After a disappointing weekend to say the least, it's midweek hockey action for Paul Thompson's men. It's the first of five games in hand on runaway leaders Cardiff Devils. A win tomorrow will reduce the gap to ten points. Time to start hauling them in right?
Our visitors on this December evening are these fellows:
Yes it's former Steeler Marc LeFebvre and his Dundee Stars. A few weeks ago, many would have said this was a foregone conclusion and Steelers would romp it easily as Stars were rank bottom and struggling to find any consistency in a much changed roster which included Cale Tanaka (formerly of Hull and latterly of Coventry) and Vinny Scarsella who impressed in Manchester last season. But their fortunes started to really change when they took us to the cleaners and shut us out 4-0 in Dundee Ice Arena inspired by some outstanding goaltending by former Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Joe Fallon and Scarsella's hat-trick. They've never looked back since, and even though their league position shows a lowly 9th: they're improving.
Tomorrow's game has all the makings of a banana skin particularly if we underestimate them, and there's also the Ice Sheffield factor to consider too. Scottish teams tend to do well here, I think Fife and these Stars are the only ones who have failed to win a league game here (correct me if I am wrong). We need a polished performance, one that matches the commitment levels demanded by Paul and Jerry and in essence one that equals one that blew Edinburgh away in the Challenge Cup quarter-final two and half weeks ago. Play as good as that, Dundee might have a hard night in front of them.
It also marks the second debut of a certain Jace Coyle. The offensive Canadian is back for the remainder of the season, and since nobody else is wearing it: I expect him to be wearing 24 once more. The move allows Mike Ratchuk to show those offensive talents even more as a winger, Coyle taking the latter's place on the blue line. With the Club correctly not advising how much longer we will be without the services of Swedish centre Andi Valdix, this looks a smart move. When Valdix returns, we will have a bit of a dilemma to have. But that's for you Paul to contemplate over, so good luck with that one.
Verdict: Steelers to get back into the winning groove, a 4-1 win and two important points.
@FrozenSteelBlog
@FrozenSteelMNL
@hockeybhoy
@DISGU15ED
Don't forget to listen to our weekly podcast Breaking The Ice
It's available on iTunes to listen and download, also on Soundcloud
Or drop us an email to Frozen Steel Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment