GAME THREAD: Flyers v Steelers: LEAGUE: Sun 17th Nov

[Keith Sheppard]

We're a long way off the standards we set last season in so many areas, but even so, we top our Challenge Cup group and are well placed in the league, so it's not so bad.

There's plenty to work on though.

Faceoffs currently 49.6%....Last season at this time I recall it being mid fifties.

Powerplay 16%....Last season high twenties.

Penalty kill 75%.....Last season mid eighties.

If we can start improving those numbers and get them closer to last season, we'll be a very difficult team to stop.


Regards

Doom

Doom… Could a factor of our drop off in the areas you mention be a result of the improved recruitment by other teams? How do other teams stats compare to last year?

[Doom]

We're a long way off the standards we set last season in so many areas, but even so, we top our Challenge Cup group and are well placed in the league, so it's not so bad.

There's plenty to work on though.

Faceoffs currently 49.6%....Last season at this time I recall it being mid fifties.

Powerplay 16%....Last season high twenties.

Penalty kill 75%.....Last season mid eighties.

If we can start improving those numbers and get them closer to last season, we'll be a very difficult team to stop.


Regards

Doom

Doom… Could a factor of our drop off in the areas you mention be a result of the improved recruitment by other teams? How do other teams stats compare to last year?

That's a good point Keith, I guess it stands to reason that if the opposition have improved their playing personnel then it's logical that their special teams would be better.

It would be difficult to judge from the stats though, because if all teams have improved by a similar amount I doubt there would be much of a change in the overall numbers, except against any team(s) which have stood still.

I certainly think Cardiff and Belfast have thrown money at improving their squads and arguably Nottingham as well.

I guess time will tell if our drop off is down to others improving or if it's a temporary blip due to other factors. I do think in recent weeks our pp has looked a bit better.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

Nearly everyone said all teams looked to have improved during the off season, whereas Sheffield probably have stayed about where we were. Also last year is one of those years that happens every 20 years or so, where everything playing wise just fully clicks.

It's going to be much closer this year. As frustrating as it can be after last year, that was an anomaly, not the norm.

[mark]

Some seasons you just don't get the same amount of luck with bounces, over a year that adds up to a lot of goal chances. In addition coaches will have had longer to work out how to try and nullify our tactics.

[smbmetal]

We're a long way off the standards we set last season in so many areas, but even so, we top our Challenge Cup group and are well placed in the league, so it's not so bad.

There's plenty to work on though.

Faceoffs currently 49.6%....Last season at this time I recall it being mid fifties.

Powerplay 16%....Last season high twenties.

Penalty kill 75%.....Last season mid eighties.

If we can start improving those numbers and get them closer to last season, we'll be a very difficult team to stop.


Regards

Doom

Doom… Could a factor of our drop off in the areas you mention be a result of the improved recruitment by other teams? How do other teams stats compare to last year?

Didn't see the game, but expected a straight forward win. Fife usually nick a game off us though during the season.

I think the lower placed teams recruitment looks to have improved this season.

Belfa$t, despite bringing Conway and Picnic back, I don't think they've improved at all compared to last season on the games I've seen us play against us. Cardiff perhaps are a little deeper.

[ginger]

We're a long way off the standards we set last season in so many areas, but even so, we top our Challenge Cup group and are well placed in the league, so it's not so bad.

There's plenty to work on though.

Faceoffs currently 49.6%....Last season at this time I recall it being mid fifties.

Powerplay 16%....Last season high twenties.

Penalty kill 75%.....Last season mid eighties.

If we can start improving those numbers and get them closer to last season, we'll be a very difficult team to stop.


Regards

Doom

Doom… Could a factor of our drop off in the areas you mention be a result of the improved recruitment by other teams? How do other teams stats compare to last year?

Didn't see the game, but expected a straight forward win. Fife usually nick a game off us though during the season.

I think the lower placed teams recruitment looks to have improved this season.

Belfa$t, despite bringing Conway and Picnic back, I don't think they've improved at all compared to last season on the games I've seen us play against us. Cardiff perhaps are a little deeper.

Belfast certainly haven't started as they would have liked. Conway and Piccinich are still top players at this level, but I think they're no longer a standard above, which maybe they were the year coming out of COVID. Bast is the biggest drop off though amongst returnees for them. He's way off the standard he was at - just shows what effectively a year away from the pro game does. No prime Besko as well, and it shows.

Cardiff I think are possibly the biggest challengers so far, although they took have been inconsistent in the cup. They'll be even better when they can bring Shinkaruk back from injury and drop Brandt. The Sandford return has given them the depth they were probably missing at forward, but I'm still not convinced on the D - Mosey and Richardson are not the same players they used to be, and Fournier, whilst very good still, falls in to the Conway category above.

The biggest shock for me is Coventry. Fair play, I couldn't see them finishing much higher than 8th, but they look like they could be legit challengers at this stage. I do wonder if they can keep it up across the full season, and also if Robson can keep up current form (he's been excellent, and probably won them a couple of the close ones).

[Doom]

All fair points above.

It certainly was a once in a generation season last year and very unusual to have such outstanding stats in all departments. It's also fair to say other teams have improved and had time to think about ways of countering us.

Having said all that, I suspect Fox will still be disappointed regarding how we've performed to date, considering the quality on our roster.

We currently sit 6th on penalty kill with two other teams, 9th on powerplay (only Fife are worse) and joint 6th on faceoffs.

I wouldn't expect to top all charts like last season, but I wouldn't expect us to be so poor.

The big positive is that even though our special teams are currently under performing, we're still producing the results. If we can keep the 5 on 5 like it is and get our pk, pp and faceoffs closer to the levels we know the team are capable of, we will take some stopping.

I'm sure at a minimum Fox will be expecting over 20% on the pp and 80% on the pk.

Regards

Doom

[smbmetal]

Highlights:

https://youtu.be/kaQpm3Nclqg?si=4iYsQfoPd2MC8xRi

Not sure about the commentary though

[ginger]

All fair points above.

It certainly was a once in a generation season last year and very unusual to have such outstanding stats in all departments. It's also fair to say other teams have improved and had time to think about ways of countering us.

Having said all that, I suspect Fox will still be disappointed regarding how we've performed to date, considering the quality on our roster.

We currently sit 6th on penalty kill with two other teams, 9th on powerplay (only Fife are worse) and joint 6th on faceoffs.

I wouldn't expect to top all charts like last season, but I wouldn't expect us to be so poor.

The big positive is that even though our special teams are currently under performing, we're still producing the results. If we can keep the 5 on 5 like it is and get our pk, pp and faceoffs closer to the levels we know the team are capable of, we will take some stopping.

I'm sure at a minimum Fox will be expecting over 20% on the pp and 80% on the pk.

Regards

Doom

The PP is interesting, as starting to look a lot better. What I have noticed is the way teams have figured out they must stop the half wall to half wall pass through the box - Balmas and Vallerand scored so many goals with this last year. This year other teams are closing that off much more effectively. I think that's what hindered the PP initially along with timing on breakouts and zone entries.

PK I think will just get better and better without much adjustment. They've not really done anything stand out obvious as poor/wrong.