Steelers try to buy the Steeldogs, League says NO

[mark]

https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/ice-hoc ... gs-4226847

I would have thought this was a good thing but British ice hockey does have a history of never failing to miss an opportunity.

[19Steelers]

You would have thought so. Be interesting to know the reason behind it. Must be something we do not know about going on

[ginger]

Got to be more to this, but no idea. On the face of it, it should be the way forward but there's a lot of egos that would be a little bruised I think.

That said I think there's more to it than that.

[jas]

I have to say, this surprises me. There are many at the Steeldogs who are vehemently opposed to the Steelers.

[mark]

I have to say, this surprises me. There are many at the Steeldogs who are vehemently opposed to the Steelers.

It appears a deal had been worked out that both owners were comfortable with and would have provided that two way exchange of both players and coaching that would be to the benefit of everyone, I know there have been previous efforts that have not been seen as equally fair to both sides and they were correctly rejected but where you have both owners signed off and happy, for the league to refuse it seems another example of the way that Ice Hockey governance in this country has failed to reach even the lowest levels of competence over the years. Isolationism and the need to keep their own powerbase has always overridden what might actually be beneficial to the sport as a whole.

As for being "vehemently opposed" , is this fans saying this ?, if so how many , what percentage and more importantly why.

[jas]

I have to say, this surprises me. There are many at the Steeldogs who are vehemently opposed to the Steelers.

It appears a deal had been worked out that both owners were comfortable with and would have provided that two way exchange of both players and coaching that would be to the benefit of everyone, I know there have been previous efforts that have not been seen as equally fair to both sides and they were correctly rejected but where you have both owners signed off and happy, for the league to refuse it seems another example of the way that Ice Hockey governance in this country has failed to reach even the lowest levels of competence over the years. Isolationism and the need to keep their own powerbase has always overridden what might actually be beneficial to the sport as a whole.

As for being "vehemently opposed" , is this fans saying this ?, if so how many , what percentage and more importantly why.

There are both people involved in the running of the club, and also disaffected ex Steelers supporters who have "defected" for their own personal reasons. There are also some who detest the Steelers for not actively promoting youth development. Clearly, I can't give a number but I would say "a good proportion" and, of those, to a greater or lesser extent. Of course, many of those should be won round if the deal were to go through, and prove to be beneficial to youth development. There will, in my opinion, be a very small minority who will continue their hatred towards the Steelers until their last breath

[mark]

I have to say, this surprises me. There are many at the Steeldogs who are vehemently opposed to the Steelers.

It appears a deal had been worked out that both owners were comfortable with and would have provided that two way exchange of both players and coaching that would be to the benefit of everyone, I know there have been previous efforts that have not been seen as equally fair to both sides and they were correctly rejected but where you have both owners signed off and happy, for the league to refuse it seems another example of the way that Ice Hockey governance in this country has failed to reach even the lowest levels of competence over the years. Isolationism and the need to keep their own powerbase has always overridden what might actually be beneficial to the sport as a whole.

As for being "vehemently opposed" , is this fans saying this ?, if so how many , what percentage and more importantly why.

There are both people involved in the running of the club, and also disaffected ex Steelers supporters who have "defected" for their own personal reasons. There are also some who detest the Steelers for not actively promoting youth development. Clearly, I can't give a number but I would say "a good proportion" and, of those, to a greater or lesser extent. Of course, many of those should be won round if the deal were to go through, and prove to be beneficial to youth development. There will, in my opinion, be a very small minority who will continue their hatred towards the Steelers until their last breath

This is my point, while there may have been in the past reasons for distrust, an agreement by both sides to something they think will benefit everyone is a step forward. It gives that necessary pathway for players to progress, access to a higher standard of coaching and technical knowledge, it also corrects any mistakes made in the past about junior development, there has to be a pathway for them. The Steelers have never been a development club, they put out one team which plays at the highest level in this country, there is no capacity to develop juniors until they reach a level of skating and hockey ability that allows them to survive at that level, take a lesson from football, the top teams develop their players in different leagues but under their own club ethos, even where players go out on loan to other clubs that is monitored to ensure the correct quality of coaching and care. While there will always be the dinosaurs who refuse to move with the times you have to trust the owners are looking at the bigger picture and are doing what they believe to be the best for both clubs, I don't know the Dogs owner but I do know Tony Smith, he has proven that he is here for the long haul and that club stability is at the core of what he does. I own both Steelers and Steeldogs jerseys (also Scimitars) going back to games played at Queens Rd, I want the best for both clubs.

[smbmetal]

I certainly don't know anything about the Steeldogs or it's history with the Steelers orginisation, but purely from the outside looking in, I think this is a disappointing decision.

It makes sense to bring junior development closer to the Steelers and there's no better way than buying the Steeldogs orginisation to officially develop this, so I really don't understand why it would be blocked by the Elite League?

Whilst there's always two sides to a story, I would be interested to know why this decision has been blocked?

[DimTim]

According to Bob’s article it’s the NIHL not the Elite League that has not approved the deal.

[smbmetal]

According to Bob’s article it’s the NIHL not the Elite League that has not approved the deal.

Ah, my bad, not seen the article so didn't realise it was the NIHL.

That does make a little more sense then the EIHL blocking it. Although still a disappointing decision IMO. Even more so if both ownerships were agreed