This Month in Steelers History - August

Thank you to Robert for his contribution to FSB, All Credit for this piece goes to him so any queries you can contact him on Twitter @steelersstats or view his website on http://steelers-stats.com/ (Click here)

Headlines and comments from years gone by - how many do you remember..

AUGUST 1996

• Steelers coach Alex Dampier denied there was any risk involved in signing new Italian Canadian netminder Piero Greco. 
• Steelers summer shopping spree continued with the signature of new 6ft 3ins import winger Frank Kovacs.
• Injured ice hockey ace Steve Nemeth's Steelers career is in doubt after he criticised the club in the Star over non-payment of his wages. Steelers coach Alex Dampier put an end to weeks of uncertainty over transfer target Jamie Leach declaring "I've got him".
• Steelers also brought in new forward Glenn Mulvenna. 

AUGUST 2001

• Former Chesterfield owner Norton Lee has won the fight to run Superleague ice hockey in South Yorkshire, but the millionaire businessman and his Eye Group partners will have to fight for the right to use the name Sheffield Steelers.
• Steelers die-hards turned out in their thousands to show support for the men who saved their club this weekend. Around 2,200 made their point in the sunshine outside Sheffield Arena at a rally called to back Andy Cooke and Martin Jenkinson and their plans to take a Steelers team into the British National League.
• Sheffield Arena has sprung the most sensational surprise so far in the controversy over who will play top-class ice hockey in the city. They have told the Ice Hockey Superleague that they do not accept their choice of franchise holder and union of ex-Chesterfield FC boss Norton Lee and sports-right firm The Eye Group.
• Steelers people power won the day in emphatic style this afternoon , when Sheffield Arena sensationally handed next season ice contract to Mark Smith, part of the current caretaker ownership, Brian Whitfield and David Cox and the rest of the directors of (FOSSL) were the heavyweights working behind the scene to help keep Steelers a locally-owner club. They had continually warned the ISL they could not mess with the people of Sheffield, or they would lose.
• Steelers British National League dreams are over swept aside by an inexplicable change of heart from a league that suddenly doesn't want the best club in the country. A day long BNL meeting in London saw an 8-4 pro Sheffield majority, voted for five days earlier, over-turned. No reason was given for the U-turn, but it is clear that the chairman, Tom Muir, found the right formula to turn the majority against Steelers.
• Mike Blaisdell and Dave Simms are back to rebuild a new 'Steelers' and have 16 days to sign a complete team of players ready to start a new Superleague season on 1st Sept.
• They did, however, manage to recruit a good side including two former NHL players, Brad Lauer and Paul Kruse, both had seven hundred NHL games behind them. Former top flight netminder, Ryan Bach was brought in after playing in the AHL to help the defence. The coach decided to swoop on the DEL for his two main defencemen, Jeff Sebastian and Marc Laniel. GB international Rick Brebant came back for a second year and Brent Bobyck came from Nottingham Panthers to help bolster the offence.

AUGUST 2006

• Following the resignation of Dave Whistle, rookie coach Dave Matsos was appointed with, not surprisingly, mixed response. But he soon stamped his authority on the side recruiting almost an entirely new squad.
• Whistle recruited Scott Ricci from Nottingham and then Steelers top summer transfer target Dan Tessier signed for Steelers. 
• Goaltender Jody Lehman and Rod Sarich re-sign for second season and Shaun Sutter and Shawn Maltby came in alongside Tessier. Brett Cloutier was brought as an enforcer to protect them as well as Phil Hill, who joined Jonathan Philips from Cardiff.

AUGUST 2011

• Sheffield Steelers latest management company has called in insolvency practitioners, with the loss of 16 jobs. Rink Corp is run by millionaire Paul Regan, owner of Steelers and Cardiff Devils. It is not clear how much Rink Corp owes, or whether Sheffield based staff are at risk. The company must now call a meeting of those creditors, a process sponsor's and business associates have witnessed far too often.
• Troubled tycoon Paul Regan today hit back at criticism for liquidating Sheffield Steelers Management Company, and turned his anger on title winning player coach Ben Simon. Regan has declined to discuss financial details of why he closed Rink Corp, which managers Steelers and his other club Cardiff Devils, a move that has unsettled some fans. But in a surprise attack on the outgoing Simon appears to point the finger at the way Sheffield was run last season.
• Steelers championship winning player coach Ben Simon responded to a startling attack by his former boss Paul Regan. Simon told the Star "I firmly believe that I left Steelers in a far better state than when I took the job.
• I sincerely hope the team finds a way out of this, (liquidation) and does it the right way. The players and fans deserve the best". Simon says he has no desire to get in a slanging match with Regan.
• Steelers are celebrating a preseason triumph 100 season tickets have been snapped up already. That's a three year high, built on last season's Elite League championships win and the recruitment of popular player coach Ryan Finnerty.
• Paul Regan is to quit day to day management of Sheffield Steelers after a torrid week of in-fighting at the club. While he will retain a half share in the Arena team, he will supervise only his club, Cardiff Devils, leaving the Elite League champions solely in the hands of commercial director, Tony Smith, aged 47.
• Pressure from Sheffield Steeler fans has led to co-owner Paul Regan handing over majority shareholding to his Sheffield based partner Tony Smith. The move, which now sees Smith with 51 per cent of the shares, will be seen to further distance Wales based millionaire Regan, who owns Cardiff Devils.
• New Sheffield Steelers owner Tony Smith has defied the economic pressure on his club and CUT attendance prices. Former owner Paul Regan triggered controversy at the end of last season when he announced some prices would be going up. But Smith has been carrying out a review of the one time cash crippled club's pricing structure and believes Steelers tickets can come down.
• The new coach was soon in trouble as Rob Dowd quit for Belfast and leading scorer Joey Talbot decided to call it a day. To replace them Finnerty brought in Mike Ramsay and Colt King. In the net John DeCaro replaced Ervin Mustukovs and Matt Stephenson and Steve Birnstill were brought in to help Rod Sarich on the blue line.
• AGE (and a fair few beers the night before) may have wearied them. But the veteran players who came from all corners of the world to celebrate Sheffield Steelers 20th anniversary did themselves and the club proud over the weekend. Saturday's Legends game watched by 4,600 fans, was a heart warming stroll back to the good old days, with the famous unit of Tommy Plommer, Les Millie, and Tim Cranston back in their proper order, Alex Dampier ruling the bench and Ron Shudra marshalling forces on ice.

August is often turbulent in Steelerland - and we thank Tony Smith for bringing some stability to our off-seasons!


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