GAME THREAD: Sheffield Steelers v Belfast Giants, Saturday 11th March 7:00pm

[tim123]

Forget the on-ice product, tonight was an embarrassing night to be a Steelers fan.

The amount of bad language and other swearing from our own fans was utterly shameful. There was even foul-mouthed arguements between Steelers fans! Not to mention the guy who threw what looked like a clipboard at Belfast players on the ice. To the Steelers fan that was "calling out" the Belfast players behind their bench for a fight (when we were 3-0 down!) I hope you're ashamed.

I'm always thankful for Tony Smith for giving the club stability; however, the football hooliganism mentality of some of the current fanbase has seriously made me consider whether it's worth £20. This used to be a fun family evening out, but sadly those days seem to have gone.

The refs calls might have been arguable tonight, but the way the coaching staff and some of the players reacted was pathetic - perhaps a gentle reminder that we're the Sheffield Steelers, not the Sheffield Squealers.

That point would have been the perfect time for an on-ice fight to swing momentum, but that doesn't seem to be the way the owners want to play. I honestly think the clipboard incident could've been prevented if the team was allowed to be physical.

To me, the team, the coaching staff and some of the current fanbase no longer represents the Sheffield/Steelers/Yorkshire mentality, and that's the major disappointment here. Over to you, Tony.

Sent from my CPH2399 using Tapatalk

[BontSteeler]

Between Guildford & Belfast for the league imo.

[paul johnston]

Some positive results for us this past week, but they're only any good if we can take advantage.

We now have 6 or 7 must win games, but in recent times how often have we won the must win games?

I hope I'm wrong, but I see this as a comfortable Belfast win.

Regards

Doom

As I suspected we were out coached.

The call on Vallerand was a shocker, but let's be clear, it wasn't the deciding factor in the game, we were being outplayed before that.

Keefe's team reminds me very much of a Blaiser team, the players all know their roles and hassle the opposition all over the ice. Our team of ageing Euros just couldn't live with the intensity.

I suspect Tony Smith will stick with Fox because he's generally a loyal owner, but if he does we'll have to sit and watch Belfast picking up the silverware if Keefe remains there.


Agree completely about the Blaiser comparison. Don't get the impression many of our guys would run through brick walls for our coach or club.

Tony needs to have learnt from the Thompson fiasco, hanging onto Fox whilst admirable from a loyalty point of view is detrimental to his loyalty to the club itsef and fans.

I never thought i would say this but even Danny Stewart would be a better option than Fox

[Brian]

The game was lost in the first 50 minutes not in the penalty laden last ten. Any attempt to claim we lost this match because of the refereeing is ludicrous. It would be nice if our fans showed some class and dignity in defeat by a much more talented team instead of booing them on and off the ice and even their man of the match.
Our passing and puck handling was way below the standard necessary to compete at this level and as in several matches recently only Greenfield saved us from complete embarrassment.

[lovedenisvial]

Its not how high we can finish in the league its more like how low?? Coventry are a on roll and could well finish above us? that's puts us 5th?????? can we beat them over 2 legs I doubt it.
Totally out played last night! they were better all over the ice, they never gave us any free time on the puck and kept any shots down to minimum.
I thought Nevalaine and Neumann were our best players but still didn't have the impact most of Belfast's players did.
We were just smothered! from one end of the ice to the other! I can't see us winning today or against the other top three teams so its going to be a very flat end to the season.
It's already been said, but a clear out is necessary and a re-think on how we recruit and play next season, we can't continue to be half a season team?

[Gisland]

The person you refer to as a knob head is an autistc supporter that Keefe had been turning round to, goading during the game, smirking at him & spraying the plexi in front of him when taking a drink & squirting it over his shoulder. He thrrw his clipboard that he keeps stats on. I sit at the back of that block.

If Keefe was behaving in this manner he should be ashamed of himself and reported to the league.

This I totally agree with. The cameras caught the act, so I am sure, if Keefe was doing this more than once, as you imply during the period of play up to the incident, they will have caught something. Also a lot to mobile phones around. No coach should ever do that, goad any fan.

In fact, I will email the giants org this morning and out your claim to them. It cant only have been you that seen it. Will let you know what response I get.

Email just sent to the Giants Org, for a response.

[Jimmy o]

Whatever Keefe did it doesn’t justify throwing stuff onto the ice.

[smbmetal]

Good and quick clarification from the club here.

https://sheffieldsteelers.co.uk/steelers-statement-5/

[Steve]

Firstly regarding the incident many of us know the young man and are aware of his problems and temper tantrums and I think the club have handled this fairly and with a degree of empathy . I don't think a witch hunt regarding belfast and there staff is warranted the situation does not need blowing out of proportion. Regarding the team I don't know what to say they have totally fallen apart and I watch belfast with a degree of jealousy that is the sort of side I would love to watch every week. I have missed very few matches at home since season one but I am struggling to find any enthusiasm to purchase a cheap ticket for Wednesday . I have seen some poor steelers teams over the years but this team is probably at the moment the least entertaining I feel the energy being sucked out of the building nearly every game. I scratch my head because we do have some good players but something is dramatically wrong. Finally the power play is probably the worst I have ever seen.

[Clowne57]

"The person you refer to as a knob head is an autistc supporter that Keefe had been turning round to, goading during the game, smirking at him & spraying the plexi in front of him when taking a drink & squirting it over his shoulder. He thrrw his clipboard that he keeps stats on. I sit at the back of that block."

If Keefe was behaving in this manner he should be ashamed of himself and reported to the league.


This I totally agree with. The cameras caught the act, so I am sure, if Keefe was doing this more than once, as you imply during the period of play up to the incident, they will have caught something. Also a lot to mobile phones around. No coach should ever do that, goad any fan.

In fact, I will email the giants org this morning and out your claim to them. It cant only have been you that seen it. Will let you know what response I get.


Email just sent to the Giants Org, for a response.

Thank you. Please keep us informed of the clubs response.
Kind Regards.