View From Block 105 writer Ryan Gleeson gives you his look at this season's Steelers roster.
So now the Sheffield Steelers roster is complete, we’re a couple weeks away from puck drop; I’m told it’s time for a bit of a roster summary!
First of all, before I go into zone by zone summary, I’d like to throw some stats at you. This year, the Sheffield Steelers have (combined) 423 games in Europe, 1892 game in the ECHL, 1361 games in the AHL and only 22 in the NHL. From a distance, that is a big loss on last year’s NHL experience but we have lost people like Steven Goertzen, so that’s nothing we didn’t expect. BUT those North American games, wow. We have a LOT of experience in different areas this year, so you never know!
Netminding
Where to begin with Frank Doyle? Simply a pleasure to watch. Last year started a little shaky and I will openly admit I wasn’t too excited about our season, in the early stages. That being said, once he had settled down and the team had “gelled” properly, he is excellent. The amount of times it was the Frank Doyle show last year, shows how much we depended on him. Posting 6 shutouts is alright, but even games in which he let 1 or 2 slide, he played out of his skin. Remember the Playoff Final? Where Drew fata turned over the puck and Frankie stood tall and saved our bacon? Exactly. Simply put, we should be solid with our starter this coming season.
In back-up we do have Geoff Woolhouse and Andy Jaszczyk. If kept healthy and fit, Wooly, in my mind, is the best back-up in the EIHL. Obviously, if he isn’t we fall back to Jazzy, and quite honestly, I’ve never seen him take a game so I wouldn’t know what to think. Fingers crossed though, that Doyle can stay fit and we won’t have to depend on the back-ups just as much.
Defence
The defence looks unbelievable to me this season. Each guy stands at 6 feet tall or more and not one of them weighs less than 185lbs. We are stacked at the back, no doubt. We keep Baldwin and Kohn, again like Doyle, both became stars of our team last year after wobbly starts. Mark Thomas, well, he’s Mark Thomas! Testimonial year for Thommo and it couldn’t happen for a nicer guy.
The loss of Fata, Langlais and Meyers hit us hard. Fata being the Playoffs hero, Langlais providing the incredible speed and Meyers being a premier Brit. I do feel however, Adams has done a lot to replace these guys effectively.
The new boys are; Cullen Eddy, Darrell Hay and (technically) Rod Sarich. I’ve said time and time again how much I appreciate Rod Sarich. Easily my favourite Steeler of all time. One of the most intelligent players to grace our orange, and he can play both offense and defence, so what a pick up by G especially when he hasn’t cost us an import slot (EU Player)! You’ll have seen my pieces I wrote on both Hay and Eddy, so you know how I feel about those guys. Again, I am very excited to see this D group. We look big, tough and we should be able to hold our zone very well.
Looking at how I would pair them, would be;
Baldwin – Hay
Sarich – Eddy
Kohn – Thomas
I’d do it like that as then we seem to have a balance throughout the D, and we are then able to have both on offensive and defensive type of player on each line. I dare say this D group is one of the best in the EIHL this season.
Forwards
This is where things get interesting. We haven’t kept ANY import forward from last year, at all. Losing Meyer to Braehead, Goertzen to Coventry, Blight to Dundee, Lacroix to France, Dicassmiro to Italy, Legue to the Steeldogs and Spencer to the AHL. This, in April would have destroyed the souls of many fans, and I can’t blame them. We had a playoff winning team, a group of guys who were not only team mates, but brothers. However, our new group of guys seem very capable.
We retain all the brits, including Phil Hill, which came as a surprise to me as I expected him to be heading back to Wales after the plague that is Paul Ragan, left. Either way, our Brit Pack is one that we are now used to seeing and we add the 2-way Luke Ferrara, who I am very excited to see develop with us in the House of Steel. We’ll get what we expect from these guys, and maybe a little more under the coaching of G. I think with the calibre of imports we have brought in, Dowd might have a standout year, having this talent around him makes him an even better player.
So the new guys; Mathieu Roy, Colton Fretter, Michael Forney, Jay Latulippe, Tyler Mosienko and Pascal Morency. I have covered a couple of these guys in pieces, but I haven’t looked at them as a squad. They bring the whole package, by the looks of things. Far too many AHL and ECHL games between them, not to mention tearing up Europe. Morency seems to be coming as someone who is expected to be a fan favourite, whereas Mosienko is coming with a bit of a black cloud over his name. One thing is for certain with these guys, they all seem excited to get here and play hockey for US. Listening to most of their interviews, they all speak about US as fans, and how they can’t wait to impress US.
I had a bit of a think about what I’d do with these guys in lines, and I’m not G, but I reckon this looks doable;
Roy – Fretter – Forney
Dowd – Mosienko – Morency
Latulippe – Hill/Hewitt – Phillips
Ferrara
Even if those lines aren’t chosen, I think our forwards look very strong and even though on paper we may not have the greatest NHL experience like some others, we seem ready. This team look good.
Expectations
So after all is said and done, in April, where do I expect the dust to settle? It’s a tough one this year. Depending how much we can work as a unit, I think highly, maybe even win it. However, other teams look incredible too. One thing is for sure, this year is going to be a great one, for us in Orange and for everyone else too! The coaching is fine for me, I couldn’t have been happier when G was given a permanent job here. He may be the guy to bring back properly, what the Steelers are/were, once upon a time. But don’t take my word for it, develop your own opinion, take as many games as you can and let’s hopefully see some magic happen.
Don’t forget to give us your opinion and thoughts on twitter @RatedRDG and @FrozenSteelBlog – Also on the Frozen Steel Forum – frozensteel.proboards.com, and as always, thank you for reading!
Ryan Gleeson
@RatedRDG
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