Coventry Blaze vs Sheffield Steelers - Sunday 15th December

The Steelers went into Coventry on Sunday evening having been on the receiving end of a 5-2 defeat to the Belfast Giants the night before. A win became a must for Steelers to at least get something out of the weekends action. Sadly though, it wasn't to be, as the Blaze ended up winning the game 4-1.

Before the game started the teams were announced and whilst Kohn and Dowd were still out, even though Dowd took warm up again, the Steelers were also missing Jeff Legue. That made the nights work all the more difficult for the visiting side.

The opening period saw a fairly even affair. The first few minutes of the game were a bit scrappy as teams tried to find their feet and get going in the game. Steelers went onto the powerplay in the 6th minute and within seconds the puck found its way to Drew Fata who riffled a one timer off the crossbar and up over the netting out of play. The Blaze netminder had zero chance with it but then again that is why they say the pipes are a goalies best friend.

On the same powerplay DiCasmirro was cross checked hard in the back, winding him and knocking his helmet off in the process, resulting in a stoppage in play, however there was no call on the play. Something that seemed to surprise both the players and the travelling fans.

A few minutes later though, the Blaze were in front. With Doyle slightly out of position, the puck took a favourable bounce off the boards in Kallstroms direction and he let off a terrific shot that was in and out of the back of the net within a split second. That resulted in a bit of confusion as the goal judge never saw it. After a brief moment of consultation between referee and linesman the goal was awarded and the Blaze were a goal up. That was how it remained for the rest of period which didn't see much other action take place.

Early into the second period, Doyle was called into action on a shot that looked to be going into the top corner short side, but he got his arm up quickly to prevent it, and seconds later we finally saw what many Steelers fans had been waiting all season for from Stefan Meyer, as he drilled Ginand out of his skates just inside the blueline. Finally a glimpse of the physical side to his game which seemed to give the rest of the players a little extra kick to their game. Steelers then had good possession of the puck for the next several minutes and eventually got their reward.

A great pinch along the boards by Langlais to keep the puck in the Blaze zone started it all off, before the puck soon found its way back to him, and with a great heads up play, he fed the puck across the ice to the stick of DiCasmirro who had time and space to pick his spot, before firing it over the glove of Zacharias and into the back of the net.

The scores were level, but as has been the case so many times this season, the Steelers looked vulnerable right after scoring and the Blaze were soon back in the lead.

Some great offensive zone pressure from the Blaze saw the Steelers defensive unit getting themselves into a bit of a tangle and Cale Tanaka pounced on a rebound in front of the goal after Doyle had made a good stop on an awkward shot.

Before the end of the period Doyle was called into action again, making made a great save, as right from a face-off the puck fell kindly to the stick of a Blaze player who fired it at goal, but Doyle was up to the challenge flashing the leather and snagging it out of the air with the glove.

As the period approached the final minute, the players came together after Sirianni boarded a Blaze player, earning him a penalty, which sparked a reaction from Ginand, who seemingly lept onto the back of Sirianni and threw him down to the ice, which earned him a seat in the penalty box for roughing.

That wasn't the last the Steelers saw of Ginand as you will soon find out.

At the end of the period though, the Blaze still led 2-1. A lead which they had still deserved.

Early into the 3rd period the Steelers found themselves on the penalty kill. DiCasmirro took a trip to the box for roughing after throwing a couple of punches at Olson, who had caught him high up as he finished a hit, which was a missed call by referee Tom Darnell. The Steelers killed he penalty off very well, but were soon on the penalty kill again as Sirianni went to the box for interference. A strange call from the referee as it appeared that Sirianni was the one who had been interfered with. Whilst on the resulting penalty kill, Jason Hewitt forechecked hard and was able to kill some time off in the Blaze zone, before he was cross checked by Ginand headfirst into the boards, who miraculously got away with just a 2 minute minor. It was a clear 2+10 for checking from behind. Three consecutive bizarre calls from Darnell, which you don't see all that often from the highly rated referee.

The game started to open up after those penalties had elapsed and in the 54th minute the Blaze extended their lead. Guthrie finding some space along the right wing before feeding a nicely weighted pass over to Chalmers, who dispatched the puck away nicely into the back of the net over Doyle's blocker. A terrific finish that even the best netminders in the World would have struggled to stop.

That forced the Steelers to go on the attack who managed to get some offensive zone pressure but just couldn't find a way to get the puck over the line. Zacharias standing tall in the Blaze goal and some great team defense keeping the score at 3-1.

That all led though to a very interesting series of events as the game went into the final few minutes.

First up was Cale Tanaka losing his balance whilst on the forecheck, which saw him bump into Frank Doyle as he regained his footing ,which also knocked the net off its moorings. It was a completely accidental and gentle collision that didn't phase the Steelers keeper one bit. It did however spark a reaction from Jason Hewitt, who proceeded to go after Tanaka and throw some punches in his direction. Doyle then managed to half get in the way to break up what was going on as the officials intervened but Hewitt was not done there. He again managed to find his way towards Tanaka and threw another punch which earned him yet another penalty.

After all was said and done Hewitt was in the box on a 2+2 for roughing. At 3-1 down with just over a couple of minutes left in the game it was complete and utter ill discipline from the Steelers veteran. His actions effectively putting the Steelers on the backfoot for the rest of the game, something which you simply don't want when you are chasing a game.

Fortunately, the Blaze were not able to capitalise straight away, which led to the next turn of events.

At 3-1 down, with just over a minute and half remaining in the game, and while shorthanded, Doug Christiansen, to the dismay of the travelling fans, pulled Frank Doyle for the extra attacker. A ludicrous decision in several peoples eyes as all it did was level up the number of outskaters yet give the Blaze an open goal to shoot at should they get half a chance to shoot at goal.

Luckily for Doug Christiansen, as the puck suddenly found its way towards the empty Steelers goal and into the back of the net, referee Tom Darnell waved the goal off due to a delayed penalty, as a Blaze player had taken a penalty for elbowing. The teams were back at 4 on 4 with 1:33 remaining in the game and Doyle remained on the bench so as the Steelers kept the extra attacker.

Just like the previous night though, the Steelers couldn't make it count and the puck found it's way to Russ Cowley who slotted the puck into the empty net for a 4-1 lead for the home side.

Soon after though is when it all got really tasty.

As the game approached the dying seconds, Phillips and Ginand collided. It appeared that they were simply going to the same area of ice without realising one another was going there, until Phillips seemed to brace himself at the last second, catching Ginand up high. A totally accidental collision but a collision that saw Ginand see red.

Within a split second he made a direct line for Phillips and tackled him to the ice forcefully along the boards and whilst Phillips was effectively facing the ice, Ginand proceeded to throw punch after punch at Phillips and then also started to cross check Phillips in the back of the neck/head area. Disgraceful and dangerous actions from the Blaze player. That sparked a mass reaction from the other Steelers players on the ice, as it appeared Danny Meyers (I could be wrong) was the first on the scene to take Ginand off of the back of Phillips. The rest of the players then collided. Soon after though things started to cool down once some players had been separated until Phillips tried to go back after Ginand. The linesman doing a great job of restraining the former Steelers captain who looked very irate at what had happened. Both Ginand and Phillips were then escorted off the ice by the officials.

Shortly afterwards, the clock ran out on the period and the game was over. A gutting 4-1 loss for the Steelers and a 0 point weekend in what has been thus far a fairly disappointing season. Chad Langlais picked up the Man of the Match for the visiting side.

As for my own personal views of the game, I feel that the right team won on the night, but again the scoreline looks worse than what the performance suggests thanks again to the empty net goal. I cannot fault the team for effort tonight as they did put in a very good effort, but it sadly wasn't enough as the clinical finishing ended up being the difference between the two sides.

However, there are a few things that have bothered me tonight.

Firstly, Jason Hewitt. He had played fairly well all night up until his moment of ill discipline late on, which is where I take issue. When you are chasing a game and you take a ridiculous penalty like that late on it seriously impacts your teams chances of getting back into the game. As a veteran player on this Steelers side he should have known better and he should have had more awareness of the game situation, and by that I mean how late it was in the game and that he simply could not afford to take a penalty at that time of the game. It was clear that Doyle was not all that bothered by the collision with Tanaka as he tried to stop Hewitt from doing something stupid. Hewitt then further compounded the problem by going after Tanaka again and taking another roughing minor, putting his team shorthanded for the rest of the game. I hope Doug Christiansen holds him accountable in some way for those actions as quite frankly they were bad penalties to take.

Secondly...speaking of Doug Christiansen...why oh why did you pull Frank Doyle again?! Don't get me wrong, I can understand pulling him at 2 goals down with over a minute left in the game, as that is fairly normal in hockey...but to do it whilst shorthanded? Really?! You can count yourself lucky that the Blaze took a penalty as Frank was pulled otherwise it would have made the situation look a hell of a lot worse for you, especially after last nights two empty net goals. Near enough all of the travelling support was screaming in disbelief at how Doyle had been pulled while shorthanded. That being said though, personally speaking, I don't have an issue with Frank being pulled after the Blaze penalty as we then did have more outskaters than the Blaze on the ice as the 4 on 4 effectively became a 5 on 4, but to do it while shorthanded was somewhat staggering.

Lastly though, Ryan Ginand. I had rated this guy all season long. The way he played the game reminded me a lot of Vezio Sacratini. A skilled player that loved to get under the opposition skin and could do it well. Ginand though, can also play hard and tough hockey, something that Vezio couldn't do as well.

After his actions tonight though, I no longer rate him or respect him.

His actions were flat out disgraceful. He near enough attacked and assaulted an opposition player with seemingly no remorse. I hope that the Steelers ask for the incident to be reviewed and that Moray Hanson hands him a suspension for his actions because quite frankly, he deserves to be suspended.

I honestly hope that the next time the two teams meet, some of our guys step up to the plate and hit him ten times harder than what Stefan Meyer did tonight and crush him into the middle of next week. Again, he deserves it. If that doesn't happen and instead one or two of our guys elect to challenge him, then he had better do the right thing and answer the bell and fight and be held accountable for his actions tonight, otherwise he will be nothing but a complete and utter coward. He disgraced himself and the Coventry Blaze hockey club tonight. He absolutely must be held accountable.

That's it from me for tonight folks. I hope you've enjoyed the read. As always, feel free to get in touch with any of us with any comments or questions on our respective Twitter accounts.

@IAmMcCausland
@TomWalkeden
@AwkwardGinge
@FrozenSteelBlog

Cheers!

Alan
@AwkwardGinge