This Month In Steelers History - December

Thank you to Robert for his contribution to FSB, All Credit for this piece goes to him so any queries you can contact Rob on Twitter @steelersstats 

DECEMBER 1995 - 20 YEARS AGO

Sheffield families caught up in a bloody ice hockey war are considering launching legal action against rival team players. Parents of at least two young females who claim they were intimidated and verbally abused by injured Durham Wasps player Ross Lambert have already made contact with lawyers.

The Benson and Hedges final in front of a record crowd of 10,136 was claimed by Sheffield after an inspirational three goal performance from Tony Hand. The game was effectively ended, as a contest when Steelers scored three times in nineteen seconds during the second period to go into a four goal lead.

With a goal either side of Andre Malo’s effort Tony Hand scored two, the second delivered with all the glamour and polish expected of the Steelers. Receiving the puck he dribbled down the ice and in a trice had the puck through the narrowest of gaps. Hand completed his hat trick with an empty net goal as Panthers desperately tried to hold on to the Cup.

In the Durham Wasps game in Sunderland, forward Nicky Chinn was arrested after an ugly game. The Welshman was involved in an on-ice incident Wasps' Ross Lambert. 

They won all of the league games except in Durham (where they drew 6-6) and were now closing in on their closest rivals, Cardiff, for the title. They scored 58 goals in the league that month.

DECEMBER 2001 - 15 YEARS AGO

This month saw Steelers release forwards Brent Bobyck and Steve Roberts 

In front of 10,000 fans Mike Torchia recorded a rare cup final shutout as Steelers comprehensively beat Newcastle Jesters 4-0. Two goals from man of the match Jason Weaver helped Sheffield to their first trophy of the season. In the game Steelers were far superior scoring three breakaway goals, the opener from Kent Simpson. Weaver lengthened the lead with two goals in the middle period and any lingering Newcastle hopes of a comeback were dashed by Scott Allison who beat Satosarri one on one for the fourth goal. 

The league bandwagon went rolling onward with six wins; three of which were against their immediate chasing pack.

DECEMBER 2005 - 10 YEARS AGO  

One of Coach Dennis Maxwell’s first actions was to cut top points scorer Dan Ceman. 

Their form in the league started well with four victories, then took a nosedive as they lost four of the remaining five games just scraping a tie in the other.

DECEMBER 2010 - 5 YEARS AGO 

Bob Phillips’ controversial reign as owner of Sheffield Steelers is over, he is selling the club to secret millionaire Paul Regan for around £90.000. The 43 year old relative newcomer to hockey is owner of Elite League rivals Cardiff Devils, the club ironically which Phillips once owned. He told the Star "The club isn't worth anything as it is really. I is a loss making business because the crowds have dropped. But I am spending my money on the basic of what it will be, not what it is" he said. 

Regan was on the end of an acrimonious exchange of words as his team beat Nottingham Panthers 6-3 last night. The multi-millionaire businessman, who earlier had been barracked by Panthers fans when he introduced himself on ice to the near 6,000 Sheffield Arena crowd, had hit back by jokingly referring to them as a small club. But after the match, when he went to shake the hand of Nottingham official Gary Moran, he was met by loud criticism for making a "cheap shot". An embarrassing shouting match developed as newly installed PR officer Dave Simms sought to intervene. 

The good run continued into December, and Steelers were on a streak of three successive wins when they made the short trip to Nottingham just after Boxing Day. Joey Talbot's hat-trick proved to be the difference as it gave Steelers a quickfire double win over their arch-rivals. The game was a wide open contest until Talbot got the game winning goal to complete his treble before Steelers added the gloss with an empty net goal in the final minute.

Steelers opened the scoring at 15:44 thanks to a Rod Sarich powerplay marker but with seven seconds of the first period left, Panthers levelled matters thanks to a goal from Billy Ryan. It was a similar story in the second period as the teams shared the goals again. Talbot scored his first of the game at 23:52, only for Ian McDonald to cancel it out and make it 2-2 at 29:52. A powerplay tally for Talbot, his second of the game, had Steelers 3-2 at 34:01 but Ryan's second of the game at 39:14 made it 3 apiece after 40 minutes play. 

The game looked certain to head into overtime until Steelers were presented with a late powerplay opportunity, and Talbot scored his hat-trick goal to edge Steelers 4-3 ahead at 57:41. Panthers then pulled their goaltender in the last minute and it was Jeff Legue who would find the empty net at 59:11 to secure the points for a 5-3 win. 

Rounding off the year, Steelers made it five straight wins in another high scoring encounter: this time against an injury hit Coventry Blaze who deserve great credit for a battling performance which fell just short but saw them slip to a third straight loss. 

The opening period was a shared one which saw both teams score within 40 seconds of each other. Visitors Blaze took the lead at 11:58 when Russell Cowley netted but at 12:38 we were tied when Talbot scored his first of three goals on the night.

It was a great start to the second period by the Steelers and particularly for Talbot as he netted at 20:57 and then again at 23:15 with a shorthanded effort to complete a straight hat-trick and fire the home side 3-1 ahead. Yet back came Blaze and their own sniper Luke Fulghum counted a double of his own at 30:48 and 32:42 to level up matters at 3-3; but that was not the end of the goalscoring action in that period as Jeff Legue edged Steelers ahead 4-3 at 38:04 when he slotted the black biscuit into the visiting net. 

Both sides had sides their chances in an end to end third period but it was Steelers who went two goals ahead when former Blaze captain Ashley Tait scored his team's second shorthanded goal of the night at 52:50. Yet Blaze would not lie down and at 58:05 future Steeler Aaron Nell pulled one back to give his side a glimmer of hope but that was ended with just 31 seconds left on the clock when Neil Clark scored into the empty net for a 6-4 win with Tom Murdy pulled for the extra skater.

Steelers then moved to within three points of slumping league leaders Belfast Giants and had four games in hand on the Northern Irish side. 

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