The way it used to be.. THAT 2000/2001 Team

[mark]

Found this on Youtube , almost all of the second semi final of the challenge cup between the Steelers and the Giants. Much more physical , possibly less overall speed, certainly a lot less advertisements on the ice. Also noticeable is the crowd size ,already falling from its peak in the late 90's.

This was a pleasure to watch again

Have fun and stay to the end as it gets chippy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1TbE_Ufx58

[Doom]

I think we averaged something like 5,700 that season, which is ridiculous when you consider the quality of the team.

I've got a few of the old games from back then on my computer, I really don't think any team from the EIHL era would live with them, especially if it was refereed like it was back in 2000/01.

Happy days, although it was difficult to fully enjoy it because of the sideshow going on. I remember travelling on a coach to Nottingham for the finals weekend and we saw one of the players at a cashpoint, probably checking to see if he'd been paid.

On the ice brilliant, off the ice a shambles.

Regards

Doom

[smbmetal]

Those were the days.

More entertainment for me in these highlights than the whole of this season. Plus most games were like this one. This wasn’t a one off. Speed, skill and lots of physical play. Something for everyone.

I would say though that our current team could live with the speed and I would suggest are more fitter than the grand slam team.

Good find Mark, even managed to spot myself in the crowd lol. Much, much louder than todays crowds despite being a few thousand less fans in.

The shambles off the ice almost spoilt the success. Not something we need to worry about now thanks to Tony Smith.

Nice to get the teal coloured specs back out

[ginger]

Reffed by standards then, 00/01 team beats this years team. Reffed to today's standards and rules, this years team wins.

Also cannot stress enough the difference in equipment, especially stick, technology between them and now. Lots of players still using wooden or aluminium sticks back then, compared to the crazy low kick point one pieces used today.

But yes, that team was ridiculous. Forget just how good Lobby was - absolute monster and some of the best hands on any British player at time

[mark]

Reffed by standards then, 00/01 team beats this years team. Reffed to today's standards and rules, this years team wins.

Also cannot stress enough the difference in equipment, especially stick, technology between them and now. Lots of players still using wooden or aluminium sticks back then, compared to the crazy low kick point one pieces used today.

But yes, that team was ridiculous. Forget just how good Lobby was - absolute monster and some of the best hands on any British player at time

Hmmmm , If you could pick those 2001 players up and drop them into a game with the current team they would be good for maybe two periods before they would run out of gas, today's game is played at a much higher speed and the players are better athletes. BUT.. If you took those 2001 players and had them go through the modern fitness and conditioning and with modern equipment then I think they would come out on top because they had the ability, in their time they were recruited from top end ECHL/AHL/IHL/DEL or even NHL levels , I think we currently recruit just below that level although one or two are there, we just got them coming off a poor year which reduced their value. Dale Craigwell came from a decent DEL team with three years of NHL experience and you can see it in his skating, Lobby was an outstanding power forward equally at home scoring or being physical. It may be that todays team has greater depth with less of a gap between 1st and 4th lines, as shown when the lines get mixed up and the 3rd/4th line player looks equally at home on the top two lines.

The amazing thing that it's took this long, over twenty years to have a team that we can even discuss in direct comparison to the 2000/2001 team, if nothing else that shows the level that old team were at.

[Doom]

It's always difficult to compare eras within a league, but for the 2000/01 season I use the London Knights as the benchmark.

I don't think anybody would argue that the Knights were hugely inferior to the Steelers that season, yet in Europe they came incredibly close to being the 1st British team to win The Continental Cup.

Knights made the final Group, finishing level on points with Zurich, but missing out due to Zurich winning the head to head 1 - 0.

That wasn't the inferior competition that the Panthers won or Cardiff are competing in this weekend, because it had teams from the top tier in Germany and Switzerland.

If the Knights could go all the way, just imagine what the Steelers would have done that season.

Here's details of the competition that season:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000%E2 ... nental_Cup

Regards

Doom

[Doom]

The player I was disappointed with in the Grand Slam team was Metcalfe. I expected him to be one of the stars of the show, but I found him very frustrating.

The player I would have loved to see more of was Beraldo. I thought he had everything and could have been a real star, but circumstances dictated that we only got half a season out of him.

Regards

Doom

[Jayboy]

The player I was disappointed with in the Grand Slam team was Metcalfe. I expected him to be one of the stars of the show, but I found him very frustrating.

The player I would have loved to see more of was Beraldo. I thought he had everything and could have been a real star, but circumstances dictated that we only got half a season out of him.

Regards

Doom

Right up their in my top 5 ever players, he was on a different level, he really was...

[wakefieldsteelersfan]

What a trip down memory lane that was.
That was my 2nd full season as a supporter, I went to every home game that year but oddly don't remember that game at all.....although I discovered the joys of alcohol the same season