Steelers optimistic of a successful season

SHEFFIELD, U.K. – There certainly seems to be a new air of optimism around Sheffield, with the season just around the corner, I will be looking in depth at the squad and the season ahead.
 
Summers in Sheffield tend to even make the most ardent of Steelers fans, worry and fear the five months ahead of them. Financial instability, and ownership issues have caused fans to be cautious and tentative.
But now, a new era has dawned in the ‘Steel City’ under the ownership of Sheffield businessman Tony Smith and Steelers Head Coach Ryan Finnerty.
 
This will be 31-year-old Finnerty’s first season behind the bench after combining playing and coaching duties last year steering the club to a respectable second place behind worthy winners the Belfast Giants in the EIHL standings.
A recurring back injury caused Finnerty to hang up the skates, and take on the mantle of Head Coach for the Sheffield Steelers.
 

Finnerty started his recruitment for the 2012-13 campaign early after talking with former Belfast Giants Captain and star player Colin Shields just after Christmas.
The 32-year-old Glaswegian left the Giants for pastures new in France, and the Giants swiftly replaced Shields with former Steelers star Robert Dowd.
 
The loss of Dowd was immense, and the Steelers struggled to replace his points output last season. In Shields, Sheffield have now re-gained a premier British player who will be looked upon to lead the team offensively and replicate the form he showed with the Giants.
 
With the surprise acquisitions of old foe Danny Meyers from the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield born forward Danny Wood from North America, Sheffield can now boast a British contingent to rival any in the Elite League.
Meyers who has captained the Panthers for the last five seasons, will wear an ‘A’ on his shirt this season.
 
Steelers Head Coach Ryan Finnerty spoke about the importance of British players, “ Last season we were working to different guidelines, we had the change of ownership, the season ticket money issue for a start. That meant after losing Robert Dowd we couldn’t really replace him with anything close to a player with is ability. At first we got away with it, the team played well and in many ways over achieved. Then when Ashley Tait went down it really showed. You can sign as many spare imports as you like but you can’t replace your Brit’s,” Finnerty explained.
 
In May the Steelers were rocked by the announcement that both influential forward Mike Ramsay and netminder John DeCaro were to join Norwegian side Sparta Sarpsborg.
DeCaro divided opinion amongst the Sheffield fanbase about his ability in between the pipes, with some sad to see him go and others rejoicing in the decision.
 
Fast forward a month later and the Steelers fans were shocked when the club announced that DeCaro had changed his mind and decided that Sheffield would be the better option for him.
 
DeCaro still has a lot to prove in many fans eyes, but with a 6-man strong defensive corps in front of him he should have a more successful season.
Providing backup to DeCaro will be the impressive Geoff Woolhouse. Last year Woolhouse, posted 3 shutouts and only conceded seven goals in 462 minutes of competitive action.
 
The already impressive defensive unit of Rod Sarich, Matt Stephenson and Mark Thomas was strengthened with the signings of Danny Meyers, James Jorgensen (from Braehead) and ex-NHL’er Drew Fata.
Ryan Finnerty replaced the fairly inexperienced Chad Huttel with the highly experienced Drew Fata, and Steven Birnstill headed to Braehead with Jorgensen coming the other way.
 
The 29-year-old Canadian Drew Fata is the latest name to be added to the Steelers roster. Fata impressed Steelers Coach Ryan Finnerty whilst he was playing in the Continental Cup for Asiago in November, and remained on the Steelers Coach’s wish list since.  
 
Rugged defenceman Fata, comes with a wealth of experience including 321 AHL games to his name, and ten games in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders and more recently the Boston Bruins. Fata will take care of his teammates and drop the gloves when needed.
 
This season Ryan Finnerty will have many options available to him with his forwards.
Returning from last season are the British core of Ashley Tait, Lee Esders, Jason Hewitt, Jonathan Phillips and top points scorer Jeff Legue.
Phillips will once again Captain the team, and Ashley Tait will be looking to have a successful season after it was cut short by injury last year.
 
31-year-old Canadian Jeff Legue, will be looked upon to spearhead the Steelers offence once again and has plenty of backup with new faces Steven Goertzen, Shawn Limpright and Cory Pecker.
Pecker and Goertzen both join the Steelers from Switzerland and the Czech Republic respectively with the latter boasting 68 NHL games on his C.V. as a power forward with Columbus, Phoenix and Carolina.
 
Shawn Limpright joins the Steelers from the Rapid City Rush in the CHL, where he finished second in points (81) from 65 games. The gritty forward is capable of putting up good numbers in the EIHL and won’t be afraid to drop the gloves (Just ask the Panthers’ Bruce Graham).
 
The Steelers have grit and tenacity in abundance this season, and added to that with former Cardiff Devils agitator Tylor Michel.
The 28-year-old Michel spent two impressive seasons in South Wales recording 96 points (36+60) in 101 games and amassed 226 penalty minutes showing he is no stranger to dropping the gloves as well.
 
The roster looks to have everything this year with grit and toughness in Fata, Stephenson and Goertzen, a relentless work ethic with the likes of Hewitt, Limpright, and Michel, and offensive fire power in Legue, Pecker and Shields.
 
Off the ice the club look to be making impressive strides in marketing, sponsorship, and matchnight entertainment, ensuring the ‘House of Steel’ will be the premier place to be in Sheffield at the weekend.
 
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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