GAME THREAD: Giants v Steelers: Sun 15th

[Clowne57]

Sad to say by the end of the Christmas period we could be 6th in the league and struggling to climb any higher.
How have we come to this? Injuries and a congestion of games can be an excuse but how is it we can no longer find the net?
Greenfield is certainly keeping his end of the bargain, his save % is around 93% or better. He is certainly making the saves and keeping us in games.
What is the answer? Fox certainly has his work cut out.

[Bryan]

So far we've had 76 shots on goal this weekend and only scored 1.....that has to be a serious concern for Fox.

It's not going to get any easier with an away day in Cardiff followed by 2 games against an in form Nottingham.

Our title challenge could be over before 2025 which will make games a hard sell for Tony Smith.

When was the last time Nottingham went into the Christmas games as favourites?

Regards

Doom

Problem is that the vast majority of our shots do not represent a threat. Long distance with keeper’s view clear means little chance at against reasonable Nettie’s.

[Brian]

That was poor. We never looked like winning and transition from defence to attack was a shambles. Poor passes , poor stick control and lost face offs and 50/50 pucks willy nilly.
We have now lost 6 games out of the last 9. 3 of those to all the Scottish teams. ( 2 at home ).
No idea what has happened to this team. Injured players back and not shortbenched anymore. I hope Foxy has a clue.
As a season ticket holder for over 20 years I can't remember such a turnaround. Mind you, that could be down to my memory.

[smbmetal]

Lucky to get nil tonight

I’ve not heard that one for a few years Bryan

The extra rest as I mentioned before for Belfast was evident in the 1st period where the game was pretty much lost for us.

I said we could have played until Christmas Day and not scored and it was correct lol. Even the bold 6 on 4 from Fox didn’t work out. Our PP being poor again.

I go back to my comments that a last season Grand Slam winning side win no more than One trophy in the following season. Belfast managed nada last season.

Whether it’s because other teams raise their game more or that the existing personnel aren’t quite as hungry for trophies I’m afraid I’ve no idea.

Whilst there’s plenty of hockey the be played, I’m happy to predict that we won’t be winning the League title this season.

[greeny]

must be a bit of everything this season, players not playing as consistently as last season for some reason and also other teams knowing how to play us better than last season. If we are going to stay in with a shout of league it has to happen next game against devils otherwise its too much to claw back. This team is capable as we know,,,,

[heathk01]

Fox has to have a plan b other teams know our stratag

[smbmetal]

Not the first time Mr Fox has questioned the commitment and playing for the full 60 mins this season.

What puzzles me is we’ve had a lot of returnees which should know that playing in the Grand Slam side of last season

Oh, sorry I’ve forgot……it’s the CHL’s fault….silly me

https://www.eliteleague.co.uk/article/4 ... -in-second

[Clowne57]

Not the first time Mr Fox has questioned the commitment and playing for the full 60 mins this season.

What puzzles me is we’ve had a lot of returnees which should know that playing in the Grand Slam side of last season

Oh, sorry I’ve forgot……it’s the CHL’s fault….silly me

https://www.eliteleague.co.uk/article/4 ... -in-second

Good to hear him questioning the commitment of some players rather than putting it down to playing with injury or the number of games played over a short time.
Time to call them out and look what options are out there. We all know that over the Christmas period and in to the New Year teams across the sport at higher levels start to release players, that cascades down as better players become available. It would be nice to see the current plays respond to being challenged but if not move on.

[paul johnston]

I reckon that there are only three of the returning imports who are playing at a regular, consistent, similar level to last year and that is Greener, Saucerman and Juusola. All the others for me are fits and starts in the forwards. At the back end, Diffley, Tansey and Cormier are way below their performance level.
The team D is way off compared to last year. Last year we rarely had frequent periods of extended periods puck chasing/defending our own d zone. Last year was quick shutdown, puck recovery and transition.
The new guys-Guimond, Leavens and Huttala been ok. The others write offs/recurrence of injuries.

What annoys me most is the on ice effort, physicality, grit, leadership, accountability, doesn't seem anywhere close to last year or what we would expect. All seems a bit half arsed at times. Puzzling.