Big Match Preview - 3 in one

2016 comes and with it, 3 games in 3 nights. Two on the road and at different ends of the country too with a home game at the House Of Steel chucked in the middle. Three not easy games either as you will find out too. This is the business end of the season now and 24 games left to decide if we will retain the Monteith Bowl or it will be in someone else's cabinet come the 20th of March.

Our first game of 2016, comes with a visit over the Pennines to the Silver Blades Arena in Altrincham to face Omar Pacha's Manchester Storm and with the strange face-off time of 3:00pm. Yes you read that right, we are facing off at 3:00pm so don't think of turning up at Storm's usual face off time at 7:30pm and expect us to be playing: chances are we will be all on our way home at this time! Unless you are somebody like me, who's staying over for a few extra beverages.

The record against the Storm in "The Shelter" is damn good, two games played there - one in pre-season and one in the Challenge Cup - and two wins for us. A 4-2 win followed by a 4-1, both times seeing the Steelers come from behind. However, Storm on their day can be a tough nut to crack and have already run league leaders Cardiff Devils close in Altrincham: Devils finally coming out on top in a 14 goal game by 8-6 after trailing 6-4 with just over 11 minutes left to play.

Fast forward 24 hours, and the two teams lock horns again. This time in the House Of Steel where Paul Thompson's men have only been beaten twice this season (Coventry and Nottingham). Steelers won the first encounter 3-1, and squeaked home in the second 5-4. Levi Nelson's goal late in the second period settled the contest after Storm had produced an amazing second period of their own when they scored 4 unanswered goals in less than 10 minutes to completely erase a Steelers lead. Safe to say, if that isn't a warning shot about the untapped potential of the Storm roster then what actually is? Think about it.

Our final game of three in three comes Sunday night and back to Murrayfield to face the Edinburgh Capitals for the last time in regular season. Capitals won the first two, in Sheffield and on own ice, before Steelers bounced back with a 6-1 win in Ice Sheffield in early December where Colton Fretter notched a hat-trick. Capitals have offence if you give them the chance but unfortunately they a defence that does tend to leak goals; 138 in 30 league games isn't a good sign if you are Riley Emmerson and unless it is plugged: it will cause Capitals to miss out again on the end of season play-offs. And as of tonight (New Year's Eve), they have lost eight games in a row! Again, not good.

So with those facts in mind, how do we think it will pan out?

• Storm (Away): Would be a tough one, especially with our rumoured injury list of five possible imports being out. I still think we will go and win it though, probably about 3-1.
• Storm (Home): The warning (sorry about the puns) was there in the last encounter, and we might get another one on New Year's Day. But we should get through this one, I'm saying 4-2.
• Capitals (Away): Depends on the mental and physical fatigue of the roster, and that could see us come unstuck again. But if we can take advantage of their leaky D, and put pressure from the get go on Chubak, we will win. I reckon we can get this, say 5-3.

And that concludes the previews, enjoy your hockey.

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-

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Hockey Soapbox - Fan highlights from the season so far. Extended version.

Something a bit different this week - thought we'd throw open the FSB doors and get as many quick thoughts from as many fans as we could.

Here's a slightly longer batch of our own personal hockey highlights from the first half of the season:

Robert Newbolt @newboltrobert
Being presented with Jeff Legue’s game worn sponsor's away shirt (more money than sense me!) at the Steelers Sports Bar. I had my photo taken with him and met Jason Hewitt too - both he and Jeff are the greatest of people off ice.

Bethan @Bethan_4
One highlight for me was the pre season game against the Manchester Storm - new team, new rink, and unfortunately we only remembered how effing cold that place is when we pulled up outside - many cups of hot chocolate were bought! But it's a great set up, from the banners won by the old Storm hanging in the rafters to give it a sense of history, to the fairly young team on the ice, it was a very exciting night.

Tony @Disgu15ed
Mine is probably the CHL draw and the excitement of seeing who we would get, and then the scramble for a map of Europe to find out exactly where Jyväskylä is and could we get there easily - unfortunately the answer was no!

Janet Shaw ‏@Bandanajan
One of my fave moments was the smile on Marek Pinc's face when he got his first man of the match. Awesome!

Nathan Turner ‏@NJT75Owl
Lawrence for me. I was gutted when we signed him and gutted when he left. Thought he was garbage at Blaze, then we signed him and I thought PT had lost the plot. He proved me wrong and was exactly what we needed. Then he left and rejoined that lot! I live in hope that I see him play in orange once more

Matt Dawson ‏@mattymidland
Highlight : the very moment I heard the news that we had got rid of Chris Lawrence. Just a very lazy player in my opinion, yes scores goals but adds no dimension to the team, he left Cov, they got better, he left us, we got better, and now at Notts who were flying and top before he went back.

Mark Duell @hockeybhoy
For me I'm going for the 9-8 win in Braehead. Quite simply because it's the most breathtaking game of hockey I've seen. Both teams going for it from the get go. Not good for heart rate but great entertainment.

Phil Beddoe ‏@PBeeodd
Best thing for me was CHL at the Arena. Jyp game in particular we were good and also seeing the expression on some of our yellow meanies faces when @Sektion84 started waving their shirts about at the Frolunda game was priceless.

Kate at the game
Hearing Eliot Kennedy @NYCSteelerfan singing the National Anthem on boxing day in front of a full house. The crowd were ready to get going anyway, but that pushed us on even more.

Samantha Dale ‏@sam_26
Fitzy at the shirt auction after the games v Clan in August. All shirts except soyb were auctioned, then Simms said "I think that concludes the auction" before Fitzy's shirt was done. Fitzy then stood on the table with Simms and started to walk up and down the table, turning the shirt front and back like on a cat walk encouraging people to bid more. He got the most for his shirt from what I can remember. Then everyone started chanting "Fitzy is a Steeler" and "let's all do the Fitzy" he loved it.

Andy Roberts @ic3creamman
Travelling x1000 miles to Fernie Canada and going to a Junior game (KIJHL) and meeting Pascal Morency. Spent most of the game talking to him. What a top bloke.

Alan Claringbold @FrozenSteelMNL/@AwkwardGinge
Honestly, my highlight for the year was very recent. Having 9000 people inside that Arena on Boxing Day was simply incredible to see. It brought back memories of when I was a London Knights fan because the last time I saw the Arena that busy was Tim Cranston's shirt retirement. Every since Tony Smith and his family took over the Club, they have continuously worked tirelessly behind the scenes making off-ice improvements. That sold-out crowd on Boxing Day is exactly what they as a family have deserved for all their hard work. Long may it continue.
 

Game Highlights - December 2015

Game Highlight Links:

To save you searching elsewhere across the web, here's direct links to the highlight packages from last months's games.

Loss at the Skydome
Steelers v Blaze Away 5/12/15

Victory at home
Steelers v Flyers Home 6/12/15

Victory at home
Steelers v Capitals Home 9/12/15

Victory at FIA
Steelers v Flyers Away 12/12/15

Victory at home
Steelers v Giants Home 13/12/15

Victory at Braehead
Steelers v Clan Away 19/12/15

Loss at home
Steelers v Blaze Home 20/12/15

Victory at home

Steelers v Panthers Home 26/12/15

Loss at the NIC

Steelers v Panthers Away 27/12/15

That's all for December :)

Five things we learnt this weekend - Festive Spirits - w/e 27 December

Still recovering from too many festive spirits, I’m struggling to remember my five things this week, but here goes anyway!

1> Full House – Was superb to see over 9,000 people at the HOS, and great that we got that win in-front of them. Now the challenge is to get them to pop-back for those rainy mid-week games in Ice Sheffield too. Keep going Smithy - you’re doing great.

2> 50:50 winner – Is the £7,509 still unclaimed, and what’s your favourite conspiracy theory so far? Did anyone see Mark Thomas in the building on Saturday, and did he leave with a big smile and a large bulge in his trousers again? If it were mine I’d be flying off to the NHL winter classic right now!

3> Consistently inconsistent – In theory getting Tom Darnell in for both games against the Panthers should have resulted in some consistent refereeing, but I fear he let that Go Pro go to his head, and the chance to be a star on TV brought out the Hollywood in him for game number two. Quite how Hewitt getting mugged by Janssen and Wiikman resulted in us going on the PK still baffles me.

4> Happy with a split – Think everyone can console themselves with a win apiece, and winning in front of a capacity home crowd was key for both GM’s, but losing the second one always feels worse doesn’t it.

5> Injury woes – Here’s hoping for a speedy return from a fit Fretter and Roy, or a quick dip into the transfer market before our forthcoming three in three weekend. Neither looked hideous, but with Wiikman back, the Clan picking up points everywhere, the Devils on fire and Belfast streaking we can’t drop even one of those ‘easy’ points.

I leave with one more final thought. I hope you all had a great festive break, got tonnes of new Steelers swag, enjoyed reading some of my 2015 ramblings, and wish you all the best for 2016 and beyond.

p.s. Good effort RTB for the Amy chant in the 21st minute - we were joining in in block 115 too.

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-
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Big Match Preview - Panthers Double Header

It's here, and Christmas on the hockey calendar can only mean one thing: the home and home games against our nearest and dearest - the Panthers of Nottingham. Both ourselves and Nottingham will probably see their highest league attendances of the season in these two games as fans gear up for a couple of potential Christmas crackers.

With both sides chasing league leaders Cardiff Devils hard, the outcomes could be pretty significant indeed.

Both sides go into the games having released an import recently. Panthers released defenceman Kyle Hardy after just 10 games in the black and gold, whilst Steelers stunned everybody in the Elite League by releasing netminder Tyler Plante. Hardy failed to deliver what was expected from him according to what we have heard on the hockey grapevine whilst Plante was surprisingly axed after making a full recovery from an injury that had him sidelined for the last two months.

The decision involving the latter has sent shockwaves around the league with fans nationwide surprised at it. But what is done is now done.

These two main protagonists last faced each other just over a month ago in the NIC. Panthers came into that one off the back of a superb 7-3 win in Cardiff, whilst Steelers had had that amazing 9-8 win after penalties in Braehead. Few gave Steelers a chance, but they set about the Panthers like as if their collective lives depended on the result and were 4-1 ahead after 40 minutes play. Panthers mounted a comeback but couldn't never get back on level terms: Robert Dowd's empty netter (his second goal of the contest) secured the points would be going back up the M1.

Both teams also recently have wobbles, and it will be the team that settles the best whom will come out the best in these games. Form goes out of the window in any Steelers-Panthers game and this will be no exception whatsoever. Panthers will be hoping starting netminder Miika Wiikman will be fit to return, whilst Marek Pinc will hope to continue his upturn in form and statistics wise in the opposite cage. But it ain't all about these guys...

Special teams will also have an important role to play too. Panthers have one of the best powerplays in the Elite League and in both David Ling and David Clarke: a couple of guys who can really do some damage. Steelers have a more than decent penalty kill of their own so if they can nulify this then it might be down to which one is the best at full strength and both sides match up well against the other in this respect.

Personally I would not be surprised if either, or both, game(s) go beyond the normal 60 minute mark.


Prediction Time: Steelers to take game one 4-2 at the Arena, Panthers to take game two in the NIC 3-2 after overtime.

How do you see it? 



Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-
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Special Announcement

We have made an important decision here in FSB Towers and one that helps benefit the blog itself. Due to the fact Mark has to work awkward hours, it would be nice to have some of the work done by someone else to ensure the smooth running of all operations continue.

Therefore we have great pleasure in naming Tony as the Blog's new Assistant Editor.

Tony has been around the FSB scene for a bit, and is famous for the ever popular weekly "Five Things" column which he tells what he learned in the previous week of the hockey world. It gets a fair number of views and always creates a lot of interest too. Tony is also the brains behind the "Hockey Soapbox" which has been running for the last six weeks and is steadily getting more and more views.

It is a honour to have Tony helping out in a role which does the Blog a great service, and he will still be running and contributing his weekly pieces though. Please congratulate Tony on his "promotion" so to speak.

Well done Tony! 

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-
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The Half Time Elite Report - Erhardt Conference

So we have had the half time report of the Gardiner Conference sides. How do the teams in the Erhardt Conference measure up then? Remember this article was planned before this weekend's games so if you think it looks outdated, there's your explanation thrown back to you right there. Sit back and read on...

Erhardt Conference

Belfast Giants: New coach, new ideas. That's the way you can sum up the Giants for this season. Sure they have retained a lot, again, of last season's squad but also got some quality in former NHLer Kris Beech and experienced forward James Desmarais. Come to think of it, player-coach Derrick Walser isn't too bad either. Walser has landed himself in the proverbial hot water a few times; but I like that in a coach: it shows to me his passion for his team and the game. If they get on a run of form; Giants could be this season's dark horses for the title. Don't underestimate them.

Cardiff Devils: The big question before the season started: was last season a flash in the pan and would Andrew Lord be a one season wonder in coaching terms? I think the answer to that has been categorically answered in the negative. Devils are a tough team to beat, and in the Big Blue Tent: almost impregnable to be honest. They move to their new home in the New Year, and one can only but wonder - will this derail any bid for a championship? They do have quality in the roster from front to back, and that is a major positive for the "Red Army". How they would react to a dip in form remains to be noted.

Coventry Blaze: Chuck Weber was seen as the new messiah when he changed the fortunes of the Warwickshire side and led them to a surprise play-off final win last term. However his much changed side have failed to build on this and at the writing; prop up the rest of the Elite League. Brian Stewart has been as dependable as ever in between the pipes, but it's scoring which has undermined Blaze this season: they are simply not lighting the lamp often enough. This needs to be rectified otherwise Blaze will miss out on a possible defence of their play-off trophy; and add to what has been so far: a real disappointment.

Nottingham Panthers: Panthers started this season with a point to prove after a 2015 season which could have spelled curtains for Corey Neilson. But Neil Black and Gary Moran have persevered with the most decorated coach in black and gold of his generation. Miika Wiikman has proved to be an excellent replacement for the now retired K-Wall, and former NHLer Cam Janssen has given the team energy and passion. They are not to be taken lightly, and I wouldn't bet against them picking up some form of silverware this season. The question remains: which one?

Sheffield Steelers: The current Monteith Bowl holders have had an interesting campaign so far. Starting off well, then having a blip that saw them slip down the table, then a resurgence that has lifted them back into contention. On their day, Steelers can tear any team apart at will, but they can easily lose a game that most would expect them to win: two losses against the Capitals bear testament to this. Winning games against their Conference rivals will determine how they will finish up. That and maintaining their excellent home form in the Arena.


So that's my assessments done, and to be honest I don't expect many to agree. More like disagree haha. One thing is for sure, it's been an unpredictable season so far with many twists and turns, who knows what we will get in the next 3 months. It promises to be probably another close race for the title with a good 3 or 4 teams worthy of a title shout. Sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride then.

Thanks for reading everybody. Do you want to be a part of this? If so, get in touch with us on either of the following Twitter addresses or leave a message on our Facebook page. Don't forget to like us on there and leave us your comments:
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Hockey Soapbox - Edition 6

Here’s our sixth week’s Frozen Steel blog fan view on four or five hot topic items. It’s time to get on your soapboxes people!

Contributors this week are: Mark Duell, Phil Beddoe,  Alan Claringbold, Tony (your editor) and Eric Green (who may, or may not, have had some mulled wine before writing his contributions!)

An easy one to start with – what was this week's main talking point in the EIHL – Marsh v Janssen anyone?

• Mark - Cam Janssen v Tyson Marsh. Fair props for Marsh to be a willing combatant but he certainly got owned by Cam. That's what was gonna happen. Top job and I hope DOPS don't take this any further because they do, we could have more repercussions.
• Eric – As it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, it seems that Nottingham are now running DOPS, why? I hear you ask. Well they changed their minds on the Marsh disciplinary and decided to give him to Cam Janssen as an early Christmas gift. Merry Christmas Cam...
• Phil - Probably the Janssen hit that floored Tyson Marsh. Didn't look to be anything wrong with the fight and Marsh looked to get up again with a bit of help but how much of that was retribution for his 5 game ban being reduced on appeal for that bad head hit at their previous game?  Had the DOPS mandated ban stood maybe it could have been avoided later on but the appeals process is there for a reason and just as with refs not calling penalties during games you will always (rightly or wrongly) get players who then decide to take matters into their own hands if they feel the official channels are not doing right by them or their guys
• Alan - Janssen KO-ing Marsh. If Cardiff never appealled the original ban, Marsh doesn't play in that game. Cruel twist of karma in a way. Never nice seeing a guy get sparked like that. That being said, boy oh boy did Janssen ever take care of business!
• Tony – Nothing more to add. Best punch thrown in recent memory, against one of those players we all love to hate. Hope he recovers soon. Shame Panthers used the KO'd picture of Marsh in their press release, but guess GM is old school, and Simmsey would do the same.

If you could change one rule or hockey mantra - what would it be?

• Mark - Ban the 2 min minor penalty for not taking your lid for a fight, it’s the most pointless penalty in existence. I've got the backing of an EIHL stripey on this (name drop: Toby). Just get rid of this rule.
• Tony – So many to choose from: speeding up the face-offs, having to leave the play when your equipment is knocked off, empty net goals inflating player stats and counting on the scoreboard, or only having three men on the ice and no video replays! The one that I’d settle for is giving a point to the losing team if there’s a draw after regulation – there’s not enough incentive to get the win in the final period. So I’d go for three point for the regulation win, two for overtime win, and one for overtime loss, like they do in the IIHC.
• Eric - Over the pond they call it the "holiday period" here in England we call it the "Christmas period". I pretty sure ours is right, so here in The EIHL unlike over the pond in the NHL, can our rules "change back the neutral zones size"? Please it's that narrow now I have problems! A bit like we went decimal. There was nothing wrong with 240 pennies to the pound, half a crown or a ten Bob note. I hate change...
• Alan - Switch to 3 on 3 overtime over here. Worked in the AHL, been insane in the NHL. Would love to see us try it for a season.
• Phil - The one that springs most readily to mind is the illegal equipment call when a stick is pushed back to the goalie by another player after losing it.  I understand why you might not want a player knocking stick down the ice in the direction of other players but when the only person in front of him is the goalie and there's no one near the crease why not just get the stick back to him as quickly as possible so that the game can continue properly and fairly.

Is there one other Elite league player (or recent drop out) you'd love to have in orange this year?

• Mark – I said it Sunday, and I will say it again: David Clarke from them lot down the road. Lethal scorer short-handed, even strength and on power play. Imagine him for us on the latter? Has probably the best one timer in the EIHL with such unerring accuracy. Best Brit forward outside Steelerland.
• Alan - Tricky question. My gut instinct though is Ben Davies. The next Hewitt for me. Gets himself about for a smaller guy and knows where the net is at times as well. That being said, I think Josh Batch has improved 10 fold from a couple of years ago.
• Tony – Another top Brit would be superb, but I'd take pretty much anyone in the Devils top line. If I had to choose it would be Andrew Lord – he would be my captain, and he’d lead the way with his goals and physicality.
• Phil – Ryan Hayes as we are still lacking good goal scoring at times. Would be interesting to see if Hayes can carry his form through to a team where he maybe wouldn't get quite as much ice time as he must be getting at the Caps. Would also be good to see if he can score against the likes of Brian Stewart on a regular basis!  Stewart really is proving to be our Kowalski this year isn't he?
• Eric - Easy!!!  Cam Jannsen : the man is an animal, loves the game, would love him on a line with Desbiens, and like me he loves Christmas, especially if they feed him a Devil.

What was your favourite caricature face from the Xmas jerseys - or worst if you like?

• Mark - Best one, I loved them all to be honest. But my vote goes to Fretter's cheesy grin. Great idea and something out of the ordinary, hats off proverbially speaking to Ollie Barron: Rhino's creative genius. Well played Ollie!
• Phil – Fretter is the best one, captures the cheery grin well!  The Fitzy one was really well drawn too. Probably the Leggy one that made me laugh the most though!  When I saw the previews I thought Simmsey had one done too and after Sunday's game I now realise that was Pincy's and a pretty good representation!
• Tony – I thought Pinc’s caricature made him look a lot like a beach ball. You can google the YouTube clips on the Steelers account to check them all out
• Alan - Thought Thompsons was funny, as was Fretters. O'Connors was spot on as well as Levi's hair. Not really got a standout/fave one. Loved the entire thing.
• Eric – Sarich's looked good. Hewitts was upside down.... and finally "Legue" Oh my goodness!!!! Bloody scary. Had a Nightmare that night, someone was shouting "he's behind you" for me to then turn and come face to face with that caricature. Needless to say bed needed changing.

Finally, following Fitzy's two year contract extension who would you give the next two year contract to?

• Mark - We've got a few signed up actually. Dowdy's on a new deal which includes next season (Editor : Hope you’re right Mark, but it’s not what Elite Prospects have recorded), and I think Jono will be back: testimonial year. Who next to re-sign? Tough shout but I'll go for Levi Nelson, our energetic number 76. But there's a few I would love to see back already next season. Listen to last week's podcast and you'll find out.
• Phil – Mozzy, his work rate is top notch and his skating makes many opposing players look like bambi in comparison (then sign up Frets, Nelson and Vestberg please!)
• Tony – First, make double sure O’Connor and Dowd are nailed down. Then, I wonder if Fretter will be quite as effective as he is now after another two years, so a one year deal for him. Then if we give another two for Mosienko I promise our family will sponsor his shirt again next year!
• Eric – Got to be Marek Pinc. Just because we can get money out of him. When Disney on Ice visits the arena, at least Tony can get some appearance money out of the organisers, by using him as one of the seven dwarfs (oops!, sorry small people) in Snow White.
• Alan - Levi Nelson. The guy has been an absolute machine over the last so many weeks. Absolutely loving what he has brought to the table lately. Love to see us retain Mosienko's and Desbiens services as well though.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you have a great Xmas and 2016 is good to all of us.

That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed reading our thoughts, and we’d love you to get involved too. Help set the agenda for next week with your questions, or even better get involved and give your views as one of the panel. We would love different views and different participants each week. 

Please contact Mark @frozensteelblog or Tony @Disgu15ed, or find us at the game.

Brief Bios of those panellists you’ve just been listening to in the series so far :

Alan is @frozensteelmnl for match night updates and @AwkwardGinge for everything else. Has been watching Hockey for many years, and given half a chance will regale you with tales of the London Knights. Catch him on the Breaking the Ice podcast too.

Bethan represents the younger end of the fan base, after being dragged along to her first Steelers game in 2007 and has loved the team ever since. Follow her on Twitter at @bethan_4

Eric is a season ticket holder and can be found shouting encouragement to our players and scorn at the zebras alongside three generations of his family in block 115. Views can be found @greenbunch257

Mark is one of the main men behind the Frozen Steel blog, being the Editor and Podcast pundit, and has watched the club since its inception. Find him at @hockeybhoy

Phil has been a fan since watching the final game of the London Racers at the Sheffield Arena back in 2005 and has adopted block 106 as his second home. He now wishes he had listened to Elliott Hall and had started watching earlier! Find him on @pbeeodd

Richard is the big man with the big drum who until recently was to be found leading both the Rock the Block choir and his family in 218. Now looking for a new block to call home, his views, and invites to come join you, can be directed to @CaVaLiEr666

Robert is chief architect of steelers-stats.co.uk, the go-to guy for Steelers history from days gone by, and the man behind one of the big White House spotlights! Robert is @steelersstats.

Tony has been watching the Steelers on and off since Tony Hand arrived, and has been a regular for the last eight years or so. Enjoys contributing to the blog with his weekly five things and can be found @Disgu15ed

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-
@FrozenSteelBlog
@FrozenSteelMNL
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Or Email the team at frozen.steel.91@gmail.com

Five things for w/e 20 December - Clothes back on

Thank you to Tony for his contribution to FSB, All Credit for this piece goes to him so any queries you can contact him on Twitter @Disgu15ed

So it’s time to put our clothes back on and be thankful that it’s been so mild outside, as our streaking has come to an end with a bump. Now fully clothed again it’s now time for our five things:

1> Justice done? – With the DOPS independent panel reducing Marsh’s ban for hitting Panther’s Brad Moran, and thus making him available for the return leg, then I guess we should have predicted some kind of playground retribution. If DOPS had kept the five game ban then the players wouldn’t have felt the need to sort it out themselves, and Cam Janssen might not have dealt that brutal knockout blow to Tyson Marsh on Saturday. DOPS player safety agenda seriously tarnished there. Get well TM.

2> Buzzer beaters – It’s never nice to concede in the last minute, especially after having a gilt edged chance 20 seconds earlier, but credit to the Blaze for a risky fore-check when they could have just sat back and settled for the point. It’s those decisions that often separate good players and great players, and it seems Jace fell a bit short of greatness at the crunch.

3> Blaze, Streak, Blaze – I wonder if the Blaze & Steelers forums are full of Weber > Thommo narrative again this morning? I hope not, as I’m not sure that coaching makes that much difference at this level, as it’s individual players and individual on-ice decisions that deliver results in these close games. I tend to believe that April – August are the key months in the Elite league season, as it’s player recruitment that wins championships, and good / bad coaching only has a marginal impact from there right through to the play-offs.

4> Favourite Caricature – Having seen the images on the big screen, which shirt do you fancy? Fitzy maybe, or how about Simmsey’s mug adorning your chest? I feel sorry for Leggy – he’s never been quite the same after having his jaw wired the season before he went to the dogs!

5> Who’s streaking now? – With Braehead defeating Cardiff, and the Blaze beating us, the long streaks have been ended, with Coventry and Belfast leading the pack with just +2 now. If we can start a streak with two wins against the Panthers, we’ll soon forget the Blaze results!

One final thought. Did you notice that Desbiens was EIHL player of the week for last week : “The powerful winger weighed in with one goal and three assists and played a key role as the Steelers won three games in five days. Desbiens also picked up two fighting majors.” And with two more assists against the Clan this week-end he’s running at about a point a game, and a fight every third or fourth game. Proper Steelers hockey right there. Welcome to the family.

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-

@FrozenSteelBlog

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The Half Time Elite Report - Gardiner Conference

Time for this week's Elite Report, again with a difference. This time I am going to talk about the two conferences and give a honest; well in my eyes; opinion on how each team is performing. Kind of a half time assessment before the business end of the season kicks in. From Christmas; the real business starts and we will soon know who is capable and who is not.

Easily upset? Stop reading right now! Otherwise read right on...

Gardiner Conference

Braehead Clan: Everybody's, and that's including me here, pre-season favourites to capture the Monteith Bowl. Except it's not really gone as plain sailing as it was planned to be. Clan have slipped up when they are expected to win, and in some games thrown away leads that you would have expected them to hold onto. If they are to win the title; they need to stead the ship in their own zone - otherwise the rumblings of discontent that are sounding from their loyal fan base: will go louder and Finner will be seriously under more pressure than he ever anticipated.

Dundee Stars: When the Stars appointed Marc LeFebvre, the man who was a mitigated failure in Coventry, most wondered how long it would be before Dundee showed him the door too. But Stars have been rejuvenated under the 33 year old Canadian, and currently lie the highest of the Gardiner Conference sides in the EIHL standings. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be in Coventry for him, but Dundee now have a coach that slowly turning their fortunes around. Can they keep it up though?

Edinburgh Capitals: Like Dundee, Capitals changed their coach this season coming and surprised a few when they handed the responsibilty to power forward Riley Emmerson. It's not been a bad appointment at all as Caps have surprised many, especially the Erhardt teams, with unexpected wins against them at Murrayfield and on the road. The only blip is that they have a leaky defence and that could cost them unless Riley plugs that particular hole. After seasons of despair, could things be looking up in Scotland's capital city?

Fife Flyers:  Fife have been very much up and down so far, with more dips than the Pepsi Max Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. On their day, they can be very good but they can also be damn awful as well. A lot of talk centres around the future of head coach Todd Dutiaume, and whether he has taken this team as far as he can? But Fife is his adopted home, and I can't see him relinquishing his position that easy. But then again, would the Flyers hierachy see it anyway different? Change might be good, especially if the inconsistencies aren't ironed out. 

Manchester Storm: To say the team, well the majority of it, was signed up in double quick time after the sad folding of the Hull Stingrays: Storm ain't done as bad as some of their results suggest. Omar Pacha is in only his second season of being a coach, and you can see he is slowly getting to grips with the dual responsibility. Some of his new recruits have impressed, and Pacha's next task is to get this "new" club into the end of season play-off rounds. Can they do it? Anything is possible, and it will be a fantastic achievement if they do. I think the best is still to come here..


Well that's the Gardiner done with, coming next: The Erhardt Conference's Half Time Report.  

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Big Match Preview - Coventry (Home)

After what promises to be a tough game on the Saturday night, Steelers return home on Sunday to play their last game this side of Christmas. Visiting Sheffield are Coventry Blaze, the last team to defeat Steelers in the last four games ahead of the Clan trip. 

One thing is for sure, we don't anticipate this game to start at 8:50pm unlike the last game in the Arena. Yeah, remember that? This should start at around its normal planned face-off of 5:00pm - you can assured of that.

As mentioned in the initial paragraph, Blaze are - at the time of penning this preview - the last team to beat us but that was a) in the Sky Dome and b) all because of that behemoth known as Brian Stewart. We have suffered just one single loss all season in the House Of Steel and that was against the Panthers, and to be honest I cannot see Blaze adding their name to that list. I just really can't.

Blaze are bottom of the table, and for one reason - they have a distinct lack of firepower and if you don't score then you don't win hockey games in my opinion. They might have a very good goalie, that there is no doubting that, but they just don't have players putting the biscuit away constantly. They have added James Isaacs (the former Dundee Star) to the defensive core on a short-term deal but that's hardly anything to shout over.

So what is to be expected? Probably Steelers in the ascendancy and Coventry relying upon the previously mentioned Mr Stewart whilst also hoping to catch us out on some rare forays into our zone. Cale Tanaka didn't adhere himself much last time out, and had a few altercations with "The Bulldog" - we can expect the former to be very much an irritant all game.

Prediction: Steelers to win by around three or four goals, 5-2 could be worth considering as a correct scoreline.

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Big Match Preview - Braehead (Away)

Tomorrow night (Saturday) sees the Steelers return to the scene of one of their most memorable games of the season so far. It's off to the Braehead Arena, just outside Glasgow, to pay another visit to the Clan. What can we expect this time out?

Are we going to get another goalfest like we did in November?

For once in my lifetime, both my head and heart agree on something. There will be NO goal fest - that was just an absolute one off where both teams played with such offence on one night that defences simply did not exist and both Pinc and Holt had probably their personal own horror shows. This will not be repeated that I am confident to say. 

Steelers have tightened up the ship at the back end recently, and only conceded one goal in each of their last three matches. Pinc has found his feet so to speak, and has been very unlucky not to get a shutout or two - the guy certainly clearly deserves one before his short-term deal expires and Tyler Plante returns back in between the pipework. The powerplay is looking a lot more dangerous and that can be linked to the return to the side of Colton Fretter; he certainly knows how to make this tick.

Paul Thompson's men can go to Braehead with a great deal more confidence in themselves.

Hosts Clan are pretty much still being what they have been all season for me, very topsy-turvy and inconsistent. Finnerty's men threw away a three goal lead last weekend against the Panthers; whom played back-up Dan Green in the net because starter Miika Wiikman was unwell ; and lost it in a penalty shoot-out. Someone remind me where this happened last in the Purple Arena; oh yes Saturday 14 November 2015. Fans were rightly a bit miffed at this; and plenty took to social media to vent their clear frustrations. 

One can only imagine the anger and rage of Mr Finnerty though...

So what do we expect?

A close encounter, as I said it won't be a goal fest. This will be determined by one single goal; and not in either overtime or a penalty shootout. Clan will be wanting to show their home support that last Saturday was unacceptable and to get them back "on side" so to speak. However, Steelers will be keen to extend their mini hot-streak of form and, if results elsewhere go their way, close in further on Cardiff and Nottingham who currently occupy the top two spots.

Prediction: Clan to squeak this game, 2-1.

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