GAME THREAD: Steelers v Panthers: CUP: Wed 8th Oct.

[steeler pete]

Foxy thought our compete level was good??? Not what I saw until we were 2 down in the last few minutes.

He also says they lack confidence, well who’d have guessed?? Players who are used to scoring are not, so there’s frustration but there’s no cohesion. They’re not working for each other, they’re trying to do their own thing.

I agree the 4th line is a big worry.

[Bryan]

I am sorry, but that was awful.. no bite, no grit and very little determination and some of the stick handling tonight from our guys was awful.
Our players couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo at the moment, the shooting tonight was dismal.
They literally looked like they hadn't met each other before...
A yard behind every play, second best in every 50/50 and no fizz or pop on the puck.
worryingly some of them looked totally uninterested in the game or the result..
Sure they went through the motions but that wasn't a steelers team I know...

And the handbags at the end about summed up the evening.. Not much grit or fight and what little we did have was too late!!

It pains me to say this too, as I really like McAdams game normally, but right before the puck dropped I said we would have to score 4 or 5 tonight to win the game. we didn't even look close to doing that...

The 'it's only the Challenge Cup' we are using them as pre season.. excuse doesn't wash anymore..

There’s no point in posting. This is exactly right ! Says it all !

[Al Murrays Hairbrush]

I know it’s early days, but after tonight’s performance my thoughts so far.
The 1st period showed some fight, intensity, that didn’t last.

Sometimes the plan appears to be, get the puck to the man standing on the offensive blue line, for him to rim it round the boards, and hope that A) it doesn’t get cut out by a D man and B) manages to find our player who will more that likely send it back. Rinse & repeat.

If we do play our way into the zone, we overplay, try to set up an almost powerplay situation, get the puck behind the net, and played out to the slot.
I’m not saying run and gun, but tonight Balmas was in clear shooting opportunities, yet circled around, losing the chance and the puck.

Defence
Huttala, fails to clear the zone effectively multiple times most games, leaving us vulnerable, as tonight.
Kelly is obviously in development, but behind where Sam Jones was at this stage. Too many errors in his own zone and caught up ice.
If we play Tansey as a forward and Kelly as 6th D, not to pair him with Huttala, maybe Dogherty / Diffley.
Shouthorn above what I had expected in term of his output.
Dogherty, solid and steady, as expected.
Cormier and Diffley playing as per hoped for.

Forwards:
Tait, Dowd and Jasper were the best of our lines tonight showing a high work rate and tenacity.
Harper, has been up to what I’d thought pre-season, hardworking, not afraid to get stuck into the dirty work in front of net.
Pu, I presume Fox thought he’d be getting another Jussola, low / no goals in a far higher league, but will get 1 x PPG in the EIHL. I was really looking forwards to seeing him. So far underwhelming, is being kind to him.

Jussola & Balmas, yet to get anywhere near last years levels of performance, pass accuracy as well as goals.

Gentile, playmaker and sniper, seen a little of both, but not much. Almost anonymous Sunday and tonight.

Anonymous in the previous games he's played in, Seitz, started well, further up the line, the again disappeared. Certainly not the 30-goal guy, as yet, by a long way.

Neilson and been very quiet and Shudra, good at finishing checks, and if he’d got the goal when through tonight would’ve changed the momentum, coming so close after our previous goals.

Mixing the lines mid game is genius if it works but looks like desperation when it doesn’t.
It could be an issue of, not finding the best forward combinations, and those players getting tight hands on the sticks, we look so disjointed and one paced,

[paul johnston]

You gotta worry about the returnees. Balmas, Juusola, Tansey, Huttula way off their game. It's hard to believe the first names mentioned were expected to be our go to guys for goals yet look way off it this year.
It seems easier to pick on the new guys because they aren't the fan favourites and dont have credit in the bank yet. Tait, been good but no end product, Jasper excellent although at fault for their first last night, I like Harper and Pu, but with both playing at centre. Im not sold on Dougherty at all yet (his +/- not too great).
The new guys will be sacrificed first to change it up (Seitz) when bigger name, bigger salaried players will get a free pass.
As expected we struggle to play four line hockey. The Brit corps just too weak at the moment with no upgrade/equality to the corps with a younger Dowd, B Whistle and Sam Jones.
After our performance on Sunday I was expecting a much bigger reaction but far from it. And to have no penalties just seems strange. Not a lot of playing with fire in their bellies.

[Brian]

Mcadam beaten on the near post for the first goal which was a vital one as both teams were playing with high energy at that point.
Then we became a group with what seemed very little strategy . Lots of huff and puff but many players were just carrying the puck into the zone and walking straight into defenders.
We have lost three players with “ flair “ , Watling , Ciampini and Vallerand . We seem to have replaced them with players who are predictable.
Apart from Shudra there was little aggression and Panthers defence looked comfortable all night.
Poor passing, shooting, stick handling all added to the mix.
Sunday should tell us more, facing a Coventry side who have had a good start to the season and a lot of confidence.

[ginger]

I'd be shocked if we've not got at least 1 roster change in by next weekend.

The worst thing is you know Seitz will go and then immediately start ripping it up on his new team.

I believe we may well be in for Mitch Heard after he's left Clan. Would be risky as certainly a bit of a loose cannon, but when he's on it, he's very good. Others are too though so not a guarantee.

With NHL/AHL rosters now pretty much finalised I think there'll be some on the market for moving to Europe - hopefully there's a decent pick up out there. There's also Golod running around at over 2pts per game in the Erste. I'm pretty sure we don't know the full story on that as there's no way he should be in that league.

Changes needed, and a couple of players need to really dig in and show why they won a GS

[bladerunner]

I have to agree with everything said on this topic today. It was a lacklustre performance with only Diffley and Dowd seeming to be putting in the effort. The whole team looks poor and although people are blaming the ice surface both teams were playing on the same pad.
I said at me last post that I would give them 4 games to organise themselves. The last 2 of those 4 we have lost and even worse they were at home.
Git and hard hitting play has always served the Steeler's well along with fast breaks. We seem to have the breaks but nothing else.
I wish the commentary would stop quoting shots on goal. They are irrelevant if they don't get to the back of the net.
Something needs to change to ensure we don't spiral out of control and start to accept this poor performance.

[rnewbolt1]

The most disturbing thing was seeing players on the bench joking and laughing as if they were winning comfortably not losing

[lovedenisvial]

Haven't seen anything from Nick Seitz to suggest he's going to be a 30+ goal scorer? for me he's first out the door!

[smbmetal]

Not seen the game, but did expect a loss here as previously predicted.

Mr Southorn doesn't appear too concerned in his post match interview on the EIHL website though:

“I think we’re getting chances, but we’re just not scoring at the moment,” reflected Steelers’ Jordon Southorn. “We’re out-chancing teams, we’re out-shooting them, but we’re just not putting the puck in the net. Sometimes in a long year you go through some goal droughts, but it’s hard to win a game when you let in four and only score two."

"We're a strong group in there, we have the forwards here with the power to put pucks in the net and we have a lot of belief in ourselves," added Southorn. "It'll come sooner than later and it'll come in an abundance. We're doing the right things and sticking with the system."

Whilst it's very much early days, I've certainly not been impressed by what I've seen so far and am sure Fox will end making a few changes to the roster. Seitz is clearly not fitting into the 'system'. Shame, as I was really looking forward to seeing him play. Sure someone posted pre-season that he had potential to be another Brendan Connolly? I've not seen that festy side from the games I've seen though?

The early warning signs are there. Fox no longer has any credit in the bank for me, no issues if we're showing an excellent compete level and are just being unlucky, but at the moment, we don't appear to be showing any fight in our play. That's down to Fox to resolve.