Hockey Soapbox 15 - Does anyone want to win this league?

Here’s our fifteenth week’s Frozen Steel blog fan view on some hot topic items.

Listen to Mr Bean and get going with your soapbox thoughts.

Contributors this week are: Mark Duell, Robert Newbolt, Andy Roberts and Eric Green (who seems to have been reading too much Murray Walker this week)…

Normal starting point – What were the main talking points from the EIHL this week?

Mark - Coventry upsetting both ourselves and Cardiff on consecutive nights. It's definitely made it still very interesting. Does anybody want to win the damn league?

Robert - Does anyone really want this title? With Coventry beating Cardiff and Nottingham slipping up at Braehead the outsiders are now Belfast.

Eric - My goodness, I thought I had gone deaf last Tuesday! It was like watching Formula One with ear defenders on - I could see plenty of people, and some movement, but no sound! What the...... I asked my wife. "Yer sure this is a hockey game"? "Dunno" she said, but the traffic only seems to be going ONE WAY...

After a mixed week-end are you feeling confident about our chances in the run-in?

Mark - Still think we are the outsiders. The Panthers, Giants and Flyers are going to have a big impact on who gets their hands on "Monty". It's still Devils to lose, with the Giants now having a little sneaking look. It's definitely as Sir Alex Ferguson called it "squeaky bum time."

Robert - If you don’t feel confident, level on points with five games to go and an easier run than your rivals, then you ought to. But as it is the absence, up to now, of our two main strikers and one playing injured means everything falls on Mosienko so it’s anybody’s guess.

Eric – A few laps ago we were winning, but on this lap we seemed to have blown a tyre and the engine is sounding sick. Am I feeling confident about the run-in? Well we started in pole, but after some problems with the back end, and with coughs and splutters from the engine, our lap times are all over the place so it’s anybody’s race.

Will you be going to one or two games this weekend and why?

Mark - None at all, none. Missing Saturday because I'm at a school reunion and will probably get pretty sloshed haha. Not going to Sunday for the CC Final because actually I ain't bothered now. The thought of the Panthers lifting it in our barn would be just too hard to stomach. Come on Devils!

Andy - Only 1 game for me this weekend, and it isn’t the CC Final, as work stops me from going on Sunday. As a hockey nut I probably would have gone otherwise.

Were you surprised that Ice Sheffield sold out on Saturday, but not Tuesday?

Robert - I can only speak for myself but the reason I broke a habit of a lifetime and went was that the finish would not be as late as turning out on a weekday, and also that it meant more to me than the Tuesday game. This is a great slight on the Challenge Cup I’m afraid. (Editor : Let’s hope that message is received by the EIHL and Cup format changes come quickly)

Andy - To be honest I was only mildly surprised that IS sold out for Dundee and not for Nottingham. The CC game was poorly marketed at the start with only certain fans able to apply for tickets, those originally left out switched off and made other plans. Many, including myself, couldn't go mid-week due to work, and others were getting seriously bored of playing Panthers every other week. Whereas a Saturday game, playing a team we haven’t played for a while, is going to get fans in despite the 'I won’t go to IS’ brigade.

Mark - Flipping well was as you know Tony. Thought I'd be able to get a ticket no problem; but ended up watching it from the bar (well what I could see anyway). Bit shocked that during the game there were some spare seats dotted around, and yet Ice Sheffield steward bawbags didn't try to ask us in the bar if we wanted to pay a small sum (maybe £5) and get in.

Eric - I went Tuesday and watched a car-crash "Banger Race", and then didn't go on Saturday and you got an F1 race. We were running on empty mid-week, but had a full tank and bright shiny wheels on Saturday.

After successfully predicting Mosienko’s return, which import would you take next alongside him, Roy and Fitzy?

Mark - I'll give you two actually. Levi Nelson and Gui Desbiens. The first as a definite! Nelson has been awesome in his work-rate, just as good as Mosi, and proved those who doubted he'd last following his injury plagued campaign last year. Desbiens, skill and power: just what you need on the front line. (Editor : Mark got half of his wish a few hours after typing this as you now all know!)

Robert - When I saw this I immediately thought Vestberg, but then I remembered Legue is an import too - I think Leggy would come back if asked and I hope the Swedish connection can be continued.

Andy - One of three I wanted signed up, Desbiens, has just been announced. The other two are Vestberg and Nelson. Vestberg has been super reliable and for some is under the radar due to the non-flashy way he plays. Nelson has been great all season, although he seems to be missing Dowd a little at minute.

And finally, what were your thoughts on Simmsey slagging off Steelers fans ‘moaning and whinging’ and telling them to get back to their darkened bedrooms?

Andy - The Simmsey on Periscope last night was great for the club and league.  However Simmsey’s other side does make you want to cringe at times. Who in their right mind slags off paying customers? I understand his frustration with a few people but if I was the owner I wouldn’t be too impressed with my press officer alienating the fan base. Word of mouth works both ways. Alas Simmsey is Simmsey and is unlikely to change. Much like the music on game nights!

Robert - I reckon anyone who takes notice of Simmsey should not. It should be obvious by now that anything he says is done to provoke a reaction and the people on a certain forum give him that satisfaction.

Eric - For all those old enough to remember, a snooker commentator once said something like "For those watching on TV, the Blue is behind the Pink" whilst everyone back then only had Black and White TV's.  Simmsey suffers from the same problem of not engaging brain before he engages his gob.

Mark - Dave is a bloke who I think sometimes engages mouth before brain. If you alienate the fan base (worst thing possible), who's gonna fill the gaps in those empty seats Simmsey? Next time, use your noodle, and if you can't learn that, well you don't deserve to be in the position you are in. "Upstairs for thinking, downstairs for dancing." as the old man used to say. Dad wasn't wrong.

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.
• Andy is the big man with the big horn (or VuVuzela if you prefer) who can be found at most home and away games, and propping the bar up afterwards. Andy is @ic3creamman.
• 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
• Glynn can be found @glynnm76 has been watching the Steelers on and off since ‘91. Massive Ron Shudra fan and owner of an EIHL League Championship medal.
• 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

Check out the Frozen Steel Podcast


Or Email the team at frozen.steel.91@gmail.com