We miss character players like Vallerand and Saucerman and maybe even Tansey from a couple of seasons ago, who I believe has been pulled about all season and broke his gritty on edge spirit.. Players in that mould that can turn a game around at any given second, not only that characters in the room that keep the decent down and the moral up after a poor result... Players that buy in and play for the badge on the front and play for the fans. yes some of our more colourful players in our past seasons have not troubled the top of the stats charts... but the stats they excel in dont get recorded..
Hence why it's very hard to recruit these players, because you can't identify them, especially in the data driven stat-rich world we live in. It was probably easier back in the day where stats were thin, video was non-existent and coaches/GMs relied more on word of mouth or personal recommendations (and as Gentile showed us this year that is not a bulletproof recruitment tool either).
Also, sometimes those players thrive in one environment in a way that they didn't in previous or subsequent teams. The alchemy element of coaching and recruitment is one of those things that is often overlooked by us armchair critics.
Not by me... its often the thing I dive into first, looking back at anecdotal evidence and fans forums and ex coaches comments a great deal when I get hint of a new player or a player rumour! Has was the case when Valley came from Coventry, he was announced early and the player himself more or less made it impossible to do anything else by thanking all the Coventry faithful on his own social media and stating he was off to the Steelers.. way before The Steelers media machine wanted it to happen... they wanted to drag it out and do the big reveal... Valley was having none of it... I knew then I instantly liked the guy.. plus Nobody had a bad word to say about the guy and everyone in the league already knew from his year in Coventry his game was sound too...
I have to Add Fitzy had a similar impact too and look how he played out...
Colt King too... Franchise players that basically earn probably double their wages in shirt sales and feel good factor alone... You get the right character guys in the team is half way there, the jigsaw is built around those central pieces and the Goalie, who in most cases is as mad as the go to character players...
the hockey team recipe isn't always get in the best skilled players by a long way..! to me this is where a coach really earns his wage..
Not by me... its often the thing I dive into first, looking back at anecdotal evidence and fans forums and ex coaches comments a great deal when I get hint of a new player or a player rumour! Has was the case when Valley came from Coventry, he was announced early and the player himself more or less made it impossible to do anything else by thanking all the Coventry faithful on his own social media and stating he was off to the Steelers.. way before The Steelers media machine wanted it to happen... they wanted to drag it out and do the big reveal... Valley was having none of it... I knew then I instantly liked the guy.. plus Nobody had a bad word to say about the guy and everyone in the league already knew from his year in Coventry his game was sound too...
I have to Add Fitzy had a similar impact too and look how he played out...
Colt King too... Franchise players that basically earn probably double their wages in shirt sales and feel good factor alone... You get the right character guys in the team is half way there, the jigsaw is built around those central pieces and the Goalie, who in most cases is as mad as the go to character players...
the hockey team recipe isn't always get in the best skilled players by a long way..! to me this is where a coach really earns his wage..
Another interesting metric is to look at what their jerseys go for at auction once the season has ended, that's often a decent metric of fan-favourite-ness. Heard home playoffs shirt currently at £500 with a week left to go.
What an absolute star Kevin Tansey has been for us.
Arguably the best player in our Grandslam season and the sort of player every other team wanted to sign.
He didn't quite hit those same heights in the following two seasons, but he was still good. I don't think it helped him switching from defence to forward, but he was a team player and just got on with it.
I thought he had a very good playoffs and was one of our best players. It was clear he wanted to go out on a high.
Good luck to him in the future and thank you for the pleasure you brought to us all.
What an absolute star Kevin Tansey has been for us.
Arguably the best player in our Grandslam season and the sort of player every other team wanted to sign.
He didn't quite hit those same heights in the following two seasons, but he was still good. I don't think it helped him switching from defence to forward, but he was a team player and just got on with it.
I thought he had a very good playoffs and was one of our best players. It was clear he wanted to go out on a high.
Good luck to him in the future and thank you for the pleasure you brought to us all.
Regards
Doom
I think he'd have gone in goal if Fox wanted him to play there, such was his dedication and leadership to the team.
Looks like Huttula is leaving - apparently his wife has posted something on Instagram that makes it sound like their time in Sheffield is done.
Not what I wanted to be reading… was hoping he’d be back in orange. If this turns out to be the case then I’d like to wish Joona and family all the best. I think the latter half of this year it really came through what a team guy he is. Hoping this doesn’t pan out and he’s back, but sounds like he won’t.
