Hockey Soapbox - Season 2 Week 11 - Dazed and Confused

A strange double-header against the Devils has left us Soapboxers ‘Dazed and Confused’ and not quite sure what to make of our team. Read on to find out what we made of it all.

It’s time to get on your soapboxes people – and say hello to a couple of new recruits, as we’ve got contributions from:  Mark Duell, Eric Green, Andy Roberts, Nathan Turner and Bethan, and for the first time featuring Amanda Turner, Nicki Blueitt and Sober Sam.

So to try to sort out our thoughts on those two games, let’s have your five word summaries – and let’s see if you can match the comments to the contributor!

Saturday:

Exhilarating atmosphere, exciting game, WIN

Great win on the road!

Smooth, skilful, well played hockey.

Absolutely stunning road win Steelers.

A well-executed away win.

Fast. Effective. Clinical. Focused. Improving.

Started bright but fell asleep.

Wasn’t there so can’t comment! (Editor : Little things like that never stop me!!)

Sunday :

Frustrating and a disappointing loss!

What the heck was that?

Wake up, the coffee's free!

Absolutely abysmal home game Steelers.

Failing to perform at home.

Sloppy. Clueless. Stagnant. Outplayed. Poor.

Got what we deserved. Nothing.

The less said the better.

That tells you most of what you need to know, but starting on the positives, what was your favourite moment?

• Amanda – A couple for me. The whole trip to Cardiff what a fab place!  Great set up and everyone was so friendly - we could learn a few things from it! Schultz and Fitzgerald stood out for me this weekend neither back down and both are workhorses.
• Mark - Fitzy sticking up for young Cole in Cardiff. What further proof do you need to that big Zack is a team player and he sticks up for his team-mates?
• Eric - Not seeing the invisible Swede's. They are invisible for a reason, because they are all doing simple things right, not one of them had a bad weekend for me, especially the American one.
• Nicki -Valdix has to be my favourite player of the weekend - he has really come alive in the last month. Scoring and assisting in every game. I do feel like he is carrying some players around him though.  But the biggest moment of the of the weekend has to be young Cole stepping up in that away Cardiff game and not looking out of place. Took a massive hit and didn’t let him affect him at all. Really hope he turns into the star we long for and follow in his dad’s footsteps.
• Andy - Zack Fitzgerald - who knew he had super soft, silky mitts in the locker? Pulling moves both nights and scoring Saturday!
• Bethan - I really noticed Ratchuk tonight, he was fast and battled for every puck until the buzzer, well after some of his teammates had started to hang their heads. Starting to see more of his skill as well, though him coming forward when we only have 4 D maybe isn't the best option!
• Sam - I missed what started the Fitzy’s fight and can't say I paid much attention to the game (I decided to put in as much effort to watching as they did playing) so I'll go with KissCam on the Devils players in the box (yes the game was that bad...)
• Nathan – Fitzy’s goal in Wales was superb, and some great goals followed. Also, was very impressed with Cardiff’s new arena.

But on the downside…and following Sunday’s shambles I expect this to be a slightly longer section:

• Nicki - The terrible home effort. Two league points chucked away, but more worrying was the way we didn’t even get out of the traps. Bullied all over the ice. OK we were missing key players but that’s not a good enough excuse.
• Sam - Where the hell do I start? What frustrates me with Sunday is how only Moose, Fitzy and Dowd appeared to turn up. If it wasn't for Moose that result could've been a whole lot worse. At times we looked like we had never met let alone played together. I accept losing; we're never going to win every game. What I can't accept is how we lost Sunday. As I spent most of the match looking at my phone I'm not going to say much else. Cardiff certainly seems to be our bogey team this year. I've seen on social media people saying you don't win the league in October. Very true - but you can lose it. I'd rather we lost on Saturday if we were to lose one last weekend.
• Nathan - Being told to sing along to Sw**t Caroline when we are getting demolished by Cardiff. PLAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!!!!!
• Bethan - I don't care about the loss, we're never going to win every game. But the way we lost on Sunday really wasn't good - the team came unstuck, with errant passes and shots a country mile from the net. Hopefully just a one-off bad night!
• Mark - The lack of cohesion and passing ability at home. We looked like a bunch of strangers who had just met minutes beforehand. Three shots in the first period against a back-up? That was just extracting the urine I'm afraid. Unacceptable.
• Andy - Cardiff had their back up nettie in, so you would hope that we would be peppering him with shots from all angles. Not us! We manage 3 shots on target in the 1st period (none of them testing) and not too many others wide or over the bar. My other big gripe (there are a million others but will leave it at 2) how can we only have four players on the ice for an age with two experienced coaches on the bench? Unbelievable!
• Amanda - Biggest moan I am afraid is my interpretation of the assistant coach comment on twitter referring to the result after Sunday's game being due to the fact of the guys were tired from the journey back from Cardiff.  Seems like excuses to me!  There is still work to be done but we learn from it that is what we want to be reading!
• Eric - I think we have been here 12 months ago. How can a team be so inconsistent in less than 24 hours? (Editor : Or extending that thought, how can two teams be that inconsistent against each other in 24 hours!)

Looking forward towards the ‘hot and cold’ Fife Flyers  at the Arena next week, how are you feeling?

• Sam - I'm looking forward to seeing Fife. I hope the defence is looked at again during this week, and it will be good to see Moyer back to thank him for his efforts last season.
• Eric – Looking forward to it! Yes their net minder may be good, as he showed a couple of weekends ago, but we will be fired up and stinging from the Cardiff fiasco at the Arena. It's the first game of the weekend, so we will be fresh and up for it. O'Connor and Nelson, could hopefully be back. If you had asked on Saturday, then yes I think Fife will take a beating. Now 24 hours later - Don't ask me to predict that one!
• Amanda - No expectations for Fife - just hopes that we get it right!
• Bethan - Fife are doing alright for themselves so far, with 4 wins from 6 league games, so it should be an interesting game. Will finally get to see the banner being raised too, though they might have to brush off the dust first!
• Mark - Always a good feeling to see a banner raised, but if we underestimate them and play like we did against Cardiff at home, we could have our arses well and truly bitten. That's the worry.
• Nicki - Fife up next will be a tough battle as they will be hurting from the Clan spanking them last weekend and my god they looked very poor on Saturday night. Moyer will have a point to prove and that pesky Sisca upfront won’t miss if he gets a chance. Sadly I won’t make the away game due to work, I’m gutted. Last time we were in Fife we all had big smiles from winning the league. This time I will be happy with just two points.
• Nathan - I'm looking forward to the Flyers game, as I always do, but this team is starting to worry me again. Here's hoping that the 'Best coach in the league' can sort things out ASAP, otherwise changes may need to be made.
• Andy - I am looking forward to the weekend (well Saturday anyways as I can't make the journey to Kirkcaldy on Sunday). We finally raise the Championship banner and it gives us a good chance to right some wrongs. Also I will finally get to see Sebastien Thinel who I have wanted at the House of Steel for a number of years. The Steelers really need a 4 point weekend but I am half expecting a split weekend with both teams winning their home leg.

Editor p.s. : The five word weekend’s were in alphabetical order if you want to play pin the tale (lol) on the donkey soapboxer.

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.
• Amanda is @ajt1971 and the other half of @NJT75Owl and she doesn’t mind Sweet Caroline!
• 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, and has loved the team ever since being dragged along to her first Steelers game in 2007. 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
• Nicki is a keen Robert Dowd fan, who’s been following the Steelers from the start. Transported by fate to live just outside Glasgow, and thus has to split herself between the Steelers and Clan. You will find her singing and shouting in RTB218, Section N, and via @owlsteeler
• 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.
• Sam is the one sat in 106 not partaking in Sweet Caroline and praying it's not played the following period. When not not doing that she can be found on @Sam_26
• Tony has been watching the Steelers on and off since Tony Hand arrived, and has been a regular for the last ten years or so. Enjoys contributing to the blog with his weekly five things and can be found @Disgu15ed