GAME THREAD. Steelers v Blaze. Sat 23rd Sep 2023

[mark]

The first league game of the 2023-2024 season. Here we go......

[Nathan]

Very much looking forward to this.

Clean slate for returning players and first chance to get a look at the new guys.

Hoping Coach has learnt from last terms mistakes and we put a serious challenge in for the league title.

Starting with this one and dropping as little points at home as possible.

4-1 Steelers .

[Bryan]

I’ve not followed things Blaze. Have they recruited any interesting players?

[ekt]

If Nottingham managed to put 2 x 4 past these in pre season last week I would expect us to have a relatively easy win, but we will have to wait and see.

I was impressed by the Cardiff games and the home game against the Panthers, I didnt see the away against the Panthers.

As with Nathan above, the league title means everything to me, I usually count the points dropped at this stage of the season because it becomes apparent much sooner if the league is likely to be possible or if its slipping away.

Got my digital ST on my phone, Im ready, lets hope for a return to winning titles rather than just missing out on them, which seems to be what we have done for too long now..

[Doom]

I’ve not followed things Blaze. Have they recruited any interesting players?

They've signed a few players you might be familiar with:

Kozun is their new netminder signed from Cardiff Devils. His save percentage was second best in the league last season so I'm surprised Cardiff let him go.

Blake Thompson has also signed from Cardiff where he was their 2nd best defenceman in terms of +/-.

The other notable signing is Danny Kristo who left us at the end of last season. I thought he made a good start for us, but dropped off badly in the 2nd half of the season.

I suspect where we should have the edge on Coventry is our strength in depth. At the top end of their lineup they can probably match our firepower, but I don't think they'll be able to roll the same quality 3rd and 4th lines.

If everybody is fit it will be interesting to see who Fox leaves out. At the moment I would suggest the leading candidates are:

Kielly - He's not fully up to speed yet, although if he's left out how does he get 100% match fit?

Nicholls - He's not pulled up any trees yet and was on the ice for all 3 Cardiff goals.

Vallerand - Probably a bit controversial, because we know what he can do, but so far he's not had much impact which maybe down to early season niggles (would he benefit from a week off?)

Juusola seems to be starting to have an impact, so I wouldn't add him to the list. I'd probably go with Kielly for now, unless any of the forwards are carrying niggles.

I'm hoping we can carry our pre-season form into the proper action. There does feel to be something a little bit different about this seasons Steelers team (from a positive perspective), which I've not felt for a while.

I like it when the opposition supporters describe us as big and physical on top of the speed we clearly possess in the lineup.

The title won't be won or lost this weekend, but hopefully we can carry the preseason momentum forward.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

I’ve not followed things Blaze. Have they recruited any interesting players?

They've signed a few players you might be familiar with:

Kozun is their new netminder signed from Cardiff Devils. His save percentage was second best in the league last season so I'm surprised Cardiff let him go.

Blake Thompson has also signed from Cardiff where he was their 2nd best defenceman in terms of +/-.

The other notable signing is Danny Kristo who left us at the end of last season. I thought he made a good start for us, but dropped off badly in the 2nd half of the season.

I suspect where we should have the edge on Coventry is our strength in depth. At the top end of their lineup they can probably match our firepower, but I don't think they'll be able to roll the same quality 3rd and 4th lines.

If everybody is fit it will be interesting to see who Fox leaves out. At the moment I would suggest the leading candidates are:

Kielly - He's not fully up to speed yet, although if he's left out how does he get 100% match fit?

Nicholls - He's not pulled up any trees yet and was on the ice for all 3 Cardiff goals.

Vallerand - Probably a bit controversial, because we know what he can do, but so far he's not had much impact which maybe down to early season niggles (would he benefit from a week off?)

Juusola seems to be starting to have an impact, so I wouldn't add him to the list. I'd probably go with Kielly for now, unless any of the forwards are carrying niggles.

I'm hoping we can carry our pre-season form into the proper action. There does feel to be something a little bit different about this seasons Steelers team (from a positive perspective), which I've not felt for a while.

I like it when the opposition supporters describe us as big and physical on top of the speed we clearly possess in the lineup.

The title won't be won or lost this weekend, but hopefully we can carry the preseason momentum forward.

Regards

Doom

Nicholls is an interesting one. Not seen enough of him yet to really make a call but my gut feel is he needs a goal to get him going (similar to Watling). The one handed effort against Cardiff on Saturday was ridiculous, and only denied by a top drawer save from Browns.

Also worth noting we were shorthanded for 1 of Cardiff's goals against, so wouldn't really critique him for that.

I do think putting him with Champ and Watling could really help, and probably worth a look this weekend.

I personally think Vally will sit due to injuries.

D wise, I quite like Tansey/Petgrave. Think it gives Nevalainen more scope to be the D pushing the pace

[greeny]

Wouldnt expect anything other than a win, If we are to be title contenders then these early home season games against an average looking team on paper should be nothing but a win. No excuses

[smbmetal]

Can only see a Steelers win here after a decent pre-season.

4-1 Steelers.

[paul johnston]

As per SMB, I'm hoping for a 4 or 5 -1 game, but more importantly I hope to see the entertaining combination of the attractive hockey of Ciampini, Watling with the other guys helping mixed with the physical, aggressive and effective D play of Tansey, Saucerman and Jones in our D zone backed by a wonderful Greenfield showing in the net that we've seen over the 2 home pre-season games.

[Doom]

On paper we have a much better squad than Coventry, so it should be a routine victory.

However, I remember saying something similar when we started the season against Edinburgh and somehow we managed to lose that. Inspired netminding, poor finishing and some bad luck all contributed to the shock defeat.

For Coventry to beat us Kozun will need to be very good, they'll need some luck and they'll need to be clinical. An unlikely combination, but it has happened before.

What I do like about this Steelers team is there does seem to be some variety.

If the speed option doesn't work with the likes of Juusola and Neumann, there is the size option of Allen and Simpson.

I expect us to win, but if Coventry get their noses in front it could be an uncomfortable evening.

Regards

Doom