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November is a month usually seen as getting the squad settled and ready for title glory.
NOVEMBER 1994 (20 yrs)
Ken Murchison was brought in (sight unseen) from Hampton Road Admirals of the ECHL to try and make up for the loss of Paul Jackson and Ron Handy, but unfortunately he struggled to adapt to the British game, and history tells us he was only a stop gap for greater things to come.
In this month, after a perfect October, Steelers came to back down to earth with a bump. They crashed out of the Cup at the hands of Cardiff, losing both legs, and were on the receiving end of large defeats at Nottingham Panthers, Cardiff Devils and Edinburgh Racers in the league. They did a little better at home beating Milton Keynes and Humberside Hawks.
It was clear Alex Dampier had some thinking to do.
Their record for this month was Won 2 Lost 4 with a goal scoring record of 38-45
Goal scorers this month were Plommer, Cranston, Nemeth, Handy, Neill, Millie and Wilson.
NOVEMBER 1999 (15yrs)
Dale Craigwell from Kansas City Blades (IHL) signed for the Sheffield Steelers. Rob Wilson was Captain and coach at this time (as Don McKee had been sacked last month) whilst a new, permanent coach was being sought.
Steelers responded to the management shift with a resounding 10-1 thumping of Nottingham on Bonfire Night at the Arena.
And then, amazingly, Mike Blaisdell quit Nottingham and breezed into Sheffield Steelers dressing room with a warning to his new players “Work hard, play hard or find another club.” The firebrand coach, aged 39, ended a week of dispute with his old Nottingham Panthers employers to sign for the club that has been his arch-rival for years. He said something along the lines of I want to win a trophy or two.
(Make of that what you will)
The month began with a treat for Steelers fans on bonfire night with that win over Nottingham at the Arena, Ed Courtenay scored a hat-trick as they continued their good form, not being defeated until Ayr Scottish Eaglesbgot the better of them in Scotland.
The challenge cup was combined with regular league games this season and Steelers came out on top: won 2 lost 1.
Their overall record for the month was Won 4 Lost 1 Tied 1 (there was no overtime in those days). Their goal tally read 35-23.
Teeder Wynne was overall top goal scorer with six closely followed by Jason Weaver.
NOVEMBER 2004 (10yrs)
The £300,000 sale of Sheffield Steelers ice hockey club collapsed.
Negotiations between owner Norton Lea and construction boss Gary Apsley broke down over the details of the handover. It was a massive blow not only for Apsley, who had a vision of promoting and commercially expanding the club, but also for captain Dion Darling and director Dave Simms, who had both publicly supported a change at the top.
One of the issues Apsley was worried about was the potential court case and compensation claim instigated by British forward Marc Twaite.
Twaite had played two games for Steelers in the 2001-02 season when he horribly dislocated his shoulder broke his ribs and badly damaged his collarbone in a freak training accident with winger Scott Allison.
On the ice it was a mixture of crossover games and regular league.
On November 5th, only a day after the Sheffield game, the Nottingham Panthers player Blaz Emersic suffered a facial injury from a protrusion near the boards and further troubles caused the club to fold.
In the first Elite League game of the month Steelers, through a goal by Paul Sample, came out winners against Belfast in a tight 1-0 game. Their other win being against Basingstoke at the end of the month.
They won all four crossover games but only took four points from a possible eight in the league.
Their total record, therefore, is a bit misleading.
It read, however, Won 6 Lost 2 24-16.
NOVEMBER 2009 (5yrs)
The bright spot to an, otherwise dismal, season came in November as Steelers travelled abroad.
They received praise from all around the league for their victorious Continental Cup endeavours in Italy where they beat HYS The Hague 4-3, HDK Stavbar Maribor 5-4 and Bolzano Bozen Foxes 4-3. They finished top of their group in Bolzano, Italy with 8 points.
The Steelers travelled to Grenoble in January for the Euro Finals.
But, in the Eihl, they continued to stumble: picking up just two league wins to mediocre opposition and, it’s fair to say, didn’t set the world alight.
Their record overall, back in the U.K., was Won 4 Lost 4 Goals 29-25.
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