Tonight, Saturday, sees Steelers go over the car park and into the en-suite bathroom as it is commonly known. Visiting South Yorkshire are those from the City of Discovery, the Dundee Stars. With a new coach this season and new ideas, Dundee come here hoping to surprise us and take the points back up the road.
Last Meeting: Dundee's last trip ended in defeat, as Steelers overcame them 6-0 in a home shutout for netminder Josh Unice. It was a marked improvement as their previous trip had seen them ship 11 in the Challenge Cup quarter final second leg just two and half weeks previous. They will be keen to avoid a replication of either result.
Links Between The Sides: One of the links is in opposition tonight as former Steeler Marc LeFebvre is the man behind the Stars bench, LeFebvre had an ill-fated spell as we all know at Coventry last season before re-surfacing in Hungary later in the campaign. He was the surprise choice to succeed another former Steeler in Jeff Hutchins on Tayside; after the latter accepted an offer to play and coach in the Far East.
Another link is 2014 Play-Off winner Chris Blight who captained the Stars last season after opting not to return to us for reasons unknown. Stars have also had Dan Ceman and Jay Lucien Latulippe in their ranks in recent years, Latulippe had a less than successful campaign in our colours last season and was released in January to move back to playing in Denmark.
Overall Record: This will be the 38th meeting between the two sides, and it is safe to say that Steelers have had the better winning record. Tonight, should Steelers record the expected win: will be win number 30 for us.
The Players To Watch: Marek Pinc (Steelers) - Tonight marks the debut of Steelers new import netminder Marek Pinc. The 36 year old former Czech internationalist comes to South Yorkshire with an impressive pedigree and Steelers fans will be keen to see if he proves to be a good injury replacement for the unfortunate Tyler Plante who is now spending a stint on the sidelines. Pinc will be wearing 97; which is a strange number for a netminder; but general Sheffield hockey fans will remember the surname as his brother Michal iced against Sheffield Scimitars a few seasons ago for Bracknell Bees and Swindon Wildcats at EPL level.
Bobby Chaumont (Stars) - The former Braehead Clan winger has really done himself proud since moving on from the Renfrew based side. Chaumont spent the last 2 and half years at Fife where he racked up an amazing 246 points in just 210 regular season starts for the Flyers. As part of Marc's new regime, Bobby is also the Stars player-assistant coach.
Prediction: Steelers will be looking to continue their home form which, bar the loss in Ice Sheffield to the Capitals, has been outstanding to be fair. They have certainly made the Arena a fortress to say the least. I expect them to win again and see off a plucky Stars side 4-1 with two third period strikes.
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