It’s time to get on your soapboxes people!
Firstly, What's your take on game one v HV71?
- Andy - I thought we played really well in game 1. Heads didn't drop when we went 3-1 down. How I didn't fall from the back to front of our block when Dowdy got the equaliser to make it 3-3 I will never know. Seems my beer legs are better than I thought! "We don't need a power play ..." was the chant of the night. Only downer was the number of PPs we gave up and hence goals. That said most wouldn't have been called in our league.
- Tony – Enjoyed it immensely. We started off very timidly, but began to get our way out of the zone, and into theirs as the game progressed. Losing by two goals away against an SHL club was much better than expected, and I think this contributed to some over-inflated views on what we could do in Salzburg.
- Robert - A good, fast flowing game. Sheffield fought and blocked shots, with Mustukovs keeping them in the game early on. They looked penetrating on their, all too rare, attacks and will be disappointed not to have come out of it with a victory. They were not two goals worse than their opponents, especially as four of their goals came with the man advantage: after decisions by the ref that were, to say the least, dodgy.
- Mark - Now I've caught up on the highlights of this game, we certainly gave HV71 a bloody good scare it has to be said. Take the PPG goals and the delayed pen out of the equation and we win this game 3-1. Certainly gave us all a massive lift ahead of Saturday night....
Secondly, game two v Red Bull?
- Mark - We ran into serious penalty problems in Austria and conceded more than half of the eight on the penalty kill. That wee man Thomas (former Pittsburgh Penguin) had probably the best night of his life. His stick was red hot. It was a massive comedown after such heroics in Jönköping, but we can't let it affect us. Move on and see it as further development.
- Tony – We were outclassed and outplayed for much of the game. We got into so much penalty trouble that key players got tired and we couldn’t then drag ourselves back into the game. The dumb penalties in the third – thanks Mike, were annoying, but the overall result is pretty much on par with other away CHL games, so it wasn’t too unexpected.
- Andy - Only saw the 1st period of the second game in Salzburg so can't really comment on the game. The final score was again influenced by the powerplay. The standard of PP in the CHL compared to the EIHL is a world away.
- Robert - One can only think that the exertions of Thursday took it out of them, but hey isn’t that what our much-vaunted conditioning coach is all about. They appeared lack lustre and devoid of ideas, or were not listening to a very passionate coach. They appeared to have no answer, especially in defence, to the more North American style of play that Red Bull adopted. And if we thought the attack was a little impotent on Thursday all I can say is look at Saturday. There was very little forechecking, the passing was inept, and PT was right to be annoyed by the display. They could blame bad penalty decisions but that is something we have to put up with.
Thirdly, what’s your overall reaction to the 'weekend's' results?
- Mark - You could say it's mixed fortunes and emotions, but these games are important as we develop into a different style of hockey club. As years go by, we will eventually look back and think that these games (plus the ones last season) were so good for the way this club has progressed and moved on.
- Robert - Disappointed that we didn’t split the games. Very disappointed by the performance on Saturday: they got what they deserved. After watching the game on Thursday I was pleased with the effort if not the score but Saturday was a different matter entirely
- Andy - Overall I think the 1st couple have games have gone how we expected in that we have still to score a point. It is blatantly clear when HV71 and Salzburg visit the House of Steel we really really need to stay out of the box. Away from the team I was proud to be 1 of approximately 80-100 people who made the trip to Sweden to be loud proud and orange. (I only expected a handful of fans to make the trip). In Salzburg we took a lot more and again they played their part in trying to lift the team. We need that noise and passion from the stands for the 2 games at the HOS and hopefully as the 6th man can bring us our 1st win in the CHL. I am sure the ones watching at home their neighbours wondered what was happening next door!
- Tony – I love the CHL and those games were no different. We are a step behind the rest in Europe, but at least putting our name into the competition brings us some kudos and must help with recruitment etc. We have a chance at home, but as we go into both as underdogs then any result would be awesome rather than expected. Chapeau to the fans who travelled away too.
Fourth, do you have any concerns, or players who stood out in either a good or bad way?
- Mark - I'm not one for making major criticisms at such an early stage, I mean we have been together as a team less than a month. However, it looks like that Moose has come back stronger and better than he was five years ago when he was a complete unknown. The good things will always outweigh the bad in the end. This is a learning curve for everyone whether it be us fans, the players, Thommo and Jerry and the Club. No need to press any panic buttons at the moment.
- Andy - From the games I have seen so far I have no concerns with the team as of yet. We are playing well IMO and as a TEAM looking after each other. I expect Moose to be doing tweets from net soon the amount of tweets he replies to!
- Tony – I think we have a very fast and skilled team. Love that Dowd seems to be back to his best, and Valdix and Nelson make up very fine second line. Having a third line with Mosi and Desi, and the fourth line with Jono shows we are deep too. On the downside Schultz is still to make an impression on me, and Ratchuk has shown he can take dumb penalties so they’re on my early-season hot-seat. Also, is it just me, or have the rest of the EIHL bulked up?
- Robert - Armstrong, Valdix, Schultz all stood out, but I thought but Mustukovs was head and shoulders above anyone. One minor concern was the lack of finishing of a usually clinical Fretter. Twice, that I can remember he was one on one and didn’t look like scoring. But it is very early and these were top notch opponents, I think it will be very different during the coming season
Lastly, looking across the hockey week is there anything else you want to comment on?
- Mark - Couple of things I will touch on here. One being the superb support given to our team by the loud and proud "Orange Army"; support like that can only inspire a team to bigger and better things. Some football teams would be grateful to have fans as good as our lot were in both Sweden and Austria. Secondly, it appears that the KHL have issued a "lifetime" ban on the muppet known as Damir Ryspayev (well for pre-season at the moment, rest of it still under review): good on them - the sport doesn't need thugs like him. Good riddance to bad rubbish as the saying goes.
- Andy - Good luck to Russ Moyer in Fife but just not against us. And another tough NHLer appears in our league (Editor : Patrick Bordeleau from the AVS) They are definitely making a Statement of intent in Wales. Roll on start of EIHL season.
- Tony – Nothing else really, just excited to be back at the Arena next week-end. Looking forward to greeting some more hockey mates, and getting the title banner raised.
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.
- Kevin and Fergus are a Father son duo that grew up watching and playing ice hockey in Europe (mainly Germany) who are both very opinionated and can be heard from block 115. Twitters are @SedgyFergus and @KevWright65
- 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
- Nathan and his Mrs have been going to games since Feb 2014 after getting fed up with football. Another season ticket holder in 115 who tries to get to away games and refuses steadfastly to join in with Sweet Caroline. He’s @NJT75Owl
- Robert is chief architect of http://steelers-stats.com/ 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
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