Signings & Departures 23/24

[smbmetal]

Dundee Stars sign very tough D-Man Sean Allen.

Many might disagree but Personally I would love a no nonsense character like this for the steelers, but since Fitzy we don’t seem to want to sign this type of player.

That is entirely down to our illustrious leader Mr Fox.. he does not see the need or even like a player like this guy... he also has been quoted in the past saying he prefers team toughness and togetherness in a dressing room over the role of a policeman or 'Sheriff'

I dont disagree with his entire philosophy regarding team toughness, but having a teammate that you 100% know has your back goes a long way if you are filling that team with skill and speed with little or no aggressive tendencies which is what he has done in every team so far.

I am with you Morpheous, give me a dion Darling, Scott Allison, Zack Fitzgerald or Especially Colt King type player and character that can play too and he will pay the club back in shirt sales alone... never mind the contribution on the ice... Gone has the day we have a proper Franchise player to rally around.

Agree completely. I've generally stopped posting around the physical stuff, as we go over the same/old ground.

Nothing will change while Fox is in charge regarding a proper tough guy. His team toughness philosophy is fine if the team actually followed that philosophy but they don't.

It's not all about fighting either, jut clearing the crease would be a good start.

Am looking forward to catching a Dundee game though if Mr Allen is indeed a proper tough guy. Providing he's not suspended of course

I realise we've not seen them play yet, but Tansey, Diffley and Saucerman all been touted as bigger, stronger guys who clear the crease. Do you honestly think Fox tells his D men to not clear the crease? And how do you do it effectively without taking penalties? You can't keep cross checking a guy in the back like you could in the early 00s. You can't grab on to them like you could. Will say it again, go back and watch games with Vial/Darling etc and apply today's rules/ref standards. There's a penalty every 30 seconds.

I think the bug bear is more the way the game is played/officiated now that people don't like. That I get, but it isn't going to change

I don't think he will tell them not to specifically clear the crease more like, don't get involved in after the whistle stuff lads, which makes our teams easy to play against as there's little or no retribution for teams taking that extra liberty.

IMO you can see players like Mitchel and McNally who are known for toughness kept on a tighter leash under Fox. The same will happen with Tansey and Saucerman as soon as they engage in the physical play initially.

Hockey under Fox (IMO) is bland middle of the road hockey. How many trophies have we won under his tenure?

Belfast and Cardiff to some extent have shown you can play physical even with the way the game is officiated now.

[ginger]

Dundee Stars sign very tough D-Man Sean Allen.

Many might disagree but Personally I would love a no nonsense character like this for the steelers, but since Fitzy we don’t seem to want to sign this type of player.

That is entirely down to our illustrious leader Mr Fox.. he does not see the need or even like a player like this guy... he also has been quoted in the past saying he prefers team toughness and togetherness in a dressing room over the role of a policeman or 'Sheriff'

I dont disagree with his entire philosophy regarding team toughness, but having a teammate that you 100% know has your back goes a long way if you are filling that team with skill and speed with little or no aggressive tendencies which is what he has done in every team so far.

I am with you Morpheous, give me a dion Darling, Scott Allison, Zack Fitzgerald or Especially Colt King type player and character that can play too and he will pay the club back in shirt sales alone... never mind the contribution on the ice... Gone has the day we have a proper Franchise player to rally around.

Agree completely. I've generally stopped posting around the physical stuff, as we go over the same/old ground.

Nothing will change while Fox is in charge regarding a proper tough guy. His team toughness philosophy is fine if the team actually followed that philosophy but they don't.

It's not all about fighting either, jut clearing the crease would be a good start.

Am looking forward to catching a Dundee game though if Mr Allen is indeed a proper tough guy. Providing he's not suspended of course

I realise we've not seen them play yet, but Tansey, Diffley and Saucerman all been touted as bigger, stronger guys who clear the crease. Do you honestly think Fox tells his D men to not clear the crease? And how do you do it effectively without taking penalties? You can't keep cross checking a guy in the back like you could in the early 00s. You can't grab on to them like you could. Will say it again, go back and watch games with Vial/Darling etc and apply today's rules/ref standards. There's a penalty every 30 seconds.

I think the bug bear is more the way the game is played/officiated now that people don't like. That I get, but it isn't going to change

I don't think he will tell them not to specifically clear the crease more like, don't get involved in after the whistle stuff lads, which makes our teams easy to play against as there's little or no retribution for teams taking that extra liberty.

IMO you can see players like Mitchel and McNally who are known for toughness kept on a tighter leash under Fox. The same will happen with Tansey and Saucerman as soon as they engage in the physical play initially.

Hockey under Fox (IMO) is bland middle of the road hockey. How many trophies have we won under his tenure?

Belfast and Cardiff to some extent have shown you can play physical even with the way the game is officiated now.

Except the times where they did get involved. Or when Dowdy gets in a fight, or Allen? You have to pick your times. There's nowhere near the level of after whistle stuff there used to be across the league - so naturally there's less of it. When needed, it happens but again, there's no point cross checking a guy after the whistle if nothing obvious happening.

And yes, we've only won 1 trophy in 3 seasons under Fox (albeit 1 season only had 2 available). And yet we were penalty shots and an overtime loss away from 2 finals last year, and 8 points off the league title. Not exactly middle of the road.

I get wanting to win and absolutely should be a level of expectations in terms of that, but if we're challenging then it's a very fine margin between winning and losing. At some point failing to win trophies will have to be taken in to account on coaching, but given exit meetings are held with players where coaching is asked about, you'd think some senior players would be raising it and would see a change if they felt coaching was an issue

[Jayboy]

That is entirely down to our illustrious leader Mr Fox.. he does not see the need or even like a player like this guy... he also has been quoted in the past saying he prefers team toughness and togetherness in a dressing room over the role of a policeman or 'Sheriff'

I dont disagree with his entire philosophy regarding team toughness, but having a teammate that you 100% know has your back goes a long way if you are filling that team with skill and speed with little or no aggressive tendencies which is what he has done in every team so far.

I am with you Morpheous, give me a dion Darling, Scott Allison, Zack Fitzgerald or Especially Colt King type player and character that can play too and he will pay the club back in shirt sales alone... never mind the contribution on the ice... Gone has the day we have a proper Franchise player to rally around.

Agree completely. I've generally stopped posting around the physical stuff, as we go over the same/old ground.

Nothing will change while Fox is in charge regarding a proper tough guy. His team toughness philosophy is fine if the team actually followed that philosophy but they don't.

It's not all about fighting either, jut clearing the crease would be a good start.

Am looking forward to catching a Dundee game though if Mr Allen is indeed a proper tough guy. Providing he's not suspended of course

I realise we've not seen them play yet, but Tansey, Diffley and Saucerman all been touted as bigger, stronger guys who clear the crease. Do you honestly think Fox tells his D men to not clear the crease? And how do you do it effectively without taking penalties? You can't keep cross checking a guy in the back like you could in the early 00s. You can't grab on to them like you could. Will say it again, go back and watch games with Vial/Darling etc and apply today's rules/ref standards. There's a penalty every 30 seconds.

I think the bug bear is more the way the game is played/officiated now that people don't like. That I get, but it isn't going to change

I don't think he will tell them not to specifically clear the crease more like, don't get involved in after the whistle stuff lads, which makes our teams easy to play against as there's little or no retribution for teams taking that extra liberty.

IMO you can see players like Mitchel and McNally who are known for toughness kept on a tighter leash under Fox. The same will happen with Tansey and Saucerman as soon as they engage in the physical play initially.

Hockey under Fox (IMO) is bland middle of the road hockey. How many trophies have we won under his tenure?

Belfast and Cardiff to some extent have shown you can play physical even with the way the game is officiated now.

Except the times where they did get involved. Or when Dowdy gets in a fight, or Allen? You have to pick your times. There's nowhere near the level of after whistle stuff there used to be across the league - so naturally there's less of it. When needed, it happens but again, there's no point cross checking a guy after the whistle if nothing obvious happening.

And yes, we've only won 1 trophy in 3 seasons under Fox (albeit 1 season only had 2 available). And yet we were penalty shots and an overtime loss away from 2 finals last year, and 8 points off the league title. Not exactly middle of the road.

I get wanting to win and absolutely should be a level of expectations in terms of that, but if we're challenging then it's a very fine margin between winning and losing. At some point failing to win trophies will have to be taken in to account on coaching, but given exit meetings are held with players where coaching is asked about, you'd think some senior players would be raising it and would see a change if they felt coaching was an issue

The problem with that scenario is that Tony hires the coach to do what he feels his best, and at the moment given how close we have come in recent seasons, Tony still buys into the fact that Aaron |Fox is the man for the job and he will get it right sooner rather than later and that with a few tweaks here and there we can have a winning team. Hence the obvious changes he is perceived to be making this season! He may make those teaks and it finally works out and we win, but I dont believe Aaron Fox can let go of his playing philosophy entirely and if we hit a low patch of form he won't just revert back to the vanilla hockey that doesn't work here in sheffield...
this to me is the last chance Aaron has to give us silverware. will he, well maybe this team looking at it so far may have the best chance on paper, but unfortunately I am now more than ever just not convinced it will happen, given my counter argument above...

[smbmetal]

Dundee Stars sign very tough D-Man Sean Allen.

Copied from Dundee’s twitter

‘The 25-year-old, blueliner joins the club from ECHL side, Cincinnati Cyclones, where last season he iced in 69 regular season games and 10 playoff matches, scoring 15 points (1G, 14A) and accumulating 262 penalty minutes, with also a plus-minus rating of +21.

Born in Puslinch, Ontario, Allen has built up a tough reputation on the ice throughout his career, as he has always protected his teammates and never shied away from dropping the gloves, earning him the nickname “The Sheriff”.

Standing at 6-feet-3-inches tall and weighing in at 205lbs, Sean has played four seasons of professional hockey, all in the ECHL with firstly Wichita Thunder (2019-2022), then most recently with the Cyclones and in the 2019-2020 campaign, he was selected to play in the ECHL All-Star Game.

The Canadian defender also played five years in the Ontario Hockey League, one of Canada’s best junior leagues with three different clubs; Kitchener Rangers, Oshawa Generals and Windsor Spitfires.

In his five OHL seasons, Allen would score 23 points in 225 games, while racking up 399 penalty minutes and prior to beginning his junior career, he also won an OHL Gold Cup in 2013-2014.’

Many might disagree but Personally I would love a no nonsense character like this for the steelers, but since Fitzy we don’t seem to want to sign this type of player.

Like how Dundee have announced him:

https://youtu.be/4CObI8PbJ8I

Decent +/- stats in the ECHL.

Looking forward to seeing a proper tough guy in the EIHL. I’d sign him in a heart beat.

The last time we won a league championship we had Fitzy and Dezzy in the squad. Toughness wins championships.

[Doom]

It looks like Dundee are going for old time hockey.

With a budget which probably means they can't compete with the big boys, why not try something a bit different to entertain their supporters?

Nothing like a few pantomime villains to get the crowd into a game.

Regards

Doom

[Morpheous]

Looks a good signing by the panthers. Surely their first line C

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/1 ... am-johnson

[smbmetal]

It looks like Dundee are going for old time hockey.

With a budget which probably means they can't compete with the big boys, why not try something a bit different to entertain their supporters?

Nothing like a few pantomime villains to get the crowd into a game.

Regards

Doom

I hope so. It’s an extra team I can remove from my ‘do not watch list’ if so.

Bet their crowd numbers increase if there’s a bit of pantomime villainy going off haha.

[greeny]

It looks like Dundee are going for old time hockey.

With a budget which probably means they can't compete with the big boys, why not try something a bit different to entertain their supporters?

Nothing like a few pantomime villains to get the crowd into a game.

Regards

Doom

I hope so. It’s an extra team I can remove from my ‘do not watch list’ if so.

Bet their crowd numbers increase if there’s a bit of pantomime villainy going off haha.

Having a couple of these type players in their team will certainly get me going to watch our games against them, where as maybe i wouldnt normally put my self out too

[Joesteeler]

Looks a good signing by the panthers. Surely their first line C

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/1 ... am-johnson

Based on paper, signing of the summer for me. I’m in fear of the Panthers this season. I think they’ll be there are there abouts.

The only positive I have is that Jordan Owens had a similar output during his time in the DEL, and he was a flop. But I’m clutching at straws

[Doom]

Looks a good signing by the panthers. Surely their first line C

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/1 ... am-johnson

Based on paper, signing of the summer for me. I’m in fear of the Panthers this season. I think they’ll be there are there abouts.

The only positive I have is that Jordan Owens had a similar output during his time in the DEL, and he was a flop. But I’m clutching at straws

Their supporters have been really negative and I just don't get it, because they look a good squad to me.

Whilst I think Johnson looks a good player, I still think their best signing will prove to be Niemenen.

I've just seen a suggestion for their lines on The Cage:

Niemenen-Johnson-Lemay
Lunsjo-Roy-Betteridge
Michaud-Welsh-Anderson
Neilson-Kelsall-Henbrant

Caruso-Neill
Bjorkung-McGurty
Tetlow-Ryczek

Stojanovic
Robinson

I think their forward lines probably edge ours, but we look better at the back end.

Regards

Doom