GAME THREAD FRIENDLY: Sheffield Steelers v Nottingham Panthers Saturday, 9th September 7:00pm

[ekt]

Very happy with that, at times it felt like we were on a 5 on 5 powerplay.

The player who caught my eye the most was an oldie, I thought Dowd was outstanding all over the ice.

I also thought we were excellent at faceoffs tonight, which was a pleasant surprise.

Still to be convinced by Vally and Saucerman was slower than I expected, although his passing was inch perfect.

Based on tonight we look bigger, stronger and faster than Nottingham, but we need to improve our shooting.

A more physical Cardiff team will be an interesting test next week.

Regards

Doom

I would agree about Dowd tonight, and I wondered if having Dowd as the new captain might change the dynamic of the way the Steelers play, he has never been one to back away form a fight and showed that tonight, I wonder if the new players will follow his lead.

I was impressed by Tansey, Balmas and Watling tonight from the newbies. Saucerman also had a least three good shots on goal that with a lesser nettie than Stojanovich would have gone in.

It was better than expected, or were Nottingham just rubbish, my mate said exactly the same, it felt like we were on a powerplay most of the game.
I didn't spot Kameron Kielly so assume he was left out due to his late arrival, so we have more to come.

I felt much more positive about the squad tonight after seeing them play.

[jas]

I was looking forward to seeing the new team, and they certainly did not disappoint. It definitely exceeded my expectations. It's early days though. They were playing their natural game and I sincerely hope they aren't coached out of it. The performance of the team, and crowd reaction, will hopefully convince Fox to nurture that style, rather than change the way individuals play to fit his systems. Could be the foundation of a resurrected rivalry.

[Doom]

I forgot to mention that Valley has a fractured cheek bone, hit with a Puck in very first practise..

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

I didn't realise that......fair play to him then, it must be difficult playing your natural game with that sort of injury.

Regards

Doom

[mark]

Apparently we only won because we had 10 players returning from last year where as the Panthers only had 2 and a new coach, well they only had two because the rest were either not good enough or they thought the club wasn't good enough for them

[lovedenisvial]

Great to see hockey back at the arena! great performance for a first game and what an entertaining game to watch! it had everything you want from an Ice Hockey game. Can't wait to see how that translates to a Cardiff and Belfast game.
Nottingham were really poor thou! don't know how they will react to that inept performance today but they lacked quality and size throughout the team. If they think that game was difficult just wait while they play in Cardiff or Belfast!
My thoughts on the new players where much the same as everyone else really! Diffley caught my eye, I thought he was really positive and decisive in his approach to the game and did all the right things. Simpson too with his size and reach!
All real positives to take into the season ahead.

[Sully]

I was surprised at how much possession, attack zone time and shots we had last night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Steelers v Panthers game as one sided as that.

I think the only things I can highlight as slight negatives were, finishing, the odd misplaced pass that led to breakaways. They could get punished by better teams. Saucermans speed could get us in to trouble, again, that may be nerves, finally, young Cole Shudra, I feel he’s in a horrible situation and I feel he’s half a beat off this level. I do hope he develops to that but higher level this year like Whistle and Alex had.

I think all the new players played well, Tansey looked very good positional, passing, game management. Balmas will create lots with his drive and willingness to shoot on sight. We need an opportunist to feed off of that.

It looks like a team bond has been created in a very short time.

[ginger]

I was surprised at how much possession, attack zone time and shots we had last night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Steelers v Panthers game as one sided as that.

I think the only things I can highlight as slight negatives were, finishing, the odd misplaced pass that led to breakaways. They could get punished by better teams. Saucermans speed could get us in to trouble, again, that may be nerves, finally, young Cole Shudra, I feel he’s in a horrible situation and I feel he’s half a beat off this level. I do hope he develops to that but higher level this year like Whistle and Alex had.

I think all the new players played well, Tansey looked very good positional, passing, game management. Balmas will create lots with his drive and willingness to shoot on sight. We need an opportunist to feed off of that.

It looks like a team bond has been created in a very short time.

I'm not too worried about finishing and the odd mis placed pass - first proper game of the year and those things will tighten up. Ice quality as well didn't help, as it looked awful after 5 mins of each period.

Saucerman will be fine - rewatched the game and at least 2 of his errors (and he only really had 3 or 4) was the puck just sticking on wet ice patches.

First EIHL game in a while for Cole - he'll take a little bit of time to adapt again to the pace but that will come as practice gets more up to full game speed.

Diffley's error for their first goal was a proper early season mis-read, just stepped up instead of taking the 2v2. Apart from that I don't think he put a foot wrong all game.

Agree that Tansey and Balmas look great. Watling looks like he's going to be an absolute nightmare for teams. Best stickhandling I've seen since Colton Fretter, but he's as quick as Latal. I think given current rosters it'll be him and Tedesco as the top 2 forwards in the league (unless that was just a horrible first game for Johnson)

[DimTim]

Not hockey related but did you notice the new lighting?
Immediately to full brightness after the blackout opening!

Are there any further improvements noticed?