20 Things that you may or may not know: Featuring FSB Editor Mark

Welcome to a quirky little article that I've decided to throw in during the off-season. I present to you dear FSB readers, 20 things that you might or might not know about me. Yes that's my ugly mush pictured above at the top of this piece...

The article will probably get not as many views as a normal article, but it is - as I state at the start: quirky. 

20 Things about FSB Editor Mark

1.  I should have been called Marc but Dad spelt it incorrectly on my birth certificate. I was to be named after Marc Bolan, the lead singer of T-Rex, whom I was told Mam quite liked...

2. I was born four days late on Hallowe'en 1971. Guess this explains why I can be a bit stubborn then.

3.  Within hours of being born, I marked my arrival into the world by p*ssing over the nurse.  Nothing like making an instant impact, eh?

4.  I went to my first hockey game at the tender age of 8 when I literally begged my family to let me go on the school trip to it. Never looked back since..

5.  I started to take an interest in the NHL a few months later watching the Oilers and being mesmerised by "The Great One" (Mr G). Both him and Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux seemed like gods.

6.  My NHL team is New Jersey Devils, and I've supported them since 1991. Martin Brodeur became my hero and I admit I would wear 30 on my back if I was a goalie.

7.  Now if I was an outskater, I'd go for 4 if playing D after the wrecking ball that was Scott Stevens and 68 or 71 if a forward. 68 because of Jaromir Jagr and 71 after the year I was born.

8.  At school I was a more decent rugby player actually. Used to playing hard contact games eh? I captained my school for a couple of years until...

9.  I've got no cartilages in my knees after a freak rugby training session accident at 15. I had to have major surgery on them and repair my Achilles which was shredded in the same incident.

10. I've had numerous nicknames in the past from Prof (after my geeky looks) to Aardvark. I'm now known as either Basil (after Basil Brush) or Mad Dog. Just look my initials and you'll see why the latter sticks.

11.  I am a bit of a sports fanatic and will watch most sports. However, one sport I never watch is tennis (not even for some of the pretty ladies). Each to their own I suppose..

12.   Up to the age of 26 I had long hair, which kinda tells you what sort of music I like. Then I noticed I was going thin on top, next thing out came the clippers and I shaved it off. I miss the long hair look.

13.  My musical taste is usually rock and metal. Favourite current band is Alter Bridge, closely followed by Shinedown. You should see my music collection, it's pretty large...

14.   If I had to be stranded on a desert island with someone I don't know, it would have to be with Rachel Hunter (Liam Stewart's Mam). Just think of her in the "Stacy's Mom" video...

15.  Picking four dinner guests (alive or not) would probably read the afore mentioned Ms Hunter, Martin Brodeur and Henrik Larsson. Nice mix of people; wouldn't you say?

16.   One food I could eat all the time would be pasta or anything pasta orientated. I am addtionally quite partial to a decent steak and also will happily consume a Chinese, Indian or Italian dish if need be.

17.   Favourite drink has to be either a decent hand pulled real ale or any continental beer such as Budvar. If I am sticking to soft drinks, I quite like a nice cold glass of ginger beer..blame Nan for that!

18.  So what's my favourite movie? I like action movies, thrillers, horror, sci-fi or a good comedy to be honest. But if I had to pick one it's the best fictional disaster movie going: "The Towering Inferno" which starred Paul Newman and Steve McQueen.

19.  Favourite hockey rink outside Sheffield? Now that's a tough call. I'll probably go with the "O" in Belfast because it has Rockies so close by. Coming close are Braehead and the Kinnarps in Jonkoping, Sweden. Least favourite? Never liked the BBT at all.

20.   My favourite holiday destination has to be New Zealand, I could honestly live there. Mind you, I wouldn't mind waking up on Xmas Day and spending it on Bondi Beach in Oz. Closer to home it's the County Down countryside or my native North East.

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The Walkeden Review - Steelers Make A Double Swoop

The Sheffield Steelers have made a double signing and they have brought in 25-year-old American Goaltender Josh Unice and 28-Year-Old Slovakian Tomas Petruska.

It has come to the attention that goaltender Frank Doyle has been playing hurt for some time and it has now come to the time where he just can't continue to play anymore so Sheffield made the move for the former #86 overall third round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007 draft.

It's safe to say that this is a gamble on Unice as he hasn't really had a shot at a professional level, He has had a short stint in Slovakia but it didn't work out well for him only playing in 2 games but at the end of 25 he's still very young. As G said in an interview we aren't going to go out and find another Frank Doyle at the end of January but we had three options open to us and Unice was the strongest of the three. Looking at Josh's stats he has had a very good university career and he's coming here to prove himself. Josh flew to Sheffield on Friday and trained with his new team mates and will start the game on Saturday against Coventry as the Steelers look to pick up their form. Josh has represented USA at U17, U18 and U20 level as well as getting U18 goaltender of the year in 2007 so somebody somewhere rates and I look forward to seeing him in a Steelers Jersey.

After the sacking of Danny Bois on Monday his replacement has come in the shape of highly rated Slovakian forward Tomas Petruska. Petruska is a right-handed shot who has put some big numbers up in Europe however more noticeable is his most recent team Graz 99ers in Austria where in 20 games he's only managed 9 points (4+5) but I think that could be to do with his ice time sometimes you can see a player go to a league they don't know and won't have quite the same impact just because their ice time drops. With Petruska coming to the Steelers and with Fretter possibly still out injured I wouldn't be surprised to see Tomas on the top line along with Forney and Roy but there is a chance Petruska won't feature tonight for the Steelers as he flies into Sheffield Saturday night and if there is any delays he won't be playing but if all goes well and as planned then G is expecting him in the line-up tonight.

Looking at Petruska's honours he had a very successful season last year winning the Danish Cup with Herning as well as making it into the All-Star team. It also looks like he is a man that enjoys the post season for example 2012 he scored 21 points in 13 games (8+13) or in 2013 in 7 relegation games scored 12 points (4+8) and then last season scored 15 points in 12 games (8+7). So it just comes to show that he can put numbers up and I'm sure he will for us hopefully starting tonight.

So welcome to both Josh and Tomas and we wish you all the best in Sheffield and hope you both have a successful stay.

I'm also playing in the UK Forum All-Stars 2015 in Sheffield representing the Blue Cross for a second year in a row and any donations big or small will be appreciated and you can donate by pressing the button to the right.

Thanks for reading guys. Any questions or comments please get in contact with the Frozen Steel Team on this article, Facebook or via Twitter:-
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Not Still Worrying Are We?

Trust In This Man, He Will Deliver!!

This is like London buses I don’t write anything for months and then two come along in the space of a week!

Right so basically what I want to know is: Why are people panicking so much about us having a team ready for the new season?

So Its Nearly The End!!

Were near the end of March which can only mean one thing its nearly the end of the elite league hockey season a part of the season that lets be honest no one likes. It been a strange season not a season that everyone expected! Before the season started and with the appointment of Doug Christiansen in charge we all thought we'd be on for a championship and with the players recruited we probably should have had one but how was we supposed to know we'd have injury after injury and we was struggling to keep players fit from pretty much week one of the season. I remember from really earlier on in the season we had the likes of Chad Langlais, Danny Meyers and Dustin Kohn all out injured for weeks and having a team that usually consists of 6 D men suddenly became 3 and we was looking stretched. The season started brilliantly with a 4-2 win in Coventry on the opening night but we was soon brought back down to earth on the Sunday by them lot just down the road. Our team didn't really start well and people had a lot of doubts at the start of the season I mean take Frank Doyle for example he didn't look all that at the start of the season but if you look at him now he is the stand out man every single night and gives us the opportunity to win every single match night.

It took the team awhile to pick up a four point weekend as the players just didn't seem to making the scratch and that showed after just 6 weeks when Rylan Galiardi was released from his contract and I think that was down to the fact he just wasn't better than anything we already had or could replace him with it would however be interesting to find out what went on with Galiardi! Sheffield fans have seen several players come and go this season and it was a pleasure to see the likes of Ilpo Salmavirta put on the orange jersey despite only being in Sheffield for a month and we unfortunately wasn't treated to a goal we did see him show what he can do with the puck and that was countless assists on match nights and how good did he look with DiCasmirro and Sirianni? those three were dangerous on the same line and that's another player that has since left and that's Robert Sirianni who had a clause in his contract which eventually meant he left to return to Italy! but does anyone remember Sirianni's debut?? a hat trick against the Cardiff Devils and it was that night I think everyone saw what a player we had and during his time at the club he certainly put up his fair share of points.

So its been a mixed season with players coming and going which saw Sirianni leave and Steelers sign Chris Blight who had just been released from Cardiff at the end of January but the end of a small era was coming and it came after the 1st leg of the challenge cup semi-final, Sheffield lost to Nottingham and it saw the end of Doug Christiansen despite the recent good league form with a good winning streak in December and January including three wins v Panthers in a row but it just wasn't good enough and it had been prove that Christiansen was the wrong man for the job and Tony Smith took the blame for that and admitted the appointment was wrong and both parties separated on good terms in which since then Christiansen has became the bench coach at Dundee but before his sacking also saw Marc LeFebrve leave for the head coach job at Coventry. Captain Steven Goertzen took charge of the team but unfortunately suffered a concussion in Cardiff which also meant he couldn't full fill his duties and Sheffield went out of the cup after a defeat in the second leg as well and within a couple of weeks ex Sheffield player and ex head coach of the Cardiff Devils Gerad Adams was appointed head coach of the Steelers and what a difference we've seen and in his short stay so far we've seen some fantastic games and performances and has only lost two of his games in charged which were both unfortunately in the Hull arena obviously not a happy hunting ground at the moment.

Gerad has a cracking playoff record getting Cardiff to the final four weekend for 10 successive seasons but unfortunately wasn't able to win it for the Devils. After two years away Sheffield are looking to make it this year and I think Gerad Adams is not only the person who can get us there but who can end our trophy drought. Bring on Coventry in the quarter-finals!.

So really what can we say about the season players were unaware how important the league was over here but eventually stepped up their game, we struggled to put a winning streak together and I think the slow start to the season is what really cost us. Just the number of injuries we have had throughout the season is damaging as I think we had suffered up to a 100 injuries before Christmas alone but we wasn't the only team as Nottingham and Coventry had injuries after injuries and then when you look at Belfast who have been so consistent throughout the entire season and have had very few injuries compared to the other teams and it just makes you think though what was it about the Giants that made them so great during the league season. Belfast won the elite league championship as well as the Erhardt conference with Dundee winning the Gardiner conference and Belfast did have a chance to make it 3 out of 4 trophies with the playoffs still to be played when they faced Nottingham in the challenge cup final but Nottingham created an impressive comeback in the second leg of the final to win the challenge cup for fifth successive season to take away any chance of a grand slam for Belfast. Next up is the playoffs one of the best parts of the season and were guaranteed to be in for a roller coaster ride for the final two weekends :).

So good luck to all eight teams in the playoffs and may the best team win!

Thanks for reading guys. Any questions or comments please get in contact with the Frozen Steel Team on this article or via Twitter:-
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Keep Supporting The Boys!!

Let's Go Steelers!

Tom
@TomWalkeden
(Follow me on Twitter for Live Updates on Games)

Game 199 and 200 Coming Up!!

This weekend see the Sheffield Steelers visit the National Ice Center in Nottingham on Saturday before hosting the Coventry Blaze on a Sunday evening and hosting Nottingham on Wednesday in the 1st Leg of the challenge cup semi-final.

Do it for Dagenais!!

I think I speak for everyone tonight when all our thoughts go to the Dagenais family after the lost of their 16-month-old daughter Evelyne yesterday morning and also when I say that tonight is for Randy and his family with a minutes silence before the game as well as a standing ovation on the 12th minute of the game.

Steelers posted this link yesterday and explains everything so please read!!
http://www.sheffieldsteelers.co.uk/rip-evelyne-dagenais-p189882

Hopefully the minutes silence will be respected not just in Sheffield tonight but all along the league and it would be fantastic if the minutes ovation was also respected at every game tonight.

R.I.P to heavens newest little angel Evelyne Dagenais, thoughts go out to Randy, his wife and all their family once a Steeler always a Steeler.

Yesterdays news also puts life into perspective. Life's too short so make the most of everyday guys.

Tonight is for Randy!!

Tom
@TomWalkeden

Injury Blow for Woolhouse

So the news came yesterday that back-up goaltender Geoff Woolhouse will be missing for the remainder of the season. Woolhouse hasn't been available for selection since he got injured during pre-season while the team were on their pre-season tour of Slovakia. It's a big blow for the British goaltender as he was just days away from being available for selection by Doug Christiansen but Geoff says he is buoyed by the feeling that his Steelers team will be lifting silverware this season.

Woolhouse was in training and almost got through a whole training session when performing a butterfly save when he stretched a ligament which forced his tibia and fibia apart, re-tearing a membrane and it was also announced that surgery is needed to secure the bones. Woolhouse is probably the best back-up goalie in the league and is a blow to missing him all season but it gives Andy Jaszczyk the opportunity to keep improving and maybe get some ice time along with a contract for next season but I do believe we'll see the return of Woolhouse next season even though he hasn't played any games this year the good signs for him are that all his pre-season tests were as high as possible and he said apparently he couldn't have done anything more to be any fitter before the season started. I think we all know that Geoff will come back stronger than ever in a bid to get a contract for next season and I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we wish you a speedy recovery and hope to see you back on the Ice as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading guys. Any questions or comments please get in contract with the Frozen Steel Team on this article or via Twitter:-
@IAmMcCausland
@TomWalkeden
@AwkwardGinge
@FrozenSteelBlog

or Email the team at frozen.steel.91@gmail.com

Keep Supporting The Boys!!

Tom
@TomWalkeden