Visit this thread on the Frozen Steel Forum to catch up on past articles.
Back to reality now after my rant about switching dates, which I felt had to be said. I know a lot of people felt the same.
As I delve into the past for the third time I would like to concentrate on the opening to the season.
September 1994 - 20 Years Ago
Before the season had properly begun, Sheffield Steelers £250,000 deal with new sponsors McEwan's hit an embarrassing snag, just before the first game. The club’s landlords, Sheffield Arena, ordered them to take down a 30ft McEwan’s Lager banner, proudly erected at the curtain end of the rink, presumably for contractual reasons.
Off the back of a tied challenge game at the end of August with Solihull Barons (5-5), the Steelers warmed up for the league against lukewarm opposition in The Benson and Hedges Cup. They proceeded to score 89 times, only conceding 34 as they progressed to the semi-finals. Their biggest victory was on opening day to Telford when they won 19-0. They only lost once to - you guessed it -Nottingham Panthers 8-2. These were big scoring days and Sheffield put up three shut outs, scoring 43 goals.
In those times the Autumn Cup (or Benson & Hedges cup) lasted the whole of the month until its cessation in 2000.
So, the record for September 1994 read 7-1-1. Goals: 94-39
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September 1999 - 15 Years Ago
Darren Brown guided Sheffield back from liquidation and he retained the services of Team Manager Dave Simms. Don McKee was coach.
This last statement of liquidation bears some explanation: In April of this year Steelers ceased to exist. The aforementioned Brown along with The Friends of the Sheffield Steelers(FOSSL) bought the franchise from former owner George Dodds.
The first of the two challenge games saw Russian opposition in the form of CSKA Moscow, who in the end proved too strong, winning 4-3. But Steelers took this defeat out on the Geordies, winning in Newcastle 6-2.
But it was a sign of things to come when they only just scraped through to next round of the Autumn Cup, scoring just 22 goals and conceding 23 with only 3 wins, one of which was the clincher at Basingstoke Bison
of the lower British National League.
They started the league (Superleague - ISL) sortie at home to London Knights with a 4-2 win and they were 3-2-0 in the league for this month scoring 17 but leaking 18.
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September 2004 - 10 Years Ago
Norton Lea was again willing to discuss the sale of Sheffield Steelers, it was revealed as the championship winning club geared up for the new Elite League season. The ageing tycoon appeared ready to part company with the club in favour of a younger man.
Steelers told new coach Rob Stewart not to rely on Mike Blaisdell to fill the last two spots on the roster, ordering him to find the players himself. Norton Lee employed outgoing team boss Mike Blaisdell as head of recruitment, working from Canada, to assemble the team.
The season began with 2 challenge games to Coventry and an NHL side both of which were lost but this was the season of much-maligned Crossover league.
It was styled as an inter-league competition between the EIHL and the BPL, 7 teams each.
Rob Stewart, after the first game a disastrous 3-2 defeat at home to Dundee, admitted: “We weren’t prepared to work at both ends of the ice. Going down 3-0 from 5 shots left us a big hill to climb”
The Sheffield Star criticised Steelers for their lack of passion, and club owner Norton Lea for failing to publicise the inter-league games.
The next night they were to go down in Hull 2-1 as Hull nm Ladislav Kudrna, on top form, made 27 saves in front of a large 1,100 crowd. A couple of days later Sheffield compounded their misery at Ice Sheffield losing to Fife 2-1 in front of less than 800 fans. At the end of the month they did, however, win at Newcastle Vipers 4-1.
The season had begun with a league game when Belfast shut Steelers out by 3-0, this was redeemed, a little, the night after when a home double header saw them beat Basingstoke 3-2 in the Challenge Cup. Their only other game was in the league at home when they drew 3-3 to Nottingham.
So the monthly record made dismal reading at 2-6-1
Writer’s note: reading this last month was probably why I decided NOT to watch Steelers as avidly as before
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September 2009 - 5 Years Ago
After a close season which saw the club drop Sheffield from their name - then change it back again after fan pressure - the Elite League confirmed a novel new tournament - 20/20 Hockeyfest.
The season started with three challenge games, two against EIHL opposition and one against Danish club Aalborg - with a certain J. Lehman in goal - winning this 2-1.
They then continued to the charity shield game with Nottingham (the charity shield was played between previous league winners and championship winners). Last year had seen them beaten by Coventry but this time Steelers came up with the goods winning 7-6, albeit on penalty shots.
Then began a disastrous, trophy-less season: the worst in respect of league position for the club so far claiming just four points from fourteen in September. As I said last month, they had lost the backbone of the double-winning team. They lost five of their opening league games this month and only won two, the opener at home to Belfast only on penalties. It was a disappointing - to say the least - start.
Their record, including another challenge game against the Sheffield Scimitars, reads 5-6-1.
That’s it for this month and thanks for reading, who knows might see you at a game to actually talk to - won’t that be a novelty?
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