Canadian forward Cliff Pu, 27, has signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers, the EIHL club announced on Thursday.
“I’d never thought of the U.K. to play hockey,” Pu is quoted. “Then when the opportunity came up, I started doing some research and realized this was a great opportunity to play for a winning franchise as well as being able to my get education with the university.”
“Cliff is coming in with a extremely high skill set,” said Steelers coach Aaron Fox. “He skates at an elite level and has played in some top leagues. Cliff is a natural center that can play both wing positions as well. His game will translate here to being a really productive player that I think will be able to help our PP and play a top-six role.”
As a junior, Pu played in the OHL and was a member of the London Knights 2015-16 Memorial Cup championship team. He was spotlighted by The Hockey News that spring as a potential first-round draft pick and ended up going in the third round, 69th overall, to the Buffalo Sabres. He followed up his draft season with 86- and 84-point seasons – the latter split between London and the Kingston Frontenacs.
Pu spent the better part of three seasons in the AHL while in the organizations of the Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets before signing with Kunlun Red Star – a Chinese-based club in the KHL – in 2021.
While many Kunlun players quickly became naturalized Chinese citizens and played for the national team, Pu’s arrival was too soon before the 2022 Beijing Olympics for this to happen. He played two and a half seasons with the Chinese-based team before transferring to Russian-based Admiral Vladivostok midway through 2023-24. In three KHL seasons, Pu recorded 41 points in 109 games.
Former Sabres draft pick Cliff Pu leaves KHL for SlovakiaCliff Pu, a 26-year-old Canadian forward, has spent the past four seasons in the KHL. On Thursday, however, Slovak club Dukla Michalovce announced the signing of the Buffalo Sabres’ third-round pick from 2016.
Pu split the 2024-25 season between Dukla Michalovce of the Slovak Extraliga and HC La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland’s second-tier league.
Pu joins a Steelers team that is used to success – they have not finished worse than third in the past six seasons. The team includes British national team captain Robert Dowd, who is also the EIHL’s all-time scoring leader.
Describing himself, Pu said, “Firstly I love to win, I work hard and I’m fast, I try and use my speed, I’ve always focused on power skating, and that has helped me create offense for my self and teammates.”
Photo © Kim Klement-Imagn Images: Cliff Pu, playing a pre-season game for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2018, being checked by Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Robert Dowd Is British League’s All-Time Scoring LeaderOn Saturday night, the Sheffield Steelers defeated the visiting Glasgow Clan 6-3 in EIHL action. Captain Robert Dowd scored to break a 2-2 tie early in the third period and in doing so, recorded his 740th career point – a new league record.