Here’s our seventh 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, Tony (your editor) and Robert Newbolt.
An easy one to start with – what was this week's main talking point in the EIHL?
Phil - From a Steelers point of view I'd go with the offensive contributions of our D recently. Sarich has been excellent at both ends of the ice, Russ Moyer decided he scored a goal and he liked it so went and got another one and Jace Coyle and his goals also really impressed me. We do seem to have found a mostly happy medium between defensive duties and helping out our forwards at the moment.
Pincy seems to be moving across the ice a bit better when down low too, just need he and his D to communicate better so if he makes a save at one side of the net and the opposition take it round the other side his D let him know so he can move across and hopefully pre-empt the shot by being there that bit quicker.
Robert - I think people are still recovering from Didomete’s penalty box antics, but the main point was Fitzgerald laying into Folkes last Friday.
Mark - Coventry finding some form, to be honest. I knew they would turn this around, and in Jordan Pietrus they have a player who can provide offence for them. My only concern is that they might rely on him too much up top as they do with Stewy in between the pipes.
Tony – Goalie Injury crisis! Arguably the three top import rookies have been side-lined (Holt, Wiikman, Plante) and replaced by rushed dives into the free agency market. I wonder if next year we might start seeing Import Goalie tandems, to cover injuries, and alternate across week-end games – how much better might they play if they were fresh in the second game?
Was 5 points from the last 3 games enough to be acceptable?
Mark - Hell yeah it was, I wanted 6 of course but 5 isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things. With Cardiff having a zero return, all the better. Just sets the scene perfectly for two huge games in Belfast. This title race is getting more exciting week by week, and I for one - am loving it.
Phil - 6 would have been nice but considering we'd played 3 games in 3 nights (two of them away) with a number of injuries I think 5 points out of 6 is a perfectly respectable haul for the weekend.
Robert - A resounding No. “With three games in three days they did well” isn’t acceptable for a team with title aspirations, especially against two sides who could only muster fourteen skaters at most, a couple of those being NIHL players. I know we were two of our most influential players missing but this is when top teams ‘dig deep’ and get a win. And don’t get me started on the laughable penalty shots.
Tony – Disappointing. We’ve given up too many points to Edinburgh already, and it’s pointless blaming the travel, as they travelled from Nottingham the night before.
How many points would be an acceptable return from the upcoming Belfast week-end?
Mark - I'd take a split series to be honest, considering how good the Giants are at home and our travel frailties. We have to go there with the same belief that got us the win at the NIC in November, that's the key. Take the ice away from them, get the home support unhappy. Anything more than 2 is a massive bonus!
Phil - 2 points each would probably be a reasonable expectation but do we really want to be reasonable with the top half of the table so tight? I'd say to most of us I would think only 4 points would be acceptable if we are to maintain pace with the other teams around us but let's see how it goes. Whether we can do it will depend on injuries and how good our new player is who will be providing cover for Frets.
Robert - Three out of four against a strong, fully fit full-benched, Belfast should be ok. I am going for an all-out win on Friday and an overtime loss on Saturday. That’s if we have a decent netminder performance that can make up for defensive frailties.
Tony – I just hope we get something. A double header with two losses would be heart-breaking for the travelling fans, and put us a chunk of point behind the resurgent Giants. A double win puts them back into their box.
Any rants you’d like to use our soapbox to get off your chest?
Phil - No rant but I do think that after Rod's Eddy we should really think about naming it the Roddy for a bit ;)
Tony – I like a rant – but how about some praise for Simmsey who seems to have gone quite a while since he last posted something ridiculous on the Steelers Official account!? He still gives opposition fans ammo to throw at us on his personal account, but that’s fair game in my eyes.
Mark –Yeah - why are some people still slagging Marek (Pinc) off. Plante is gone, Marek is our starter now! Just get behind him as much as you do the others. If you can't do that - stay away from the games. Every player wearing the Steelers uniform deserves 100 per cent backing, Marek is no exception. Team Pinc..
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
@hockeybhoy
@Disgu15ed
Check out the Frozen Steel Podcast
Or Email the team at frozen.steel.91@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment