Frozen Steel Meets The Fans: Number 2 - James Clover

Welcome to the second fan question and answer session. We ask you the hockey family a series of ten questions and you supply the answers. It's as simple as that.

So who's the second hockey fan under the microscope. Without any further ado, let's shine the spotlight on them.

Name: James Clover

Club Supported: Sheffield Steelers

1. Where did you watch your first hockey game? 

Sheffield Arena.

2. Who was your first hockey idol? 

Ryan Finnerty or Colt King are the earliest I can remember.

3. Do you have a NHL team you support? If so, who? 

Boston Bruins.

4. What's your favourite and least favourite rink? 

Love the Arena as it’s home, least favourite...yet to be decided!

5. Do you have any match day superstitions? 

Outfit, it’s always the same jeans and jacket with a Steelers shirt.

6. What's your day job outside of hockey? 

Technical Support for one the country's biggest phone and broadband suppliers.

7. Do you have any other hobbies besides hockey? 

Football, Gaming, Wrestling and Music.

8. Which place would you consider your ideal holiday destination? 

Boston, Massachusetts.

9. Name your ideal four dinner guests 

Ryan Finnerty, Colt King, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara.

10. Including you, name your all time hockey line. You can play anywhere from goalie, D, winger or centre. 

NM: Moose, D: Zack Fitzgerald and Chara, King RW, Bergeron C, Me LW.

Some great responses there James, thanks for taking part. Who will be the third person featured. It could be YOU! Remember you don't have to be a Steelers hockey fan to take part.

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

@hockeybhoy

@Disgu15ed

Check out Breaking The Ice: Our Podcast

Available on iTunes to listen and download, also on SoundCloud

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

Frozen Steel Meets The Fans: Number 1 - Chris Devlin

Welcome to a new occasional feature to Frozen Steel Blog. We're going to talk to you the fans in a kind mini question and answer session and give you the chance to appear on the Blog. Not just Steelers fans, we're going to feature fans from around the Elite League hopefully.

If you're interested in taking part, then get in contact with us at the usual methods shown at the bottom of this article. We welcome all fans, regardless. Without further ado, let's introduce our inaugural interviewee.

Name: Chris Devlin

Club Supported: Braehead Clan

1.

1.    Where did you watch your first hockey game?

  

I watched my first hockey game in Paisley. Paisley played their first home match in the SNL  and won the match at a canter.

2.    Who was your first hockey idol?

Big Bad John Kidd. Hugely underrated player who scored points and never lost a fight.

3.    Do you have a NHL team you support? If so, who?

Calgary Flames. In sport I always support the underdog. I took to the Flames early on and I am a very loyal sports fan so I will never change.   

4.    What's your favourite and least favourite rink?

The Motorpoint Nottingham is my favourite. Not just cause of the rink/arena but the surrounding facilities available within a short walking distance.

Fife Ice Arena is my least favourite. I have been swore at many times and after Paisley Pirates won the Scottish Cup in the mid/late 90’s up there I was challenged to a fight by a Fife guy in his 50’s at the bar. I was only a teenager myself I think!

5.    Do you have any match day superstitions?

I used to head towards the right hand side ticket collector at Braehead as I thought it brought us luck but in all honesty that is a load of rubbish so nothing apart from that.  

6.    What's your day job outside of hockey?

I am a business development manager for a large communications company.

7.    Do you have any other hobbies besides hockey?

I am a sports fan in general. I have a season ticket watching Soccerball for St. Mirren Football Club. Socialise with friends, pubs, restaurants.

8.    Which place would you consider your ideal holiday destination?

New York as you have so many different teams who are not too far apart who you can see on any given day.

9.    Name your ideal four dinner guests.

Rachel Weisz

Estelle Skornik

Lorraine Pascale

Emma Willis

10.  Including you, name your all time hockey line. You can play anywhere from goalie, D, winger or centre.

G – Bill Morrison

D – Doug Marsden

D – Tim Wedderburn

F – Alex Koulekov

F – Chris Devlin

F- Jade Galbraith

Warm thanks to Chris for taking part from all at Frozen Steel.

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

@hockeybhoy

@Disgu15ed

Check out Breaking The Ice: Our Podcast

Available on iTunes to listen and download, also on SoundCloud

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

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.

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

@hockeybhoy

@Disgu15ed

Check out Breaking The Ice: Our Podcast

Available on iTunes to listen and download, also on SoundCloud

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

Frozen Steel Meets: Peterborough Phantoms Director Of Hockey Jon Kynaston

Some/Many/All of us have been impressed with the superb start Luke Ferrara has made in a Steelers uniform.

Injuries required that the 21 year old be borrowed from Peterborough ahead of schedule, and he took his chance by the horns, with a good display against Nottingham followed up by a man of the match performance against Hull, then a good showing against Coventry where he did not seem out of place.

So we know he's a promising talent, but has that always been the case? I spoke to Jon Kynaston, the Director of Hockey at his parent club Peterborough Phantoms, to ask about Luke's history, and how he sees things going for the bright prospect.

Frozen Steel Meets: Rod Sarich

Don't need a big introduction for this. He's one of my favourites, and I reckon he's one of yours too.

Rod Sarich, everyone.

Frozen Steel Meets: Cullen Eddy

We continue meeting the new team for 2014/15 in our latest interview.

The next contestant is our new defenceman, straight from the AHL, Cullen Eddy.

Frozen Steel Meets: Mathieu Roy

We continue our summer of player interviews by bringing you a chat with Friday's signing.

A very impressive resumé, mixed with an even more impressive beard, has already endeared Mathieu Roy to us Steelers fans.

We got a chance to speak to "The Cat", asking what we should expect from him come September.

Frozen Steel Meets: Luke Ferrara

As part of the summer's Q&As, we've tried to bring you some of this season's new recruits.

You can read our interview with Pascal Morency here, but now, meet our new Brit. Enter Luke Ferrara...

Frozen Steel Meets: Tom Darnell

Who'd be a referee?

The job is thankless - abuse from players, abuse from coaches, abuse from fans. You are always going to be unpopular to some fans. Its a task that you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy - but without them, we wouldn't have a game.

We're not exactly overflowing with officials at the minute, an issue I feel needs addressing quickly. However, we do have one who is very good at what he does, and we spoke to him.

Ladies and gentlemen, EIHL match official Tom Darnell.

Photo Courtesy of Dean Woolley Photography

Frozen Steel Meets: Pascal Morency

A few eyebrows were raised when Canadian winger Pascal Morency announced that he had signed with the Steelers for the forthcoming season, especially as the club had yet to announce it themselves.

No matter though, Pascal is a Steeler, and the more I think about it the happier I am. So with that in mind, I went chasing our latest signing for a few words. And I got them.

Frozen Steel Meets: Chris Ellis

As I've said before, we are an equal opportunities blog, and don't just cover the Steelers. I like to think we look around the league and welcome all-comers to the site.

Well we've certainly covered that with this. General UK hockey media good egg Chris Ellis was kind enough to give us some time to discuss his work with the EIHL and Ice Hockey UK, as well as his views on our beautiful game.

Frozen Steel Meets: Ashley March (Part 1)

While we all watch the NHL and keep track of various North American leagues, the same cannot be often said for the opposite. Its rare that you find an American, or a Canadian who takes an interest in UK hockey. Enter Ashley March. As part of her March Hockey blog, she writes about a lot of the lesser known leagues around the world, ours included. In this first part of our conversation, we spoke on length about her hockey affliction.

Frozen Steel Meets: Tylor Michel

Last season, Canadian forward Tylor Michel came in like a whirlwind to the Motorpoint Arena, making a positive impression on fans for his silky skills and never say die attitude.

Tylor moved on at the end of the season, but left behind a host of fans who he wowed during his year in orange. I spoke to him earlier this week, on an off day from his new team, the Brampton Beast.

Frozen Steel Meets: Leeds Knights GM Neil Fox - What Can We Expect From The New Yorkshire Outfit?

You may have seen the poster doing the rounds, announcing the first game for the newly formed Leeds Knights, as they take on the Grimsby Stormers in a "Charity Challenge Match" at Ice Sheffield on Sunday April 6th at 8:30pm.

I took the opportunity to speak to Knights' GM Neil Fox about their formation, and their plans for the future.

Frozen Steel Meets: Tom Squires

Fresh from his release from the Hull Stingrays, and his subsequent signing by the Sheffield Steeldogs, we spoke to ex-Steeler, and friend of the blog, Tom Squires, about his experiences in the UK Hockey system.

Frozen Steel Meets: Steve Munn

After the Aaron Murphy interview, I threw the floor open and asked who you wanted to see answer some questions on our little fansite. When one such reader tagged Steve Munn in to his response on Twitter, I thought to myself "never in a month of Sundays"...then I got the response "sure I'd love to."

There's two holes in my ceiling right now. The one that I made when Sunderland won on Wednesday night, and the one I made when my first ever favourite Steeler said yes.

So I come to sending the questions. I send them Saturday morning, expecting a few answers at some point, no rush, its Steve Munn, I'm not going to rush him.

I wake up Sunday morning to the answers. You'll see below. Wow. Just wow.

May I introduce to you, the one and only, STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE

Frozen Steel Meets...Aaron Murphy

As part of my cheeky asking of hockey personalities if I could grab interviews with them, I slyly asked the new voice of ice hockey in the UK, Premier Sports' Aaron Murphy if he'd do us yet another favour (after the silly amount of TV mentions) and answer us some questions. Because he's such a decent guy, he obliged.

The Frozen Steel Interview - Chris Frank

So when we first started, I cheekily asked Braehead's former Steeler D Chris Frank if he'd do an email interview with us, never expecting him to agree to it. For reasons still unknown, he said yes. Unfortunately, we caught him right in the middle of the Muzzy for Money charity pull, and then christmas and such. So it has taken this long to get his responses. But today, the email came, and I am very pleased to bring to you our first proper interview.

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Frank.