From The Editor's Chair: Edition 50

Welcome back to another visit to the views that come "From The Editor's Chair"; the personal views of Mark. It's a landmark edition too as this is the 50th edition of the article. Granted that the article has not been out as often as it was at the start, but I thought it would be a good idea to pen something for you. As ever the views below are not of Sheffield Steelers Ice Hockey Club, it's staff and players: purely me being me.

Some of you might agree with what I am about to go on about, some won't. However, the latter doesn't concern me as I'm just speaking from my viewpoint. So here we go...

This edition will focus on the Steelers season so far, and I am going to separate it into four distinct parts for each competition. That is: the Elite League, the Continental Cup, the Challenge Cup and the Play-Offs. 

Elite League

After Cardiff had won the Elite League last season for the first time ever, and also their first domestic league title in 20 years: we had to step up and bounce back. Looking at the roster which was assembled I had quiet confidence that this was a roster that could actually be in contention for the main prize and possibly win it. It all looked bloody good on paper, but then again most things do don't they? To me, I thought the pre-season was too long in eight games in the space of four weeks. Not many NHL teams have that kind of pre-season preparation.

But what has not really helped our cause is that until recently was the horrendous inter-conference form. Up to December we had picked up just one win from the likes of playing Cardiff, Belfast and Nottingham. The fact we had garnered some many points from the cross-conference games, it was basically pinning our season up. Then after the home loss to Fife, we kinda woke up and started to put a run together with four shutouts in a row either side of Christmas. Top and bottom of it is that the league overall has been patchy/inconsistent at times and that's why we are 16 points behind the Devils going into the games against Belfast and Fife this weekend just concluded.

Conclusion: You can assume that this is why we won't be celebrating the return of the Monteith Bowl for a second successive season. If we had some form similar to that outside of our conference and also not dropped points in games we should have won, away losses at Coventry and Milton Keynes spring immediately to mind, we would be up there. It's terribly infuriating to say the least.

Continental Cup

By winning the play-offs last season, it was us who took the spot in the Continental Cup as opposed to the Belfast Giants. We entered the competition at the third round stage, which was basically the semi-final groups. The boys travelled to Rungsted, and it didn't start off too well as we were taken apart by Belarusians Yunost Minsk. But the team re-grouped and despite having a few wobbles in game two, saw off the hosts after a penalty shoot out. A winners take all game would decide the team who would make the Super Final alongside Minsk, and Steelers produced a polished performance in dig in deep and see off a physical Kurbads Riga team to progress.

The Club made a bid for the Super Final but it was in vain as Minsk were selected by the IIHF to hold it. It started off unfortunately in a familiar pattern as they were beaten comprehensively in game one. Yet in a rematch of the first game in Rungsted, Steelers pushed their hosts to the limit and took a late goal to give Minsk the points when Steelers clearly deserved something out of it. The team finished on a high though, shutting out Italians Ritten 2-0 to ensure it was their opponents who would end up bottom of the pile.

Conclusion: A decent adventure for the team who with a bit more luck, could have replicated the Panthers win in the same competition last season. To make the Super Final is no disgrace whatsoever.

Challenge Cup

The last time that the Steelers won this much maligned competition was in the final year of the ISL before it became the Elite League. Since then they have come close a few times to adding to it but always fell short. This season was no exception to the rule.

As always Steelers made it through the group stages with an impeccable record; 6 wins out of 6: seeing off the Panthers, Clan and Storm. Up next were Omar Pacha and his Dundee Stars, and Steelers continued their winning streak over the former Hull and Manchester head coach by seeing off the Taysiders 13-3 on aggregate. Standing in the way of a Final appearance were the current holders Cardiff, and it all looked rosy when Steelers took the first leg convincingly 6-2. But leg two, saw a monumental collapse...the wait continues!

Conclusion: Once more in my eyes, Steelers did the hard work but failed to finish the job off. A four goal margin should have been more than adequate to make any Final for any club but Steelers choked it. Granted their record in IAW is not great but I half expected them to at least give the Devils a much closer game there. Perhaps I'm asking too much from the team I've supported for the best part of 26 seasons. 

Play-Offs

Last season saw us win the play-offs in the most dramatic of conclusions. The excitement of it all led to me getting a nosebleed for my troubles. I looked like Zack Fitzgerald had rained endless punches on my sweet and innocent face. Levi Nelson just laughed his head off at me when I explained to him post-game that he was to blame. Well, he was.

This season sees the play-off quarter final structure change. Winning your conference means nothing when it comes to the seeding now as it's now a simple format: 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5. As the standings lie, we would get the Fife Flyers if the season ended today. I can honestly see a number of changes in these final standings to happen by the final games of the season on 25th March. I also fully expect us to finish in 5th or 6th. Bold prediction indeed. Unless the Bears make a massive push and everyone else messes up, we should avoid them in the final eight. Semi-Finals are the same as last season's format, higher seed plays the lowest ranked seed left in and the two others in the other semi-final. Nothing new there.

Conclusion: Can we make it back-to-back play off wins? Head would like us to of course, my heart thinks otherwise. Our inconsistency could easily trip us up in the quarter-finals. We need to get back into the form which served us so damn well at the end of December and for the main part in January too. Do that, we won't be neutral fans in Nottingham on April 7-8. Just don't give me a double overtime game again or longer, I don't think I could take it. Once is more than enough haha!

Mark

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Seventh heaven for Devils as Steelers crash

Welcome to our match report from the Challenge Cup Semi-Final Second Leg.

After an unexpected home reverse at the hands of the Manchester Storm, Steelers were back in action last night (Wednesday) as they faced current Challenge Cup holders Cardiff Devils in Ice Arena Wales for the second leg of their semi-final. The Steelers held an impressive 6-2 lead after the first leg in Ice Sheffield last Wednesday night, would that be enough? The team news saw Steelers without injured quarter Miika Franssila, Colton Fretter, Robert Dowd and John Armstrong whilst Swedish forward Andreas Jämtin was serving the first of a two game suspension. Cardiff had not as many problems as they were without Mark Louis and Craig Moore. 

The pattern for the game was set early as Steelers netminder Ervins Mustukovs was forced into his first save of the game after just 27 seconds. Devils kept the pressure high and just shy of the five minute mark, had their first of six powerplay opportunities on the night as Steelers winger Eric Neiley sat a tripping minor. The advantage did prove fruitful with 25 seconds left as Matthew Myers banged home the opening goal and reduce the overall deficit to three. Yet within a minute, Steelers levelled and restored the four goal margin with a powerplay strike of their own, Neiley scoring his 2nd Steelers goal since joining the club in early January. But that was about as good as it got as Steelers then ran into a combination of an incessant Cardiff juggernaut and penalty problems. Devils regained the lead with another powerplay goal just after the ten minute mark, Mathieu Roy harshly sitting a hooking minor: the scorer being one-game New York Ranger Layne Ulmer. The period ended 2-1 but Steelers were to start period two on another penalty kill.

Paul Thompson had a few choice words to the officials as the first period ended, but any hopes that the Steelers had started to unravel in the first minute of the middle twenty. Davey Phillips was in the box for a cross-checking minor and there was just nine seconds left on that powerplay when Matt Pope fired home Cardiff's third of the night and third powerplay strike. Just before the halfway stage of the contest, the overall deficit was reduced to just one when Steelers coughed up possession and former Dundee Stars captain Justin Faryna took advantage. There was no further scoring in the period after that, and it left the final period evenly poised.

That single goal advantage was washed away in just 20 seconds of that final period, as Devils made it 6-1 on the night and 8-7 overall when Paul Crowder and Patrick Asselin lit the lamp. This caused Thompson to call a time out in an attempt to stop the bleeding but at 42:36 the home side scored a seventh on the night. Zack Fitzgerald was sitting a hooking minor, and Devils took advantage to score a fourth powerplay strike thanks to Sean Bentivoglio. Steelers were unlucky not to reduce the overall deficit to one when Neiley hit the post but whenever they got close in, Ben Bowns was there to shut the door on the team whom he supported as a boy. Roy hit the crossbar late on but there was to be no additional scoring and Devils had completed a comeback that few thought was possible; they now face Adam Keefe's Belfast Giants in the Final on the first Sunday in March at Ice Arena Wales after the Northern Irish side saw off the Panthers 7-6 on the night (12-7 overall) in their second leg over in the "O".

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Devils 7 Steelers 1

Steelers Scoring: Neiley 1+0, Roy 0+1, Westerling 0+1.

Devils Scoring: Ulmer 1+2, Bentivoglio 1+2, Morissette 0+3, Myers 1+1, Asselin 1+1, Pope 1+1, Faryna 1+1, Fournier 0+2, Crowder 1+0, Batch 0+1.

Shots On Goal:  Devils 39 Steelers 28

Powerplay: Steelers 1 from 4 (25% conversion), Devils 4 from 6 (66% conversion)

Penalty Minutes called: Devils 8 Steelers 12

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 32 Saves (256), GAA: 7.24 (2.78), Save Percentage: 82.10% (91.40%).

Man of the Match: Mathieu Roy (Steelers), Ben Bowns (Devils)

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Big Match Preview: Cardiff (Away)

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 Jämtin'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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Sublime Steelers down the Devils

Welcome to our match report from the midweek game against the Cardiff Devils.

After demolishing the Belfast Giants on Sunday, Steelers headed into Wednesday's Challenge Cup semi-final first leg against holders Cardiff at Ice Sheffield with a great deal of confidence. Zack Fitzgerald was available for selection again after finishing off a five game suspension and iced on the wing on the fourth line with Liam Kirk and Cole Shudra. Other than that, Steelers iced the same team that were in action the Giants. Cardiff were without suspended Gleason Fournier who was on the second game of two, but other than that were at full strength.

Which side would come out of the game the better ahead of next Wednesday's second leg?

The Devils had the first real chance of the game but Steelers were thankful to the crossbar to deny Joey Martin a powerplay strike as Andreas Jämtin sat a hooking minor. But given this let off, Steelers went up the other end of the ice and opened the scoring themselves shorthanded. The much maligned Tim Wallace beating Ben Bowns short side for the winger's 5th of the season. Just over a minute later the Steelers fans were celebrating again as the team went 2-0 ahead, a low one timer from the blue line by Scott Aarssen arrowed itself past Bowns after Eric Neiley and Miika Franssila had fashioned the chance. It was Scott's 3rd of the season. Yet Cardiff bounced back themselves and reduced the arrears to a single goal at 7:31 when Matt Pope fired home on a powerplay awarded for a tripping minor on Wallace.

Steelers though were unperturbed and ended the first period 3-1 ahead just over four minutes before the end of period buzzer sounded. Ben O'Connor, who scored twice against the Giants on Sunday, firing home his 13th of the season after Bowns had given up a rebound on a Mathieu Roy effort. Roy was the next to light the lamp as he put the Steelers 4-1 ahead just 1:25 after the restart when pressure eventually told on the Devils goal, Mathieu's 18th of the season. Cardiff were outshooting the Steelers but finding Ervins Mustukovs a formidable barrier and hard to breach, and as we entered the closing stages of that middle period: the Steelers scored an incredible fifth goal. Matt Marquardt was the man who got it, his 20th of the season, after a well engineered move.

More Devils pressure came in that final period as the visitors looked for a lifeline which would breathe new hope into what was becoming a very bad night at the office, but Steelers were solid as they resisted every offensive overture the Welsh side offered. Steelers only had four shots on Bowns in that same period but one of those was good enough to extend the lead to a remarkable 6-1 at 47:58. Levi Nelson scoring a 16th of the season via video review despite Devils' claims the net was off before the light came on. But you just knew Cardiff would get a second, and as Steelers temporarily switched off concentration on a powerplay: Joey Haddad netted. So Steelers go into IAW with a four goal advantage next Wednesday, will it be enough? Considering Devils are rarely beaten on home ice, it could be a tighter conclusion than it appears so far. The job is only half done.

Time for the statistics:

Goals: Steelers 6 Devils 2

Steelers Scoring: Nelson 1+1, O'Connor 1+1, Matheson 0+2, Neiley 0+2, Aarssen 1+0, Roy 1+0, Wallace 1+0, Marquardt 1+0, Valdix 0+1, D,Phillips 0+1, Franssila 0+1, J.Phillips 0+1, Ronnberg 0+1.

Devils Scoring: Haddad 1+0, Pope 1+0, Morissette 0+1, Martin 0+1.

Shots On Goal:  Steelers 29 Devils 40

Powerplay: Steelers 1 from 4 (25% conversion), Devils 1 from 5 (20% conversion)

Penalty Minutes called: Steelers 10 Devils 8

Steelers Goaltender Stats: Mustukovs 38 Saves (224), GAA: 2.00 (2.22), Save Percentage: 95.00% (92.90%).

Man of the Match: Ervins Mustukovs (Steelers), Joey Haddad (Devils)

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