Steelers add another two to the line-up

SHEFFIELD, UK – The Sheffield Steelers squad is coming together nicely with the recent signings of starting netminder John DeCaro and playmaking forward Mike Ramsay, both of whom played in the CHL last year.

American netminder John DeCaro was first to sign on the dotted line this week, putting an end to the speculation of former Steeler Jody Lehman making a comeback. Towering DeCaro who stands at 6’3 has predominantly played in the CHL for the last five years with Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, as well as spells in the ECHL and AHL.
DeCaro, 29, helped guide the Mudbugs to the CHL Championship last season, and he is keen to replicate his fine form in Sheffield, “This will be my sixth season professional and I thought it was about time we looked at moving to Europe. The UK seemed to be a great fit for us and when I looked into it, there was only one or two clubs I would have considered and the Steelers were top of that list.” DeCaro said.
“You look at the history and you see an organisation that puts winning teams together year after year. I want to win again. I spoke with Neil Clark and he told me how good it was winning in Sheffield last year, I liked that. I spoke with Mark Smith (Cardiff) who told me Sheffield was a great place to play and that Ryan Finnerty was a man I would enjoy playing for,” DeCaro added.  
DeCaro’s best season came in 2008 when he recorded 11 shutouts on the way to posting a save percentage of 0.941. It’s that kind of form that caught the eye of Sheffield Steelers Player/Coach Ryan Finnerty, “When I knew that John was available I knew he was our man and made every effort to land him.” Finnerty said.
“I had other goalies lined up, in fact we had been in talks with a couple for weeks now but all along there was something stopping me from pulling the trigger. There was something telling me that they weren’t the right goalies and I had to be patient. Then we had talks with John and I knew instantly we had to land him. He is a big goalie and I like those big goalies. He is a winner, he has won before and is coming off a championship season where he was one of the main reasons they won,” Finnerty added.
Sheffield then announced the signing of playmaking right-winger Mike Ramsay, thought to be a replacement for the retired Joey Talbot. Ramsay, who will turn 28 at the start of the new season, has spent the last three years with the Odessa Jackalopes in the CHL, where he has been amongst their top goal scorers each season.
Last season Ramsay found the back of the net 34 times as well as adding 37 assists in 64 games, showing his versatility not only as a playmaker but as a free-scoring forward as well. Since turning professional Ramsay has mainly plied his trade in the CHL, but he has also had spells in the UHL, ECHL, and the SM-Liiga in Finland.
Ramsay, from Newmarket, Ontario is relishing the challenge of playing for the defending Elite League champions, “I like to use my speed a lot, I take a lot of shots, I shoot when ever I can, I will score. I’m a high-energy player. This is a great opportunity for me to play in a new league after 6 years in the States. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Sheffield and about Ryan Finnerty, August can’t come soon enough,” Ramsay admitted.
Sheffield Steelers Player/Coach Ryan Finnerty also shared Ramsay’s enthusiasm, “This is a signing we have just kept plugging away at. I made contact with his agent some two months ago and we kept sowing the seed. I like every feedback I have received on Mike. We all knew this was going to be a big signing for us, you can call it the Talbot replacement if you like but to me it was about finding the best goal scorer we could,” Finnerty said.
Sheffield now have only two more players to sign, both of them being import defencemen. Opinion is fairly divided amongst the Steelers fan base with some fans wanting two stay at home defenceman and others wanting an offensive defenceman as well as a stay at home defenceman. With the new season fast approaching all eyes will firmly be on the Sheffield Steelers website in anticipation of the final two names to be announced.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com