Season analysis: what now...

[smbmetal]

Springer scored more points than both ASD & Ellerby and the same as Jones. I'm not looking for a fighter either, just someone who sticks up for the team and is a sore loser.

[Jayboy]

Springer scored more points than both ASD & Ellerby and the same as Jones. I'm not looking for a fighter either, just someone who sticks up for the team and is a sore loser.

I would take springer.. anyone that riles up the opposing team and gets under their skin like he does and can certainly play is ok by me..
The problem I see is I think our coach has issues with that type of player and may well affect the game of that type player, as Fox would surely keep him on a to tight leash...

[raetiamann]

Springer scored more points than both ASD & Ellerby and the same as Jones. I'm not looking for a fighter either, just someone who sticks up for the team and is a sore loser.

Nail on head time. We've stopped being sore losers some years ago and it only seems to be getting worse.

[Jayboy]

Springer scored more points than both ASD & Ellerby and the same as Jones. I'm not looking for a fighter either, just someone who sticks up for the team and is a sore loser.

Nail on head time. We've stopped being sore losers some years ago and it only seems to be getting worse.

We would rather welcome the opposition on to the ice with a clapping and tea and sandwiches...

[paul johnston]

I'm pretty sure when Fox was signed it was three years to bring success, and by that the meaning was winning the league. Two years in and we've gone backwards from playing an attractive game and winning the challenge Cup, to playing in my mind less attractive hockey for most of the season and not winning any competitions. Does that initial three year requirement still stand, or with the new contract awarded to him have the goal posts been shifted?

He was supposed to have learned lessons from his first season, bit at the end of the year is the evidence there to suggest he had? I dont think so.

Many felt we needed to have a bigger, more physical and aggressive team. Did that materialise, nope. I dont think its any coincidence that we struggled more as the season went on as the older players struggled to maintain form and fitness.
We didn't address the netminder situation again. The Brust signing was bizarre. His age, lack of fitness and recent playing time (even with covid issues) made his signing very odd, and for the player to arrive so unfit and out of shape was terribly unprofessional. With the late addition of Rok we got lucky but Fox really should have kicked him out of the door.
Apart from Brust, two big name signings with very good CV's who should have been big game and effective players for us, Ellerby and Hodgman, flattered to deceive and Hodgman eventually became our third line centre for most of the season. Oleksuk clearly didn't seem to really want to be here from the get go which makes me wonder why he bothered coming in the first place.
We got lucky that Latal and Mosey came in and performed way above expectations.
A big reason for us going backwards was many of the retained imports who you expect the vast majority to play to at least a similar or better than previous level failed to do so.

So what next?
For me.
-stud nettie with Rok as back up.
-less offensive d men and bring some size and physical around the crease d men.
-reduce the overall squad age.
-look to change/mix up the systems. The style hasn't worked (league success wise) for two years, what's to say that it will if carry on.
-instead of three balanced lines look to heavily front load a first line a la Belfast this year.
-create a role line.
-whistle, Jones to be the future. Will be a disaster if Brandon moves to other EIHL team.
-A lot will depend whether we have the quite ludicrous 19 match night squad size.

I've got a lot of time for Aaron and do hope he brings success in the league to the club.

[Sully]

A bit of Devils advocate here.

Losing Todd had a big impact on our season. He was our main QB. However that said, we need to look at the whole squad because losing 1 player shouldn’t kill us.

[JoeySlats#13]

Overall an entertaining season I would say, obviously the aim of the game is silverware especially for a 'bigger' team in the EIHL, so hugely disappointing in that way. I thought we were good to watch for the majority and we showed we could beat anyone when on form playing our style. I think we did extremely well to push Belfast so far with the league to be honest, we suffered a lot in terms of injuries and there was a stretch of games that we managed to sneak away with the 2 points when we often weren't playing too well. Unfortunately towards the end of the season those closer games where we weren't at our best turned into losses and I think if there was a criticism, which I'm often reluctant to pile on especially when we were very much in a title race, would be that we lacked a plan B or an alternative way of grinding out results. We lost momentum after the CC semi-final 0-5 defeat at home to the Devils and our season spiraled from there, we struggled to regain any winning streaks after that game and we looked to have lost a lot of confidence as well.

I thought we had a good well balanced team overall, we did rely on Vallerand for goals for a long time though. Dowd, Eberle, Latal and Mosey were the next batch of top scorers who all had great seasons, but all had lean spells without goals. I would say this is an area we suffered due to injuries DeLuca and Connolly certainly would've aided this situation, however, those who came in did score (Polak and Sointu) but probably didn't have the same bite to their game that the previous names would have given us especially in big games. Also, if we compare direct to Belfast we had new line combinations on a pretty much nightly basis for whatever multiple reasons I'm assuming, but we probably didn't have the same chemistry within our forward line combinations as they had, obviously the Conway line was excellent all season but they also had the same 2nd and 3rd line for most of the season which certainly seemed to benefit them. I think in terms of wingers we had enough but for me we struggled down the middle, both Hodgman and Armstrong struggled to consistently light the lamp and towards the end I think Whistle was performing at a similar level. However both Hodgman and Armstrong brought experience and good face-off %'s, I thought Hodgman was a good playmaker and kept the puck well but probably wanted more production. Armstrong scored some big goals but again we probably all wanted more points from him.

In terms of defense I think we probably were on the offensive side of that, I think we could maybe benefit from a couple of new more physical defensive minded D-men similar to Boruta, Hrabel and Kuukka. I would keep Todd and Schulze to be honest out of the import D-men and they are our 2 more offensive minded blue liners. Jones has rightly been signed up quickly and I would assume Davey will be too.

In terms of goalies I would be surprised to see Barry back, I think he may retire. Would like to see Rok back to be honest I thought he was solid all season and stole quite a few games on the road where he really stood on his head, yes there were a few leaky goals but I'm sure if you look at all the top goalies all season they've had a few they'd all want back. Wouldn't be surprised to see a new import goalie come in as well. I would think Warburton will be back to and it would be good to see him get more minutes especially in the CC games.

Hopefully we can retain the core of the team and continue to build around them, who knows what could have been without so many injuries. I'm not in full blow up mode like some out there but I do think a refresh throughout the line up is needed with maybe a bit more youth? Be interesting to see if there is anyone in the EIHL that Fox is looking at, maybe some that we will see in the final 4 this weekend.

I would definitely retain (in no order):

Jones (done)
Dowd
Vallerand
Davey
Eberle
Mosey
Latal
Whistle
Schulze
Todd (if he doesn't retire)
Connolly
Jono
Rok
Warburton
Shudra
Graham

[Brian]

A good balanced summary in my opinion Joey. What some don't realise is that there is more to recruitment than just sealing deals , visas and wages with the players you want. You have to think about houses and families they wish to bring with them. Steelers only have so much accommodation and this can limit the capacity for players to bring the relatives they want to , resulting in them not signing.
There are even limited spots apparently for players who wish to bring their dogs !
Then there are the limited university places on offer, etc.
Good luck Aaron !

[Nathan]

I would definitely retain (in no order):

Jones (done)
Dowd
Vallerand
Davey
Eberle
Mosey
Latal
Whistle
Schulze
Todd (if he doesn't retire)
Connolly
Jono
Rok
Warburton
Shudra
Graham

I'm on the fence with Connolly tbh Joe, I'd love to see him back but he's had a long term injury and by the time next season rolls up he'll be 37.

It's a risk for sure.

[smbmetal]

I would definitely retain (in no order):

Jones (done)
Dowd
Vallerand
Davey
Eberle
Mosey
Latal
Whistle
Schulze
Todd (if he doesn't retire)
Connolly
Jono
Rok
Warburton
Shudra
Graham

Here's my retainees:

Tanner Eberle – Yes
Evan Mosey - Yes
Martin Latal - Yes
Brandon Whistle - Yes
Cole Shudra - Yes
Robert Dowd - Yes
Marc-Olivier Vallerand – Yes
Sam Jones – Yes
Curtis Warburton - Yes
Alex Graham - Yes
Jonathan Phillips – Yes (if he still wants to play)
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Justin Hodgman - No
Vojtech Polak - No
Tommaso Traversa - No
Brendan Connolly - No
Matias Sointu - No
John Armstrong - No
Daine Todd - No
Davey Phillips - No
Kevin Schulze - No
Adrian Saxrud Danielsen - No
Keaton Ellerby - No
Barry Brust - No
Rok Stojanovic - No

If we're not able to find another Connolly type player and he still wants to play, then I would re-sign him in a heartbeat, however like @Nathan says he age is a little against him.