Hi Jay …You say “ I feel a stud netminder and a overall younger squad should be priority for next seasons tweaks.. Starting from the back.. “
I just have to say I think Rok has done enough in my opinion to deserve a contract next year. He is third in the league save percentage standings and having looked back at our previous goalies it is interesting to compare.
Rok's % of 92.77 % is better than any Steelers goalie since 2008 , when Jodi Lehman posted his best season for us at 0.936 .
Since then he has bettered Whistle, Duba, Mustakovs ( twice ) , Pinc, Doyle ( twice ) De Caro, Mustakovs ( again ) and Verner .
I don't really see how he could do much better and there are no guarantees that a “ Stud “ goalie will reproduce his form here , ( sorry Barry )
Just my opinion of course . Other opinions are available !
Our shootout record speaks for itself, wonder how many points we’ve dropped from bottling those? Rok certainly is decent at saving them.
Hopefully Fox & the side have already put this weekend behind them and are looking to get ready for playoff hockey. Can rest some bodies this week.
You just have to look at the goalscorer tables to see we were shy in natural goal scorers which shows in our poor penalty shoot out record. Giants have three in the top three, four in top ten. We have Vally only and he's in 8th spot.
Vallerand is an elite player at EIHL level. Belfast have 3 in that category if not more. Cardiff have 2 if you argue Crandall as the provider to Reid.
Add in Dowd on 51 points for the season (27G - 24A) 51 games
Vallerand is - 56 points (25G - 31A) 43 games
Next best are :
Latel - 45 points (21G - 24A) 48 games
Mosey - 43 points (17G - 26A) 43 games
Eberle - 36 points (23G - 13A) 47 games
In response to various comments. Oh boy have several of you got it wrong.. Vallerand would be my favourite player with a couple of others. When he was out injured we lost a good deal of bite. So when I say he’s been a total idiot he has been tonight. An absurd penalty offensive zone right at the start that gave them the pp that was their only goal. Then childish behaviour at the end taking him off the ice for 2 mins in the overtime. Just when we needed him active. There were a couple of other less obvious mistakes. Tonight he was a Wally.
In response to various comments. Oh boy have several of you got it wrong.. Vallerand would be my favourite player with a couple of others. When he was out injured we lost a good deal of bite. So when I say he’s been a total idiot he has been tonight. An absurd penalty offensive zone right at the start that gave them the pp that was their only goal. Then childish behaviour at the end taking him off the ice for 2 mins in the overtime. Just when we needed him active. There were a couple of other less obvious mistakes. Tonight he was a Wally.
I was very impressed with Giants over the weekend. They played a no nonsense, composed, organised and structured game. No stupid pens really. You could tell they had come with their game face on from the moment of first puck drop Saturday game.
Ouch, never nice to see another team lift a trophy on our ice, especially in a tight title chase that we were involved in.
I honestly thought we deserved to win that game, we created enough chances to win certainly, Besko had a very good game and we were unfortunate with hitting the frame 4 times over regulation, OT and PS. I thought we used our speed well and put them under a lot of pressure especially in their d zone.
As with many important games the result can swing within just a couple of moments and unfortunately for us they went the way of the Giants. Within the first minute I believe we had a huge chance to take the lead through Armstrong who cut and deked into the middle of the slot but his backhand was well saved. Then, whilst on the PK we had a 2-on-1 break where Boruta (who has been awesome) rattled the crossbar (yes I jumped out of my seat) but then the Giants broke back with numbers and converted on their PP, a huge swing in the game as we could easily have been 1 up shorthanded which would have really got the building going. Then possibly the most dramatic moment of the game at the end of the first when the puck found Latal wide open at the back door but a combination of Besko and the post SOMEHOW kept it out! Somehow we managed not to score and went in 1-0 down at the end of the first. But then within a minute of the second an excellent breakout pass from Davey to Armstrong and then a nice feed to Eberle, who was bursting down the left wing and he find the top corner to tie it up at one. The rest of the second was probably one of the best periods I've witnessed both teams relentless and throwing everything at each other, again I thought we edged the play and were unlucky not to take a lead into the third period.
The third period was tense and exciting and again we had our chances to finish the game in 60 minutes, we were unfortunate with a few tips around the net which on another day could've gone in and then there was the one shot from Mosey that snuck through Besko and somehow didn't end up going in even with Vally in the blue paint. We killed a penalty late as well, which I thought Belfast were going to take advantage of and finish our hopes then and there but we dug in well.
Again I thought we had the better chances in OT particularly for the short time the game was 4 on 4, but were unable to convert. Penalty shots are a lottery and we've been poor at them recently, Rok performed excellently under pressure and we were unlucky again with a post and a crossbar. But at the end of the day their best player stepped up and won them that game and with it the league title.
I think overall they were the best team throughout the season and deserved the trophy (just wish we could have avoided them lifting it in Sheffield). We surrended too many points against 'lower' opposition in games that we should have been wining particularly down the final stretch where we lost valuable points against Fife, Manchester, Dundee and Nottingham. However, we also were able to string a lot of wins together earlier in the season when we weren't particularly playing that well and we were still in the title hunt with 4 games to play, and after a injury hit season I think that is an excellent effort, another day and things could have gone differently for us. Another point would be the 'clutchness' of Belfast wining games where it seemed they weren't going to, the last second equalizer in Nottingham which turned into 2 points and just the other week the fending off of the Storm who came back from 5-1 down to 5-5 but Belfast found a way.
Individually I thought all of our guys played excellently last night, they clearly gave it their all and left everything out there, which is all a fan can ask to see every week. It's disappointing though that it didn't seem we played that way Saturday night. I thought Boruta was excellent in shutting down their offense particularly on their PP, it's a shame he's already under contract in Austria for next season, as he is exactly the type of defenceman we need on the blue line. I thought Eberle finished the season excellently and is always one to step up with goals in the big games (2 in 2 this weekend despite the results). Rok was awesome and made some key saves to give us every chance to win.
I hope we can recover and rest up for Wednesday and Friday's games as it would be nice to be going into the first playoff weekend with some confidence and momentum. I would have thought there is some rest coming for some and some opportunities for others in these 2 remaining league games. Wouldn't be surprised to see Barry, Traversa, Feldner and maybe Shudra and Graham depending on their availability with the NIHL playoffs coming.
Finally, I thought the atmosphere was incredible, a loud building for the full game and a very enjoyable game to watch (if not stressful) - hopefully more of the same for our playoff 1/4 final in our last push to get some silverware this season!
Certainly the best game I've seen this season. Quite a few times over the years I've enjoyed games that we've lost, it's not always about the win for me.
The guys certainly left it all on the ice and I'd say this is probably in my top 5 of most unluckiest games for the Steelers I've ever seen, Besko's save was also up there with some of the best I've seen, unbelievable. Imagine if we played with that intensity and energy in Dundee and Fife where we lost. Those are the games that ultimately lose you a championship.
You just have to look at the goalscorer tables to see we were shy in natural goal scorers which shows in our poor penalty shoot out record. Giants have three in the top three, four in top ten. We have Vally only and he's in 8th spot.[/quote]
Vallerand is an elite player at EIHL level. Belfast have 3 in that category if not more. Cardiff have 2 if you argue Crandall as the provider to Reid.
[/quote]
Add in Dowd on 51 points for the season (27G - 24A) 51 games
Vallerand is - 56 points (25G - 31A) 43 games
Next best are :
Latel - 45 points (21G - 24A) 48 games
Mosey - 43 points (17G - 26A) 43 games
Eberle - 36 points (23G - 13A) 47 games
[/quote]
The stats table doesn’t always tell the full picture. Yes they give an indication but other factors impact.
Firstly if the 3 top Giants players consistently play on the top line or even the top 2 lines they will likely feed off each other and contribute to each other’s point production. Due to injury our lines have been mixed up game after game after game. I’m not saying it hasn’t been the same for Belfast but has it?
Secondly due to injury Vallerand and Latal have played considerably less games than the Belfast or Cardiff players we also don’t know how many games they played carrying injury.
Thirdly how many times has Mosey dropped to defence due to injury cover and what impact will that have on his point production.
Yes I agree that we don’t have a gifted and natural goal scorer, yes I agree the top 3 players in Belfast have excellent point production but let’s not throw players under the bus based on stats alone
