Challenge Cup Preview - Devils Vs Steelers
Sunday night see’s the Devils in Challenge cup action against Bitter rivals the Sheffield Steelers at Ice Sheffield. This will be the fourth meeting between the two sides in the season this year with the Steelers so far having the better of the Devils 2 -1. This will however be the first meeting for the two clubs in the Challenge cup “group of death” this season. 
The Steelers are yet to register a win in their opening challenge Cup games this season and play Nottingham at home on Saturday in the return leg of their Challenge cup tie prior to this game, if they don’t come away with a win or at the very least a draw from either of these two games their cup hopes for this year are all but over. Comparing the Steelers fates to the Devils Challenge cup run this year the picture seems a good one for the Cardiff side who currently sit second in the group with 3 wins from 4 games.
Looking at the run into this game the Steelers fortunes have been almost as rocky as the Devils.
Last Saturday saw the Steelers take on the Dundee Stars on the road in Dundee, the Steelers made short work of the Stars beating the home side 0-4. The game saw Sheffield post their third shutout of the season with John DeCaro turning away all 46 shots for his second shutout of the year. The Stars did hold Sheffield goalless in the First period but scores from Mark Thomas and Ashley Tait in the second and a double from Coach Ryan Finnerty in the third sealed the Stars fate.
Sunday night in Sheffield however was a different matter with the Steelers playing hosts to Corey Neilson’s Panthers at the house of steel (tin). The Panthers played smart Hockey and took advantage of Steelers indiscipline netting two power play goals in the opening period with further unanswered goals in the second and early in the third from the Panthers before the Steelers finally found the net with a late strike from Coach Finnerty and then again from Tom Squires. These two goals and a fight between Colt King and Guy Lepine being the only consolation on the night for the Steelers faithful.
Colt King explained his decision to drop the gloves in the Sheffield press:
“I had to try something to get the momentum going our way. There was a full building with all these people coming out and willing us on and nothing was happening for us. Sometimes a fight will change the flow. I had heard that Lepine was the guy and saw that he was out on the ice after the third goal.
“I simply asked him and he obliged. I had to do something to try and get us going, lift spirits and gain momentum.
“The fight went my way. I was pleased about that. He is a tough man, an honest player and we had a good fight. I’m sure it won’t be our last.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t change the way of the game."
The Steelers were less than pleased with the loss to Nottingham and there has been somewhat of an out pouring in the press from the Clubs owner and player Coach Finnerty, much as we have seen in the press in Cardiff after our defeat against the Giants last Saturday.
Club owner Tony Smith said he felt that the players owed everyone else at the club an apology.
“Every player knows they let Finner (Coach Ryan Finnerty) and the club down,” he said. “We got out-worked and as a player that’s the hardest things to accept. We owe the fans and hope we will repay their support on Saturday in Nottingham (return Challenge Cup leg) and then back here in Sheffield against Cardiff on Sunday.”
Coach Finnerty would not speak about individuals but on the loss had this to say:
“This was a 100 per cent reality check. I am not the type of coach to baby players if they are not working hard. All I ask is that they come to the rink and work hard - if they do, positive things will happen.”
“But against Nottingham, we had no momentum at all and we lost battles everywhere. There will be no hiding place for any player who does not work hard. Either they are in line or they are not.”
Finnerty suggested in the Sheffield Star that half of the team failed to put a decent shift in against Nottingham, but went on to say.
“That doesn’t mean we are going to make changes, but definitely our radar is always out there,” he said. “We win as a team and lose as a team. There were so many negatives, but we have to pull together.”
The Steelers roster is of course stacked with scoring potential lead from the front by Ex Devil Ryan Finnerty who is currently on 7 + 4 for the season, Finnerty is amply back up with the likes of Mike Ramsay ( 6 +11), Neil Clark ( 8 + 7 ) and Jeff Legue ( 4 + 10 ).
The Steelers Defence now seen to be working well with net minder John DeCaro who seems to kick out some outrageous rebounds but who’s also posted two clean slates so far this year and sits 4th in the league with a 93.5% save percentage. Some question needs to sit over first year pro Chad Huttle who coach Finnerty seemed to bench on Sunday against the Panthers, he is of course coming back from a concussion so there could still be a problem there.
The Steelers will be without Jonathan Phillips who is out with a long term knee injury but otherwise should be at full strength for the game unless they sustain any injuries against the Panthers on Saturday. On this front the Devils face the Stars on Saturday and barring injury here have Mark Smith out and the potential for Captain Stuart MacRae to be out also. It has been highlighted that Brad Voth played injured last weekend the extent of the injury however has not been commented on.
A win in this game really gives the Devils a comfortable position in the Cup and gives them one foot into the Semi – final. The game is there to be won with the Steelers facing “the biggest rivalry in that part of the East Midlands” or the “history of hockey” (depending on who you listen to) the night before against the Panthers in a game they will be desperate to win. The Devils need to bring home the points away.
As always well be running the “Childish and amazingly Biased” Match Night Live service for this game, providing we can get people to cover the game at the usual location of www.theinferno.co.uk/mnl if you'd like to help out or chip in with some comments on the night please contact us at matchnightlive@gmail.com. Should anything go wrong (which it shouldn’t) we will move over to Twitter for updates so it’s worth following us there on @InfernoMNL
And don’t forget if you’re looking for somewhere to have a pint and a bite to eat before the game and somewhere to watch MNL during the game or a few beers afterwards the Pilot in Penarth is a short trip away and will also be open afterwards for post-match drinks, directions to the pub can be found here - http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/where-to-eatdrink/
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