Article was written by Mark Duell (@hockeybhoy)
This morning Sheffield Steelers announced their successor to Gerad Adams who was shown the door last Monday. The new man at the helm is none other than former Coventry Blaze and Great Britain Head Coach Paul Thompson. After period of two seasons away from these native shores, more recently in Denmark with Aalborg Pirates, PT returns with a mission in place to make the Steelers the biggest team in the country in every which shape of form.
Tony Smith has put his trust in the Singapore born man, and whilst some are still sceptical and upset over the Adams sacking, we believe as one here at FSB Towers that Smith has got the right bloke for the job in hand. Let us tell you why...
1. It's not all about being the Head Coach: Thompson is not just our new Head Coach, he's the General Manager too. He's in fact the man calling all the shots on and off the ice for Tony Smith which fits in perfectly with the direction that Tony wants to steer the Steelers towards. Paul will have full control of what happens in and outside team affairs a bit like what Gary Moron does at the NIC except that Moron isn't a coach; his puppet Neilson takes care of that for him. Having done something similar at Blaze before, Thommo knows what his remit is here. We trust him implicitly.
2. Experience: And bags of it! Paul Thompson began coaching in 1994-95, 20 seasons ago, with Solihull Knights and he wasn't even 30 then. He became Coventry head coach in 1996 when they were still known as Solihull Blaze and stayed with them right up to the end of the 2013 season when he took a step back and handed the reigns to the ill fated Mathias Söderstrom. Spells in Sweden with Troja-Ljungby (Dowdy's old team) and Denmark with Aalborg (Jody Lehman played there) have enhanced his knowledge of the game.
Oh, and he was GB Head Coach for five seasons until IHUK decided to let him walk out voluntarily. That's a pretty decent coaching CV if there ever was one. Some NHL coaches don't last that long.
3. A born winner: Whilst G has just a Challenge Cup, a Play-Off and a League title to his name - Paul Thompson has silverware coming out of his ears. Four, yes FOUR, Elite League titles which no other Elite League coach can boast he has. A BNL title, a Challenge Cup, two British Knockout Cups and an Elite League Play-Off win. That alone speaks volumes about him. A Grand Slam in 2005, and a proper one at that. If that isn't good enough, then what actually is. Sure his final years in the West Midlands were blanks but hey ho.
In addition, he won Coach of the Year no less than 3 times. Not bad, eh?
They are just three reasons why we think he is the perfect fit for us. Can you argue with them now? I (Mark) think you will be hard pressed to find anything against it. The GB lads will know his coaching methods and how good he is. If there had been no Paul Thompson, there would have been no Jody Lehman after it was Thommo who brought the North Battleford native to these shores in 2002. And we all know about him....
Let's get behind Thommo the Steelers way and make him welcome. We're sure this appointment is a good one.
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