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Why we let Farmer join the Blaze

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Neil Morris has explained why Phoenix allowed Robert Farmer to join Elite League club Coventry Blaze.

Farmer, possibly the best young player in Britain, signed for Phoenix in the summer but was allowed to go on camp in North America.

He was then signed by the Ottawa 67s in the Canadian League but subsequently released and returned home.

Officially he was still a Phoenix player but wanted to sign for Coventry and coach Tony Hand decided not to stand in his way.

Phoenix owner Morris said: “Robert was contracted to us but he had the decency to call Tony and ask if he could sign for Coventry.

“He felt his career path would be better served in the Elite League. He had been offered a good deal with Coventry and that’s where he wanted to play.

“If that’s where a player wants to be there is no point in standing in his way.

“We’ve let him follow his dream.

“If we had made him stay we would have had him for two weeks and he could have left anyway with a lot of bad feeling.

“He’s left us on good terms and you never know, one day he might come back to us.

“I think we have put together a really good team this season. There’s a very good atmosphere in the locker room and that’s the way we want it to be.”

Hand is still seeking to replace Dean Holland who was allowed to return to Newcastle because he hadn’t settled in Manchester.