Elite League: Belfast Giants v Glasgow Clan (Sunday, 4pm)
JONATHAN Boxill says he will do all he can to help the Belfast Giants through their injury and Covid crisis after coming out of retirement to join the team for their festive fixtures.
The 32-year-old hasn't played professionally since the 2018-19 double-winning season and now lives in Boston doing software sales, but has been lured back to the SSE Arena by head coach Adam Keefe to help a battered roster navigate three games in six days over the course of the next week.
Ascot native Boxill is, of course, a familiar face having played in Belfast for three seasons between 2015 and 2019, the centreman racking up 21 goals and 33 points in 202 games and quickly becoming a favourite with the fans.
The Giants are currently reeling from a string of positive Covid cases which forced the postponement of three games over the last week, while they have several players unavailable due to injury too.
However, Boxill will make a dramatic return to the line-up - starting with the Giants' first game in two weeks on St Stephen's Day against the Glasgow Clan - and he's keen to help out whatever way he's needed.
"I was originally supposed to go and watch the game in Guildford (next Wednesday), so I reached out to Keefer and he said they were down bodies and asked if I'd like to play and it snowballed from there!" reveals Boxill.
"It's just amazing. I still skate with (former Giants team-mate) Chris Higgins on a pretty regular basis and I was texting him this morning about how that has turned into this!
"I was coming home anyway for Christmas to see my family because it's been two years since I've been able to come home, this is the first time I'll have seen them. It's great this has fallen into place where I can help the Giants too and relive those experiences from a few years ago.
"I've said to the team, within reason, I'll help as much as they need me to, so we'll take it on a game by game basis and see what happens."
Boxill arrived back in the UK yesterday and will spend Christmas in England with his family before flying over to Belfast on Sunday morning, hoping to get a skate with his new team-mates before pulling a Giants jersey on for the first time since April 2019.
The Giants players currently in Belfast have only been back on the ice since Wednesday after being placed in Covid protocol by the Elite League, so their preparation for Sunday's game against the Clan hasn't been ideal, but Boxill is happy just to slot in where he's told.
"I always played a relatively simple game, so I'm just going to stick to that, eat some minutes for the team and contribute in whatever way I can. I'm just going out there to do my best and I'm sure the guys I'm playing with will do an amazing job of helping me out," he adds.
"I've got a pretty good understanding of what Keefer's systems are like and I still watch the games, so I know he's kept them fairly similar to what they were when I was there.
"I did not expect this but I'm obviously very excited to get this opportunity, relive some memories in Belfast and get the chance to be part of the team environment again."
Meanwhile, the Giants' return fixture with the Clan in Braehead on Monday has been postponed due to the restrictions on spectators introduced by the Scottish government. A rescheduled date will be announced in due course.
