Hockey Soapbox - Season 3 Week 17 - Giant Slayers

Welcome one and all to this week's Hockey Soapbox.

On the panel this week offering their views are your Editor-In-Chief Mark, the lovably eccentric Eric, the well opinionated Nathan, Junior Member George and the delightful views from both Sarah and Fay. You want to know what's on their minds? Time to read on below...

1. Five Words On Saturday

Forgotten about after Sunday’s result

More Poor Discipline = Road Loss

A big opportunity was wasted

Should have taken our chances

Not taking chances cost us

Huff and Puff no reward

2. Five Words On Sunday

Where Did That Come From?

Get Goulakos off penalty killing

Giant Slaying Comes To Sheffield

Where has this team been?! 

Hopefully Belfast’s league chances gone

Dominant, brilliant, satisfying, hilarious, deserved!

3. Have you ever seen a performance as good as Sunday’s?

George: No. Not in a long long time. The Giants had no excuse; and have gotten nothing from their weekend. They had a big travelling support; and let them down big style. The Steelers were rampant and deservedly got the two points. Very good bounce back performance from the disappointment the day before.

Mark: There's been a few good games at the House Of Steel as good as Sunday. The 8-1 hammering over the Panthers, a 9-4 beating of them as well. However, I'm going for the 11-0 against Cardiff when we went goal crazy in midweek, just days after they had beaten us in the Challenge Cup on home ice. Devils lost their collective marbles that night, just like Giants did on Sunday. It was a pivotal moment that helped us a long way in securing the 2015 league title.

Sarah: Well certainly not this season. We out worked and out played them. Belfast just didn’t know how to respond and just started acting like goons. I never expected us to win to be honest let alone beat them like we did. We seemed a lot faster and just wanted it more than them. It just shows how important it is to get a good start to the game. 

Eric: Well yes I have, I think the demolition of the Panthers during the Christmas double header a couple of seasons ago. Had a VIP suite a few friends joined us and we completely destroyed them. Not sure but I think it was a similar result on the score sheet. Sunday’s game, however,  against Belfast must be put into context, no doubt that was the best performance I’ve seen from a Paul Thompson side since his reign began. They did thrash the Giants, who, if I’m honest went 3 or 4 down quite quickly and decided to try goon tactics, once that had been seen through by the officials it really was game over. Belfast were poor if I’m honest. But I’m taking nothing off the Steelers, they were awesome.

Fay: It was incredible. Came close to the playoff game against Nottingham last year emotion wise!

Nathan: Where has that team been all season?  But Seriously* as much as we were good and looked like scoring every time we stepped over their blue line, Belfast were pretty much the masters of their own downfall. Poor discipline, silly penalties and to concede 3 S/H goals is just criminal. The 2 early goals rocked them and they never really recovered. Still, great performance by our guys and for once I was impressed with Westerling. More next weekend please!

* is an album by Phil Collins 

4. Thoughts on Ronnberg’s return?

Mark: We needed defensive depth for sure, and have a guy who knows the systems we play and the League as well so no real adjusting to do. He's like Marmite, some like him and some don't. But the fact he wants to play for us, really must say a lot about his character and what the team means to him personally. Loved the video announcing the latest return; excellently put together.

Sarah: Will he stay or will he go? He must love the club to come back yet again. We need another D man for sure, any help of D is needed. I still wish he’d use his body more but he’s a stay at home D man and we needed it.

Eric: Thought Ronnberg’s return certainly helps the cause. Solid D man who certainly does the basics right. He certainly improves the Steelers D. My concerns are still there regarding his size and ability to step in when the opposition start taking liberties. As was emphasised when Shudra took a check to the head. Nearest player was Ronnberg. What did he do. Nothing! Nada! It was left to Jono to step up. Now that cannot be right! And it’s that which worries me..

Fay: Pleased we have signed someone who will fit straight back into the team.

Nathan: Pleased to see him back as I quite liked him before he left and as much as he's not everyone's cup of tea he ticks the boxes as far as I'm concerned. Anyone who wants him to start throwing his weight around and fighting anything that moves really has missed the point. Not sure about the hero's welcome but the video was pretty good nonetheless. 

George: He is the missing piece of the jigsaw. Such a skilful defenceman. He is a big presence as well, and can deliver ridiculous hits. Probably our second best defenceman to Matheson.

5. Which teams will miss out on the top eight?

Sarah: Edinburgh, MK, Coventry and either Dundee or Braehead. It going to be a battle between Dundee and Braehead for that final spot. 

Eric: I would think it will be Edinburgh and either Dundee or Flames. (Obviously Eric has not realised he needed to name four - Ed.)

Fay: MK, Coventry, Edinburgh and Braehead.

Nathan: Capitals. Lightning. Blaze. Clan. 

I can see the Stars qualifying as they seem to be on a decent run atm. Also Lawrence is back!

George:  9. MK - Not good enough however they have a real tough barn to visit, however home wins won’t be enough.

10. Braehead - Absolutely woeful. Maybe the worst team I have seen play at the Arena. 

11. Coventry - Dreadful. One of their better players is one of our ex fourth line wingers, which just shows what sort of team they are.

12. Edinburgh - Sad to see their team doing so badly. But they will obviously miss out.

Mark: Like most I'm going for Edinburgh, MK, Coventry and the Clan. It was a tough decision choosing the Clan over the Stars but the latter seem to have found renewed confidence which coincides with the return of Chris Lawrence. Mind you, that's until they face us in the play-off quarter finals hehe...

6. And finally, who would you sit as the spare import when Fitzy returns?

Eric: Ah! The easy question last. Other than helping out on the special teams, the only person that Thompson could possibly leave out would be Wallace. Every day and twice on Sunday. All the others, The young brits, Westerling etc are starting to come good. Wallace however, is still really struggling in my eyes. We need everyone firing on all cylinders going down the stretch. Wallace is simply nowhere near.

Fay: Would rest anyone who has a knock or injury. Looks to be Fretter based on recent interviews.

Nathan: I have absolutely no idea. Perhaps Roy and save him for the weekend?  Who knows. Not a decision I'd want to have to make truth be told.

George: Wallace. Not good enough. 

Mark: Rest who is carrying a knock but once all bodies are healed then it's a tough decision to make. Perhaps it'll be Gromit (Wallace and Gromit pun deliberately intended) as he hasn't made the massive impression that I and most expected from him after his highly rated resume.

Sarah: Whoever is injured or needs rest! I hope Thommo doesn’t sit the same player every game like he did with Ramsay. Fretter has got an injury anyway so that solves the dilemma for now. I’d probably say Wallace in terms of performance but it would be good to rest players especially with the schedule that’s coming up. Players should have to fight for their place, if a player isn’t performing then don’t give them the game time.

And that's this week's Soapbox for you; join us for more next time.

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on Twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-

@FrozenSteelBlog

@FrozenSteelMNL

@FrozenSteelJr

@BTI_Podcast

@hockeybhoy

@Disgu15ed

@SedgyFergus

@georgefbarber

Check out Breaking The Ice Available to listen and download on iTunes and SoundCloud.

Or Email the team at Frozen Steel

You can also get involved in Steelers related discussions by joining the forums at Steel Talk

Giants slain for eight by rampant Steelers

Welcome to our match report from Sunday's unforgettable game when we entertained the Belfast Giants.

After slipping up in Milton Keynes on the Saturday, Steelers headed back looking for a response on the Sunday. However, in opposition were Adam Keefe's Belfast Giants: a team that had held the upper hand in previous games this season with the Steelers only recording one win in the six played so far. Steelers team news saw Swedish forward Andreas Jämtin return to the line up after completing a three game suspension whilst Colton Fretter, Robert Dowd and John Armstrong remained on the injured list. Giants had a few injury problems of their own as Mark Garside, Stephen Murphy and Dustin Johner were absent. Former Steeler Ashley Tait was added to the roster to add more depth on the night for the visitors.

Steelers were the first team to be penalised on the night as former Giant David Phillips was called for an interference minor, but the Steelers penalty kill showed why it was one of the best in the league by negating the man advantage even if the Giants had plenty of looks including a goalmouth scramble. 36 seconds after the penalty expired, the Steelers opened the scoring. Jämtin did superbly to break up a Giants move in the visitors zone and then Cole Shudra showed great vision to feed fellow teenager Liam Kirk whose one-timer fizzed past Jackson Whistle for the forward's 6th of the season. The goal announcement hadn't finished when the Steelers added a second 26 seconds later, Andreas Valdix fed Ben O'Connor who waltzed through the Giants defence and scored a delightful goal that had people purring. It was Ben's 11th of the season.

The Giants were shell-shocked, and just over a minute later shipped a third to the rampant Steelers who clearly scented that they could really take the visitors to town and dish up a heavy beating. Whistle offered a rebound from a Scott Aarssen shot and Levi Nelson basically said "Thank you very much." as he pocketed the third unmarked, and his 15th of the season. This was the cue for Keefe to call a time out but it seemed to have not much of an effect as players from his side started to lose their own personal discipline. But they were given a chance when Nelson was assessed a double minor for accidental high-sticks, yet remarkably this failed to produce a goal for but instead a fourth Steelers goal. Spiro Goulakos, who was being mercilessly booed every time he touched the puck, lost possession on the blue line and Jämtin raced clear. The Swede confused Whistle with a brilliant move before finishing confidently short-handed and score his 7th of the season. What a way to return back to the line up!

Could the Giants stem the bleeding in the second, goals wise? Well they did, as the Steelers only scored once in the middle period but embarrassingly enough for the Northern Irish team: it was a second shorthanded goal. With Valdix sitting a hooking minor, O'Connor took possession of a loose puck and skated away down the left wing before firing an effort into the roof of Whistle's net despite the netminder getting a small piece of it. Ben's 12th of the season. But Giants became more and more indiscipline began to creep in, Sebastian Sylvestre sat a 2+10 check to the head and then as the period almost finished, Brendan Connolly launched himself late on Shudra which Steelers skipper Jonathan Phillips rightly took exception to. Connolly and Phillips picked up fighting majors for their altercation but it was also the end of the night for the Giants number 63 as he was also assessed a 5 plus Game for the late hit on the young Steelers forward.

Steelers had a five minute powerplay out of this but could only score once on it despite many looks, Matt Marquardt getting the decisive tip in front to net his 18th of the season at 41:33. With just under eight minutes to go, Keefe decided to end Whistle's night (not that he could be blamed for the majority of the goals conceded) and give Andrew Dickson the remainder of the game. Two minutes after his introduction, Dickson was fishing the puck out of the net as Steelers scored a seventh. Remarkably it was a third shorthanded goal of the evening as Steelers were defending an Aarssen slashing minor, O'Connor sending Jonas Westerling down the left and he produced a superb saucer pass that evaded the sole Giants defender (the much maligned Goulakos believe it or not) and skipper Phillips rammed the puck home at the far post. The scoring was complete with 50 seconds left in the game; another superb break by the Steelers as they bore down on Dickson 3 on 1 and Marquardt applied the coup de grace with a superb finish from the high slot for his 19th of the season. A night to remember for the Steelers, but one to seriously forget for the Giants.

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Steelers 8 Giants 0

Steelers Scoring: Marquardt 2+1, O'Connor 2+1, Jämtin 1+1, Valdix 0+2, Westerling 0+2, Kirk 1+0, J.Phillips 1+0, Nelson 1+0, Aarssen 0+1, Wallace 0+1, Matheson 0+1, Shudra 0+1.

Giants Scoring: Nobody!

Shots On Goal:  Steelers 30 Giants 31

Powerplay: Steelers 1 from 6 (17% conversion), Giants 0 from 6 (0% conversion)

Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 19 Giants 52

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 31 Saves (966), GAA: 0.00 (2.22), Save Percentage: 100.00% (92.30%).

Man of the Match: Ben O'Connor (Steelers), Colin Shields (Giants)

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on Twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-

@FrozenSteelBlog

@FrozenSteelMNL

@FrozenSteelJr

@BTI_Podcast

@hockeybhoy

@Disgu15ed

@SedgyFergus

@georgefbarber

Check out Breaking The Ice Available to listen and download on iTunes and SoundCloud.

Or Email the team at Frozen Steel

You can also get involved in Steelers related discussions by joining the forums at Steel Talk

Big Match Preview: Cardiff (Home)

Welcome to our preview of the next Sheffield Steelers game.

After the demolition of the Belfast Giants on Sunday, Steelers take a sidestep in midweek as they play the first leg of their Challenge Cup semi-final against these:

It's the current leaders of the Elite League and the defending Challenge Cup holders, Andrew Lord's Cardiff Devils. However due to apparent ice availability issues, this first leg will be played at Ice Sheffield rather than in the Arena. To me personally, that dilutes the chances we have of making the Final to be played again in IAW on the first Sunday in March. And added to that, do you remember what happened the last time we played a Challenge Cup semi-final at Ice Sheffield? Yeah, we got absolutely hammered.

Yet when the chips are down so to speak, the Steelers can actually turn up and upset the proverbial applecart. You only have to look back at that game against the Giants for example. Nobody gave the Steelers much hope against a Giants side which had the best of the head to head record this season' but produce they did. It will be tougher against the Devils though, they are an exceptional hockey side and are as good as last season's if not better. 

Team news will see the return of Zack Fitzgerald to the line up after the American defenceman had completed a five game suspension. It means that Steelers will have seven defencemen to choose from so don't be surprised if Paul Thompson sits an import forward and pushes Mark Matheson into a forward role to put the Devils under pressure. Devils will be without offensive defenceman Gleason Fournier as he sits game two of a two game suspension but they will just carry regardless without him. They have match winners all the place so Steelers will really produce their best ever showing to overcome.

My prediction? If this had been at the Arena, I would have fancied the Steelers to take this with a two goal advantage. As it is, we are at Ice Sheffield so I think it will be a single goal win for us which will be good for team morale but will also give the Devils an advantage considering how poor our record is at IAW overall. 3-2 the score. What about you?

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on Twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-

@FrozenSteelBlog

@FrozenSteelMNL

@FrozenSteelJr

@BTI_Podcast

@hockeybhoy

@Disgu15ed

@SedgyFergus

@georgefbarber

Check out Breaking The Ice Available to listen and download on iTunes and SoundCloud.

Or Email the team at Frozen Steel

You can also get involved in Steelers related discussions by joining the forums at Steel Talk

Lightning does unfortunately strike twice

Welcome to our match report from Saturday's game at Milton Keynes.

After completing an impressive four point weekend on their return to Elite League action, the Steelers headed south to Milton Keynes in the hope they could keep the momentum high and rise up the table. They had to do this without the injured duo of Robert Dowd and John Armstrong who were also joined by winger Colton Fretter with an unspecified injury whilst Kieran Brown was still on his way back after his knock. Joonas Ronnberg, who re-joined the team a few days earlier, was back on defensive duty.

The home side, desperate for a win, had a few injuries of their own. Forwards Tommy Mele and Kyle Essery were absent as was netminder Miika Wiikman who sustained a concussion in the Lightning's last game, former Panthers netminder Jindrich "Henry" Pacl started after only arriving in Buckinghamshire 24 hours ago on a short term deal.

It was a game that began at breakneck speed for the Steelers as they were awarded two chances on the powerplay before 10 minutes were up, the first one in the opening 24 seconds. However whilst they had a few looks, they couldn't convert. The chances were coming up but not being taken; and that was going to be the story of the night as the game unfolded for the Steelers. Then at 13:16, the Lightning scored and it was probably against the run of play too. Former Hull, Nottingham and Cardiff winger Guillaume Doucet wound up and from the right wing: arrowed an effort into the top corner of Ervins Mustukovs' net.

In the early stages of the middle period, Steelers had to kill a four minute powerplay given against Levi Nelson. It looked like an accidental high sticking call to most but for some unknown reason it was announced as a check to the head. Isn't that a 2+10 if we're mistaken? Anyway it gave Lightning a chance which they doubled their lead at 22:37, captain Kevin King blasting a shot in past Mustukovs from the right circle. The Steelers needed something to spark themselves into life and make one opportunity count, and they did it at 27:25 when Liam Kirk was given space in the high slot to fire home his 5th of the season past Pacl. The pressure continued and the scores were level at 32:07, Nelson taking advantage of a Pacl rebound to score his 14th of the season - the goal being awarded after a review which wasn't needed. 

Just over three and a half minutes later, Lightning regained the lead and in familiar fashion too. With Matt Marquardt sitting a roughing minor, the highly rated Lewis Hook snapped a shot from the right circle and high into the net: the third such goal that evening. Yet the teams should have been level going into the final period, Pacl couldn't hold onto a Nelson effort which the winger put away but the officials washed it off immediately believing that the Czech netminder had the puck covered up when he clearly didn't. A glaring error that could have been used for GLT but wasn't.

Steelers ran into a few penalty problems in the final twenty, and on their third powerplay of the period Lightning scored their fourth of the night and third powerplay strike. Another shot high from King that found the net over the shoulder of Mustukovs to give his side some much needed breathing space as Steelers continued to wrack up the chances. Despite pulling the Latvian netminder in the final 83 seconds, the Steelers couldn't find their way open and shipped a fifth with nine seconds left. Denny Kearney was serving a slashing minor, but Steelers coughed it up and Francis Verreault-Paul won the foot face that ensued to tuck it into the empty cage and secure the Lightning's win.

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Lightning 5 Steelers 2

Steelers Scoring: Kirk 1+0, Nelson 1+0, D.Phillips 0+1, Wallace 0+1, Matheson 0+1, O'Connor 0+1.

Lightning Scoring: Verreault-Paul 1+2. King 2+0, Hook 1+1, Hudson 0+2, Doucet 1+0, Foster 0+1, Pompi 0+1, Phillips 0+1.

Shots On Goal:  Steelers 47 Lightning 23

Powerplay: Steelers 0 from 5 (0% conversion), Lightning 3 from 7 (43% conversion)

Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 16 Lightning 10

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 18 Saves (935), GAA: 4.09 (2.28), Save Percentage: 81.80% (92.00%).

Man of the Match: Liam Kirk (Steelers), Kevin King (Lightning)

Thanks for reading guys. If you want to get involved please contact us on Twitter or find us on Facebook and like us and leave a comment:-

@FrozenSteelBlog

@FrozenSteelMNL

@FrozenSteelJr

@BTI_Podcast

@hockeybhoy

@Disgu15ed

@SedgyFergus

@georgefbarber

Check out Breaking The Ice Available to listen and download on iTunes and SoundCloud.

Or Email the team at Frozen Steel

You can also get involved in Steelers related discussions by joining the forums at Steel Talk