Devils and Steelers renew rivalry

SHEFFIELD, U.K- December 14, 2008 will be a date remembered for along time at the Cardiff Bay arena, in a regular season game between the Cardiff Devils and rivals the Sheffield Steelers. Steelers came away with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals form defenseman Mark Thomas and top goal scorer Joey Talbot. Jody Lehman also put on a fine display of goaltending to record his fifth shutout of the season, three of them being against the Devils.

However the game was overshadowed by the antics of Steelers enforcer Andrew Sharp, who collected a grand total of 121 penalty minutes in a game that was physical throughout with referee Michael Hicks handing out a total of 317 penalty minutes.
Andrew Sharp is no stranger to the Devils players having already fought Mike Hartwick in another penalty filled game on September 7, and having a further fight with the same player on November 16. The latest series of events happened with two seconds remaining in the game with Steelers goaltender Jody Lehman and Devils captain Brad Voth exchanging pleasantries.
Lehman then vented some anger to the Cardiff crowd by celebrating his teams win rather emphatically and apparently gesturing to the Devils fans. Andrew Sharp then came off the Steelers bench at the end of regulation and skated towards Devils defenseman Doug Maciver with his stick raised, and caught the linesman in the face, who tried to separate the two players.
The Steelers enforcer then fought Devils 6’4 defenseman Wes Jarvis, at the same time skilled forwards Joey Talbot and Jay Latulippe of the Steelers and Devils respectively, were slugging it out. Talbot and Latullipe were both assessed fighting majors.
Andrew Sharp’s list of penalties included:
2+2+Game Misconduct for leaving the bench, Match Penalty for Spearing ,Match Penalty for Physical Abuse, 5+Game Misconduct for Fighting, 2+Game Misconduct for Illegal Equipment.
Wes Jarvis received a 5+Game Misconduct for Fighting with Sharp, and Derek Campbell of the Devils was awarded a Match Penalty for Abuse.
Steelers Head-coach Dave Matsos was pleased with the result,“It was a fire cracker of a night I suppose, we always knew it would be, and certainly for the majority of the game we didn’t let that get to us, we stuck to our game plan and executed well, at the end of the game things got a little heated and maybe we all got caught up in the emotion, we weren’t happy with the way things ended but we got out of here with the points and I say again those were our only thoughts coming in here.” Matsos said
Steelers goaltender Jody Lehman also spoke about the incident “We are a tight group and Sharpy is one of us, he is a young guy who saw his team mates in trouble and jumped in to help, things got a little out of hand but sometimes they do. We are all behind Sharpy though that’s for sure.” Lehman said
The day after the incident an initial suspension was handed out by Elite League Director of Hockey Andy French, but this was then further reviewed by the disciplinary committee, who confirmed that Sharp will be suspended for 20 games. The British Columbian native has also been warned about his future conduct, and if he commits any of the offences he has been suspended for, he may face a further suspension for the remainder of the season.
The Steelers next face Devils January 10, 2009 at home, which is eagerly awaited by both sets of fans. Contact the author at scott.Antcliffe@prohockeynews.com.