steelers Vs Devils - CC - 19th Oct 25 - FO 16:00
- Thread starter James
- Start date
I think it’s not 100% analogous as an argument because I’m sure Everton fans would probably be concerned about dropping points and looking a bit toothless against other mid tablers at home, and then for this to be compounded by not even being able to compete against a stronger rival and effectively being eliminated from a competition like eg the FA cup, that they had a punchers chance at winning vs no chance of the league.
It’s not the game in isolation it’s the trend and being comparatively early in the season eliminated from the cup and realising we won’t likely be contending for the league this season, it’s reasonable for people in the fanbase to feel frustrated. I imagine the ownership group also feel the frustration.
It’s not the game in isolation it’s the trend and being comparatively early in the season eliminated from the cup and realising we won’t likely be contending for the league this season, it’s reasonable for people in the fanbase to feel frustrated. I imagine the ownership group also feel the frustration.
I don’t think the Devils have been that bad over the course of the season. Look at the first few weeks, fans were going way over the top about this team and them going for the league etc etc. but that’s the difference between the Devils and Belfast, Sheffield and possibly Nottingham; on any given night we can match them but over the course of the season we don’t have the depth or ability to have the consistency.
For a perspective on where we are in the pecking order, Steelers picked up Mitchell Heard, a point a game DEL player the same time we picked up Maclean who has a very rookie-like resume (he may turn out to be a great find but taking it on face value). Considering this is to be a replacement for Lacroix, which Heard would pretty much a like for like (but better) replacement, we have definitely got the budget option and then putting 36 year old Mosey in a 3rd line checking role. We arent in the same league anymore.
For a perspective on where we are in the pecking order, Steelers picked up Mitchell Heard, a point a game DEL player the same time we picked up Maclean who has a very rookie-like resume (he may turn out to be a great find but taking it on face value). Considering this is to be a replacement for Lacroix, which Heard would pretty much a like for like (but better) replacement, we have definitely got the budget option and then putting 36 year old Mosey in a 3rd line checking role. We arent in the same league anymore.
And that sums us up really, yes we all me included wanted this team to be better than what it really is, now it’s reality time, we are really bang average. Thats no disrespect to our players as they are what they are, okay players, good today, okay tomorrow. No team in this league are outstanding, just some are better than others so we just again move on. We have lost to Steelers,lost to Panthers, lost to Blaze, and lost to Clan, all teams in this league will lose games hopefully we will win more than we lose, but as for trophies our best chance is the play offs unless quite a few changes are made, todays team is not yesterdays team far from it, yesterday's team would be pushing Steelers to the wire, todays team was like Men against boys in Steelers favour unfortunately.
Absolutely agree. Both myself, yourself and many others have said for the last couple of seasons that the new reality is that we’re a 4th place team and pretty much that belief has been borne out at the end of the last few seasons.
Many of us also had the belief that this team was going to be short on goals before a puck was dropped. This belief seemed to be confirmed when the Club said that we had traded away skill/goals for character/entertainment value.
I was a little underwhelmed by a few of our new forwards as I thought only Lacroix offered something different.
I like you, adjusted my expectation level a couple of seasons ago to the reality that we’re a 4th place team, however I still harbour frustrations when we fail to perform to even the level of a 4th place team.
The reality for the Club is that they have to maximise every opportunity to raise the revenue not to win the league but to just remain "competitive " so I would argue that 'sell out' games are absolutely critical to achieve this aim and as such is probably the most important Club KPI to achieving this.
Going out at the group stage of the CC is a massive blow not only to the fans as it represents a chance of a trophy but also to the business model and maybe bringing in a quality player in November if necessary will not be possible if we don’t get through the group stage.
This evening is just the latest reality check (if we needed it) in what to expect against the arena teams results wise, however our goal shy forwards may even put a 4th place finish at risk!
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Buckle up, this gets complicated:
Whether we remain in the Challenge Cup or not is still in our own hands.
The scenarios will become clearer later this week but with Nottingham hosting Coventry in the Challenge Cup this coming Wednesday, here are the permutations of the four possible results of that game:
1). If Nottingham beat Coventry in O/T we are out of the Challenge Cup according to the EIHL website.
2). If Nottingham beat Coventry in regulation then we can still claim 3rd spot by beating Guildford in regulation (as we would then have the tie breaker advantage over Coventry by way of more regulation wins)
3). If Coventry beat Nottingham in regulation we need at least a point at Guildford to secure 3rd spot
4). If Coventry beat Nottingham in overtime we will need a win (regulation or OT) to secure third spot
The highest we can now finish is third in the group for the play-in game against 2nd place in Group B.
Whether we remain in the Challenge Cup or not is still in our own hands.
The scenarios will become clearer later this week but with Nottingham hosting Coventry in the Challenge Cup this coming Wednesday, here are the permutations of the four possible results of that game:
1). If Nottingham beat Coventry in O/T we are out of the Challenge Cup according to the EIHL website.
2). If Nottingham beat Coventry in regulation then we can still claim 3rd spot by beating Guildford in regulation (as we would then have the tie breaker advantage over Coventry by way of more regulation wins)
3). If Coventry beat Nottingham in regulation we need at least a point at Guildford to secure 3rd spot
4). If Coventry beat Nottingham in overtime we will need a win (regulation or OT) to secure third spot
The highest we can now finish is third in the group for the play-in game against 2nd place in Group B.
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As well as the affordability aspect, if we are looking to improve / deepen the roster, we are also limited by the roster regs. We have 23 on roster and the maximum number of players that can be registered in a season is now only 25 (excluding under 20s, 2-ways who play less than 20 games and injured reserves).
There is also a limit of 18 non-home grown players at any time and we now have 17.
So even if we have the money we can only bring in one more import, or two if we dump one of the current imports.
There is also a limit of 18 non-home grown players at any time and we now have 17.
So even if we have the money we can only bring in one more import, or two if we dump one of the current imports.
The only add ons to this is that Bayley Harewood is not yet registered as a full player as he’s not completed 20 league games so we only have 22 players (possibly 21 - see next point) on the roster, and also IR list wizardry might yet come into play - Steven MacLean might be an IR cover for Lacroix currently (we probably won’t be informed) so might not yet count towards the roster either - maybe a six week trial period?
So, squeezing into 3rd could be part of a financial master plan to get extra income from the elimination game 
.
Actually, that game looks more likely to be hosted by whichever team comes 2nd in group B. Does all profit from that game to to the hosts, or does the opponent get a share? What about the final?
.Actually, that game looks more likely to be hosted by whichever team comes 2nd in group B. Does all profit from that game to to the hosts, or does the opponent get a share? What about the final?
So, squeezing into 3rd could be part of a financial master plan to get extra income from the elimination game .
Actually, that game looks more likely to be hosted by whichever team comes 2nd in group B. Does all profit from that game to to the hosts, or does the opponent get a share? What about the final?
.Actually, that game looks more likely to be hosted by whichever team comes 2nd in group B. Does all profit from that game to to the hosts, or does the opponent get a share? What about the final?
Currently odds are in favour of Sheffield being top seed. If they win their last group game in Manchester next Sunday they will be unless Dundee win all their remaining group games. They’d then have choice of 1st or 2nd leg at home to the winner of the play-in game.
The final is offered to the highest seeded team left in the competition at that stage (seedlings based on group results), so no chance Cardiff can host the final anyway. It might be a long shot to get there now given our reward if we can get to and win the play-in game could be another two games against Sheffield.
Now a Manchester win over Sheffield could make things a bit more interesting! It’s still possible Belfast or Dundee could be top seed yet.
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Hmmmm it was a strange one yesterday - apologies, haven't ploughed through the thread yet so I might be repeating things but my shout would be as follows:
1) The whole game felt flat. There were not many away fans there, the home fans were quiet and the game felt anything but a key match up in the Cup.
2) The first period was tense and actually quite interesting - Devils were drawing Sheffield in and hitting them on the break which wasn't thrilling to watch but tactically it was fascinating. There were signs near the end (especially when MacDonald fanned on a really good chance) that Sheffield's discipline was beginning to go and I was cautiously optimistic for the second.
3) Second period Sheffield played well and we were poor in all aspects. Game over.
4) The core problem is the squad relies on our few goalscorers to be red hot and they aren't at the moment. After his op, Sanny looks shorn of confidence and we need him back to where he has been most of his Devils career, MacDonald is not quite clicking with the system and Martin is coming back from injury. I love Barrow to bits but we can't rely on him to have a career year in terms of goals, it's just not his game.
5) The physicality dropped when it was needed. Helgeson put in a beauty of a check in the first but that was it. We needed to knock Sheffield off their stride and didn't.
6) The league is wide open this year. Sheffield were excellent last night but we have shown we can match them, Belfast and Nottingham are inconsistent so....... if we can find something then we will be there or thereabouts but on yesterday's showing, we are a fair way away.
1) The whole game felt flat. There were not many away fans there, the home fans were quiet and the game felt anything but a key match up in the Cup.
2) The first period was tense and actually quite interesting - Devils were drawing Sheffield in and hitting them on the break which wasn't thrilling to watch but tactically it was fascinating. There were signs near the end (especially when MacDonald fanned on a really good chance) that Sheffield's discipline was beginning to go and I was cautiously optimistic for the second.
3) Second period Sheffield played well and we were poor in all aspects. Game over.
4) The core problem is the squad relies on our few goalscorers to be red hot and they aren't at the moment. After his op, Sanny looks shorn of confidence and we need him back to where he has been most of his Devils career, MacDonald is not quite clicking with the system and Martin is coming back from injury. I love Barrow to bits but we can't rely on him to have a career year in terms of goals, it's just not his game.
5) The physicality dropped when it was needed. Helgeson put in a beauty of a check in the first but that was it. We needed to knock Sheffield off their stride and didn't.
6) The league is wide open this year. Sheffield were excellent last night but we have shown we can match them, Belfast and Nottingham are inconsistent so....... if we can find something then we will be there or thereabouts but on yesterday's showing, we are a fair way away.
I think the most disappointing thing from the weekend for me was the lack of compete level, we have recruited a physical team of disrupters and we were very passive for both games. After seeing the stats bigfan posted before the clan game it was pretty obvious langan was their main threat and we didn’t do anything to throw him off his game, lay a hit, have a word with him, he just did what he wanted and was the best player on the ice I thought. Although they have had their critics I think we missed both players who were not playing this weekend. Big Cedric in particular going to the dirty areas and getting in and around the opposition net minder. I still think this team will finish higher than last years team but we need to get back to the team from the first few weeks
I like many fans on here are totally confused and frustrated, what team do we actually really have, team A which was the team we had at one time which was pretty awesome, or team B which is the team we now have which is pretty dire. Or do we have a Jekyll and Hyde team, although team B seems to be the apparent answer at this moment in time, are team A in the background waiting to appear again, answer on the back of a postage stamp please. So am I right in feeling this way, or am I way off the mark,last night I watched that game waiting and hoping with baited breath to witness some fire from us, but the Steelers were full of Fireman Sam’s and we ended up like a load of damp squids. Who else feels this way and why.
