SHEFFIELD, UK – THE UK will be represented in the Continental Cup by the Sheffield Steelers in 2011, and once again, Pro Hockey News’ David Grant will be there giving live and exclusive commentary. Here, he offers his thoughts on the Semi-Finals, and who to look out for in the competition.
The Sheffield Steelers will take a break from Domestic action next weekend as they venture to Scandinavia for the Semi-Finals of the Continental Cup. The Steelers have a varied history in this competition, with previous trips to Finland, Siberia and France to name a few, and who can forget that famous night in North Italy when they made the Continental Cup final for the first time.
Standing in the way of Sheffield making it a second appearance in the Final (to be held in Rouen in January) is HC Asiago, Durunjvaros and the Hosts, Herning Blue Fox who will battle out for one of two places left in the Super Final.
Already there are hosts Rouen, and Continental Cup holders, Yunost Minsk, who the Steelers played in Grenoble in 2010).
Sheffield, Asiago and Herning went straight into the Semi-Finals; however Durunjvaros hosted a quarter-final group, which started badly with defeat to HYS Den Haag (Holland). However, victories over Jaca (Spain) and Turnhout (Belgium) and other results going their way, gave them qualification for the semi’s by the virtue of goal difference of one goal.
Not only do they play in the Hungarian League, they play in the Nationalliga (the only Hungarian side in a league full of Austrian teams), and overall, they’re doing well in both, leading their National League, and lying in fifth place in the Nationaliga.
Durunjvaros’s leading lights up front are Zsolt Azari (15+16) and Nikandrosz Galanizs (8+16) who are the biggest threats to opposition D, however Defender Adrian Huffner (7+6) will be offering support from the blueline. In the net is 28-year-old Slovakian Peter Sevela, who currently has a GAA of 2.16 in the Nationaliga (2.18 in the Hungarian national league) and a save percentage of .926 (.929 in the Hungarian national league) and will give the Hungarians every chance of going further in their European campaign.
Asiago are in the Continental Cup for the second consecutive year, and again in the Semi-Final’s where a shoot-out loss to SønderjyskE prevented the Italians from a trip to the final last year. This year they will want to go one stage further, and their intentions to impress this season were made clear with the signing of Italian-Canadian defender Drew Fata. Fata has over 300+ games in the AHL as well as eight appearances in ‘the show’ with the New York Islanders.
However, the Italians find themselves currently in seventh place in Serie A, behind league leaders Cortina, but don’t let this fool you into thinking that they’ve not got the fire power; their leading goal scorer, Canadian Layne Ulmer (9+3) and Michael Henrick (7+7) supported well by David Borelli (4+11) will be the ones who will attempt to cause Sheffield and the other teams the most problems.
At the back, they are relying upon 25 year old American Jeff Lerg, who has had a steady start to his first assignment outside North America with a GAA of 3.03 and save percentage of .918 after 10 games. Lerg will want to impress on one of the bigger stages of European Hockey, with his likely first game of the tournament against the Sheffield Steelers.
The stattos amongst the Blue Fox fan-base will remember back to the October of 2001, when the Steelers and the Blue Foxes last faced-off, with the Steelers coming out on top with a 5-3 victory in Anglet, France (Goals scored by Cal Benazic x2, Rick Brebant, Scott Alison and Kevin Miehm – with thanks to Richard Muslah and Mark Littlewood for the above information) and they will want to gain revenge, especially in front of their passionate home crowd.
On paper, Herning will prove the most difficult of all the opposition to the Steelers. 18 year old Thomas Spelling (13+8) and American Marty Guerin (12+6) will provide the goals, with Jason Walters (7+16) and Antti Holli (7+15) offering the support.
Not to be outdone, the Blue Foxes entrust Slovakian netminder Lubos Pisar with the job of protecting the twine, and with a GAA of 2.36 and a save percentage of .914, as with the other netminders that will be in Herning, he will give his side a chance each and every night.
What does the above mean? The Steelers will have to give it their all if they are to become the most successful British side in the Continental Cup, and make a second appearance in the Super Final in January – but it is certainly not Mission Impossible – will Ryan Finnerty’s men choose to accept the challenge?
If you cannot make Herning, then don’t worry, Steel Night Live, in association with Pro Hockey News will be bringing you live and exclusive audio coverage from all three Sheffield games online, with David Grant and Karl Wilson calling all three games. You can find the link to the coverage on the Steelers website, or on www.prohockeynews.com . Face off times are as follows (all in UK time)
Friday 25th November 2PM Sheffield Steelers Vs Asiago
Saturday 26th November 6PM Sheffield Steelers Vs Herning
Sunday 27th November 2PM Sheffield Steelers Vs Durunjvaros
Contact david.grant@prohockeynews.com
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