Big Match Preview: Cardiff Double Header

After a couple of four point weekends, Steelers face another test of their credentials and what a big test it is. We face those Cardiff Devils in a home and home series, basically that means back to back for the hockey uneducated, and this is going to be hard - very hard indeed.

Cardiff are a very deep squad with scoring potential and experience in abundance. It's probably the squad the rest of the Elite League fears the most. They are many people's (myself included here) favourites to win the big prize and deny us the three-peat. If they don't win it, they will be in the mix at the end of the season having gone close numerous times in the last few years.

They are also the last team that inflicted a loss on us, 5-3 in the House Of Steel three weeks last Sunday when we coughed up 2-1 first period lead and fell apart in the second for sure. Thommo and Jerry will obviously not want this to happen again.

Game number one of the two is in the Challenge Cup on Saturday night at Ice Arena Wales. It's actually Steelers first ever visit there as all the games last season were playing at that infamous Big Blue Tent. The rink is an impressive place, having visited it in the summer but if you're planning to text or tweet people then you're going to come a bit unstuck. There's hardly any mobile reception (wi-fi is non existent unless you know the code from Todd) in the place, bar the snack bar area but that's my only gripe about the building.

However as deep as the Cardiff roster, they are beatable. Coventry skated away to a 3-2 overtime last Saturday in IAW so that should give us hope that we can get something from there. But we are missing both Ben O'Connor (hamstring, predicted return date unknown) and Levi Nelson (broken hand) and those are two massive holes which we have to plug. If I was Thommo, and I admit I am not, I'd call up Cole and Liam for the trip yet still play 5 rotating defencemen. 

Sunday at home will be equally hard. Again I'd have both Cole and Liam available, they could rotate on that fourth line (as I would have them on the night before) and Luke (Ferrara) could do a more than acceptable job on the line where Nelson would be: I'm sure he'd fit well with both Dowdy and Valdix; the latter who gets better each week. 

Steelers have to play smart hockey both games, and not let Cardiff bully them into taking dumb penalties because the Devils PP is one of the best there is with Mark Richardson and this season's captain Jake "Alanis" Morrisette (it is ironic, whether you believe it or not) at the forefront. We've chased Bownsy out of his cage before, and can do it again. Crash the net, make him uncomfortable. It brings us rewards when we do that. So why not again?

Predictions: Cardiff to win 4-2 on the Saturday, Steelers to edge Sunday 3-2 (might take OT or penalty shots but we will get a home win).
 

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