Well wasn't that a weekend and a half? Such an enjoyable time in Scotland, visiting our purple friends, my heart was breaking again when I had to leave on the Sunday morning. Two cracking games of hockey in Braehead and then back here for a tough encounter. It was a massive ask for both fans and players alike, most of us were running on adrenaline when we arrived back in the House Of Steel Sunday afternoon. Here's how I saw it unfold.
It all began with a 7:00am rise on the Friday morning, ahead of setting off to pick up my other travelling companions yet as usual - not without any alarms. There's always something that I kinda do to cause unnecessary panic amongst myself and anyone who travels to a hockey game outside Sheffield with me. The trip to watch GB in Latvia was delayed a bit whilst I was looking for my wallet (it was in the "Joey" pouch of my hoody all along) and last weekend was no exception either. This time after leaving my apartment Thursday night, I thought all was well, until I woke Friday morning to find out I'd left the match tickets for Braehead there. So ensued a mad dash back to HockeyBhoy Towers (aka "The Kennel") to pick them up.
I really am very absent minded on occasions, as Alan will clearly testify.
The drive up was fantastic as usual, picking up Krispy Kreme doughnuts for Kris (or Baby K-Wall to us) and calling for a KFC (no sign of you know who) at Penrith to get some food down our necks. The necessary anthems were played once we had crossed the border, and for me (having had a Scottish father) - it felt good to be "home" so to say. One thing that strikes anyone who does drive up is the amazing scenery you will witness as you go on the M74. It really is so picturesque and takes your breath away; I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to live in these villages like Ecclefechan.
Having dropped off Jo and Lee (commonly referred to as "The Big Man") in Braehead itself, their hotel being a literal slapshot away from the Arena, it was time to find the luxury base which me and Alan had booked in Clydebank. One word describes it: posh! It is part of a research hospital complex; so we joked that we had been admitted to four star rehab. Seeing a cabinet full of awards added fuel that we had really landed on our feet and the room itself was just amazeballs. After a quick freshen up; it was game time via a tea time meal in Braehead.
Game one was probably "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" if you had to coin a movie title to describe it. The Good was the win and the stellar netminding of Frank Doyle (even the Clan fans were admitting what we already know; he's the best goalie in the EIHL), the Bad was the inept performance again of Rab Cowan (I'd predicted he was going to be in charge Friday night before we'd even left South Yorkshire) who is quite simply not good enough to officiate at EIHL level to be honest whilst Zack Fitzgerald provided the Ugly part with his square go with our new boy Daniel Bois (who wasn't actually looking for a fight, just a wee discussion) - the Clan's player/assistant coach taking it a bit too far than was deemed essential.
After more ales post game with Rock the Block, and collecting 40 cans of Tennents (as part of reciprocal arrangements I have with two of the Purple Army), it was time to head back to Clydebank for a much needed sleep ahead of game two. The now traditional pre-game swim and sauna was done early saturday morning and whilst some went shopping or sightseeing in the afternoon, I was in the East End of the City watching the other sporting love of my life: Celtic FC. Thanks go to Braehead fan, and my very good friend, Ronnie Mitchell for doing the arrangements when it came to getting a ticket for the match.
Once I had safely negotiated the traffic from Parkhead to the City Centre; it was time again to stick the hockey face back on and get ready for Clan-Steelers Part Deux. Like the first encounter, the first period was a scoreless affair but it didn't take us long (less than 5 minutes) to break the tie. Although we were hauled back by a Matt Keith strike, the team responded again and led 2-1 going into the final and crucial third period. However, I think a combination of the long journey up and the physical game evident in both Friday and Saturday's encounters seemed to take its toll and Clan scored four unanswered strikes to secure a split series with Jay Latulippe's late consolation goal (our third) certainly not appeasing Mr Christopher Frank much: a few choice words between the former Cardiff Devils were exchanged.
Sunday and back to the House of Steel, mentally and physically exhausted - and that was just me and my fellow fans. God knows how the players were feeling. We knew it would be a tough game against the Blaze as they were keen to show some kind of fight and redemption after being humped 8-3 in the Sky Dome Saturday night: their first game since disposing of Furby's services and putting Steven Goertzen in temporary charge. Sound familiar? If you are unsure, just hark back to the events of February 2015 here in good old Steelerland.
Well Goertzen looked up for it, unlike his previous trip back, and was determined to show his team that he was going to lead from the front and give us a game. Twice he popped up when we least wanted him to, cancelling out efforts from Mike Forney and Cullen Eddy to ensure the first period ended even. Jèremiè Tendler was still trying to play the mystery hockey player guest and flattering to deceive, whilst Brian Stewart was thwarting everything that we threw at him; a shot count of 22 to 7 in the second and third period showed how much of work out we were giving the Blaze number 41. The last thing we wanted was overtime, especially after two hard battles in Renfrewshire the previous nights. But somehow this Steelers team finds a way to keep going when they are running on empty and adrenaline takes over. Rory Rawlyk picked up a needless penalty just 10 seconds into the extra session, and after jabbering away at Stewart - Ooh Aah Mathieu Roy squeezed the puck through the smallest of gaps to secure the W and send us back to the summit of the Elite League after temporarily relinquishing it to Finnerty's Clan team on Saturday night.
The schedule doesn't get easier now, as two more tough road battles ahead before we head into a very busy December. Coventry on Saturday night and then Belfast in the "O" on Sunday afternoon, and with just five points separating us at the top from an in-form Cardiff in fifth; it's essential that we continue to maintain the form that has seen us win 7 out of our last 10 EIHL games. Yes; bodies will be aching and battered but we have to keep going in our quest to bring home the Monteith Bowl for the first time since 2011 when under Ben Simon. One slip could prove to be the smallest difference between success and failure, it's a very thin line.
Keep supporting the lads in orange, we can be that unofficial seventh player on the ice.
Yours as usual in hockey,
Mark
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