing that might set me up for life after hockey.

Do you follow Hockey ? If so do you have an NHL team? Who do you think will lift the Cup this year ? This was before game 7

I used to a lot more at home because we had the subscription to the hockey over in the NHL, but I don’t really watch any TV at Uni so I lost track for a while. The highlights on nhl.com got me back into it again this year! I used to like the Leafs simply because I’ve been to Toronto but my support was evidently pretty useless! I don’t currently have a team but I do tend to form a favourite every year. My current favourites are the Canadiens; I love their style of play and their home rink has the best atmosphere of any team I’ve seen in the playoffs this year!

I tend to follow the progress of individual players rather than teams. In the past it was Pavel Bure because of his speed, and I like Gaborik and Straka for that too but right now it’s probably Zach Parise and Mike Cammalleri I like the most.

Incidentally it’s game 7 of the final tonight so I’m preparing for a late one! I don’t like either team but the series has been fascinating and I will go with Vancouver for my namesake, though I have a feeling Boston will edge it.

What got you started playing hockey in the first place? What age did you start?

My Dad’s workmate at the time offered my family tickets to go to a Tiger’s game, then of course we gradually went to more and more games and fell in love with it really; my sister took it up too. I remember watching some former Devils, the likes of Dumas and Lawless playing for Telford, and even had my photo taken as a 6 year old with James Manson. Shame I couldn’t dig that one out when we played on the same team last year! But a year or so after I started skating on public sessions, and I think I was 8 when I first attended the beginners course in Telford. My first season was as a last year U10.