Welcome to our preview for the next Sheffield Steelers game.
The games are coming thick and fast for the Steelers as the season builds up for a massive conclusion. Three trophies will be decided in the next two months, who will take them? Wednesday night, tomorrow, sees the Steelers back on the road and southbound to face this team:
Yes we face Andrew Lord and his Cardiff Devils in the second leg of the Challenge Cup semi-final. The Steelers hold a 6-2 lead going into Ice Arena Wales but will this be enough to see them over the finishing and face the winners of the Belfast-Nottingham tie back at the same venue on the first Sunday in March? I would love to say yes, but having seen the team fall apart as easily as they did in the second half of Sunday's game against Manchester, I have doubts. That and our record in Cardiff as well.
We don't have the best of records these days in Ice Arena Wales, and usually start off very sluggish which means that the Devils have a head of steam and roll like a red juggernaut towards us. They are going to come at us hard and play at lot of in your face hockey, putting us on the back foot almost straight away. Steelers need to be strong and focused and repel these hordes if they are to see of the current Challenge Cup holders whilst taking advantage of any chances they may fashion at the other end of the ice.
The shorthanded marker by Joey Haddad could also prove to be a pivotal moment in the tie. It gave the Devils a way back in the semi-final which looked seriously beyond them when were trailing 6-1. Cardiff's raucous support will be more raucous than ever and make it an intimidating atmosphere, we must not let it get to us if we are to succeed. If Miika Franssila is fit to play, as Paul Thompson suggested he might be in his Storm post-game interview, this would give Steelers all seven defencemen and maybe again a forward role for Zack Fitzgerald in a bid to neutralise the Devils offence. Andreas Jรคmtin's check to the head penalty against Manchester will also have been assessed by DoPS and whatever the outcome of it, that might cause a tweak here or there.
It's gonna be hard, make no bones about it. The tie is far from over I feel.
My prediction? Devils are going to take the second leg and the tie as well I fear. They will be relentless for 60 minutes, and take the game 7-2 on the night (9-8 overall). I'd love to be proven wrong but the realist in me can't see it I'm afraid. How do you see it unfolding?
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