Hockey Soapbox - Season 2 Week 9 - Unconvincing wins

So after two wins, and a four point weekend is it time to celebrate, or bemoan nearly chucking away both results after strong starts. Read on and find out! Here’s our latest Frozen Steel Soapbox where we’ll bring you some views and thoughts from a selection of Sheffield Steelers hockey fans.

It's never a dull day in Steelerland, and we're never happier than when we're moaning, so expect the worst as we get on our soapboxes!

We’ve got contributions from:  Mark Duell, Eric Green, Robert Newbolt, Fergus Wright, Andy Roberts and Nathan Turner.

Let us know which person best matches with your view - if any!

So let’s get straight into it - Is two scrappy wins against teams we would hope to beat good enough?

• Mark - Not really as we made such hard work of it all. The only positives I can draw are that we are scoring goals and winning games. The rest of my hair is going to fall out before Christmas comes round. Are we switching off too damn early, thinking the game is won? See it out, play a hard 60 minutes. It isn't bloody rocket science, it's just simple hockey.
• Andy - 2 wins and 4 point weekends are always good are they? Well they should be but this week (even though we had a 0 point weekend last week) it doesn't feel like it! Two games taken by the horns to gain a sizeable lead, and then managed to almost blow both games. We need to start feeding the D raw meat and hope they get altitude sickness when they cross the red line. Where's Steeeve Munn when you need him?
• Eric - Yes they were scrappy, but honestly, and I know I've already said it previously, they were scrappy because WE made them scrappy, we gave away good leads. On the up side, credit to the guys to grit it out. However we really do need to look at the D - scoring 5 a game is a big ask for the forwards (even with Ben chipping in!)
• Nathan - At this stage I would say yes. Although there are still issues aplenty the main thing is we won the most important game (Braehead) in regulation time and any win on the road is a good win. Even if it's won in O/T or on P/S.
• Fergus - Not in a millions years, crap play but we battled to win twice, not everything can be pretty ... and scrappy wins are the ones that win the league. Also moose is skating on thin ice at the moment, he will be looking for another job at this rate, to concede so many goals on a weekly basis and be first choice netty is shocking, he makes Pinc look phenomenal.
• Robert - The main thing is that no matter how many are scored against us I have not yet seen a game where we have never looked like scoring. Having said that there must come a time when we will not score five against an opposing side to win. Therein lays the problem. Something must be done about re-organising the defence because without that Moose will lose the tag of being a 92% netminder. Have no doubt Mustukovs is not the problem but he must be looking at his CV and thinking “this will not look good for future work”. If I were him I would be looking to see if I can get out of my contract. Alex Dampier once said don’t blame the netminder there are five more players in front of him – remember the club wins as a team and loses as a netminder.

What about the Clan game - Did Finner lose it, or did we win it?

• Mark - For 40 minutes of that game, we were in control - end of. Clan weren't getting a look in but we switched off, took dumb penalties and left the door open for them. Ryan got lucky because of this, and I don't know why he thought his goalie was outstanding: he was pish! Why do we do this to ourselves? It's just causing unwanted stress but then again being a Steelers fan – but you have to be used with it by now. Life's never dull.
• Nathan - We won it and Finner lost it. Starting to sound like a broken record now but we started well, looked great going forward, power play is starting to take shape, sort of, and then things go pear shaped at the back and we let the opposition back into it. 2 points is 2 points though and while we all would love to see it, that elusive shutout is never going to happen playing the way we are.
• Fergus - Once again we played shite but hey ho a win is a win I guess.
• Robert - Braehead lost a game which, having a two goal momentum in the third they should have wrapped up.
• Andy - Did Finner lose the game Saturday. Far from it, he nearly won it. The second period break speech must have been 'Churchhillian' from him. A sloppy goal conceded by Moose gave them a sniff and they liked what they smelt. Going forward we look great at the minute and look like we can score at will (hope this continues as we may need them). At the back we seem too soft. It's about time we started shifting these screens in front of Moose as they seem to be making better doors than windows. We have missed Steeeve Munn since his retirement. That said I thought Bjorklund had a much better game than previous week. 
• Eric - Yep... Finner lost his bench, and then proceeded to re-arrange the Arena furniture and crockery. We were helped through poor officiating and a coach not being able to control his guys. (Credit to Clan for making a game of it in the third period). But honestly Steelers, the Clan should never have had a sniff of winning it...

Did you go to Manchester and what were your thoughts?

• Nathan - Same old story. Coast into an unassailable lead and then proceed to press the self-destruct button. It has to be said though that there were some truly bizarre calls made by the stripes in Altrincham and some even more suspect D work – however - our first taste of 3 on 3 O/T and then the shootout was great, and seeing the Storm fans throwing their toys out of the pram when their last P/S got wiped off was hilarious.
• Fergus - YORKSHIRE YORKSHIRE YORKSHIRE .... also on a side note, what the hell are the officials doing? Called fights on roughing and made some unusually awful calls? (Editor – I always try to add in a YOURSHITE into that chant – just to see if the Oppo pick it up – easy pleased)
• Robert - I didn’t go to Manchester but I think everyone must be appalled that Steelers let a three goal lead slip in 10 minutes. If Thompson and Anderson are not asking questions they ought to be.
• Mark - No but it was bloody deja vu again from the night before. 4-1 up and almost screw it. I bet Thommo will have more grey hairs in the next month than he has ever had. But a win is a win, regardless how ugly or not it is achieved.
• Andy - I didn't go to Manchester on Sunday as I had a date with a lot of doughnuts. Again a big lead is given away with under 5 minutes to go. From the highlights it looked a feisty game and what a rivalry game should be like. None of this recent games against our nearest and dearest down the M1 type stuff 
• Eric - Cannot comment on the game at Manchester as I didn't go, other than when we won on New Year's Day it was a stormer of a game. It seems tonight was no different. But again, come on guys, another game 4-1 to the good, and we then give up 3 goals in 3 mins 25 seconds. Come on, get a grip. Yes well done for winning, well done for putting 3 penalty shots away, but the BIG question is.. "Should it have got that far"? My opinion "a big fat NO!!

Any views on the refereeing this weekend?

• Andy - Generally Saturday's reffing was ok in my opinion. Sure Finner doesn't agree but not sure how he can moan about the misconducts and powerplay when Jono was interfered with by their bench. Some strange pens seem to be handed out by Sunday's ref though. Couple of fighting majors dished out when at worst they were a 2 minute roughing minor. I am obviously basing my view on the highlights which don't always show the full picture. Was this guy a new ref stepping up or a guest from a different league?
• Robert - Tom Pering never has been good enough for EIHL hockey, we saw that last season and the young Czech in Manchester is a bit of an unknown quantity so I’ll reserve judgement.
• Eric - I have absolutely no views on the EIHL officiating, well none that can be written here anyway. Worth saying that we had Canadians sat behind us at the Arena Saturday, and post-game I asked them what they thought? They replied that the officials should be given lessons in Canada. So as a PC answer.. POOR. Come on EIHL even Finnerty reserved judgement post game.
• Fergus - As above, Shocking.
• Nathan - I can't really say too much about the standard of the officiating other than as bad as it is for all teams that's how it's going to stay for the long term unless something is done to help them. It's a shame because we all want the league as a whole to move forward and improve. 4 man system anyone?
• Mark - Mr Pering was his usual unpredictable self. One minute fairly reasonable, next baffling. Not changing one iota. How he got on POFW 2016 list I don't know.  Sunday’s Jan the man - I will reserve judgement until I see him live but early indications are that he's a bit keen.

Is our defence good enough to turn this around?

• Nathan - From what I've seen so far we're going to have to accept that we are a team that will concede goals and will simply have to outscore other teams in order to win. Great for the neutral, but not so great for the old ticker. Moose played better on Sunday night but the D as a whole is very wobbly.
• Andy - I believe at present the D we have can turn things around (Seems I have been popping the over optimistic pills again). Ratchuk has shown pre-season he has a nastier side to him which we need to return just without the game misconducts. We need a few more big (legal) checks going in too as we seem to be happy admiring the skating skills of the opposition forwards. Oh and I feel sorry for Bjorklund as I bought a shirt with his name on. I don't have a good track record on that front. There was a reason I never bought a Steeeve Munn top!
• Robert - The defence is not the problem they are all good players it is the pairings.
• Fergus - Defence yeah, Netminder no. Anyone who disagrees about Moose after this weekend feel free to tweet me your reasons so I can put you right at @SedgyFergys ... no but seriously how long is it going to be until his past reputation no longer lets him get away with some really bad goaltending.
• Eric - NO! They are not good enough. Brilliant going forward, but I think we have enough good forwards to take care of business in that department. As good as they are even they cannot average 4-5 goals a game. I really am starting to worry about the D and the netminder. Working all week for the last two weeks on defensive frailties by the coaching staff doesn't seem to be working. Can they turn it around with the current roster? NOPE don't think so.
• Mark - Of course it can, but I would them to communicate better. Make smart decisions you know? Perhaps try new partnerships in training. We certainly miss the steading influence of Russ Moyer I think. The two injured spells for Franzon have got to be a minor worry for Thommo; perhaps more phone calls to Bladworth's number one son is in order? Wouldn't harm. The more stable the defence, the more stable Moose becomes. End of

 

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, 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
• 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