CAMBRIDGE, UK – With the final month of the off-season here, teams are putting the final pieces into place for the coming campaign. And this week, it’s pretty much all Sheffield Steeldogs.
They kicked things off by announcing both of their import players for the 2019/20 season. First up is Vladimir Luka. The 37-year-old Czech forward has come in from Zaglebie Sosnowiec, Poland, where he was last season’s top points scorer, picking up 21 goals for 46 points in 48 games in all competitions playing along side MKL’s recent signing, Thomas Kana.
Luka is joined by Jan Danecek, a 33-year-old forward also hailing from the Czech Republic. Danecek has spent the last five seasons at Unia Oswiecim, recently alongside former Hull Pirates EPL import, Andrej Themar, who has continued his two plus points-per-game haul. This has made Danacek look a little average by comparison, however his points have been consistent for the last few seasons.
Steeldogs’ head coach, Ben Morgan, said: “Vladimir has a lot of experience to share with the team, as you’d imagine with a 37-year-old, and we are seeing other teams signing even older guys at the moment.
“As we know we are going to have bags of youth on the roster, we need some older heads and having a couple of more experienced forwards will pay dividends. Vladimir will be a real go-to player next season, he is a skilled forward who certainly knows where the back of the net is, he is someone who we will look to put good numbers up throughout the season.
“He reminds me of a Peter Slamiar (former Scimitars legend) type of player – his touch around the net is great and his ability to open up the play and find himself in a goal scoring opportunity is similar to ‘Slammy’. From the footage I’ve seen and the information I’ve got from coaches, he seems like a genuine marksman.
“Jan again will bring a lot to the offence and will be a slightly more aggressive, hard hitting guy but someone who has really good hands. He has posted good numbers over the past five years and those who have played against him have spoken highly of him.
“Jan is very excited about coming over to England to play in this league and at 33 he brings a lot of hockey knowledge to the team. He is a playmaker, but I expect him to be a scoring threat as well. He will strike up a good chemistry with his new line mates and I see Jan as being a bit of a gem for this season.”
Following on from this, Basingstoke Bison announced the return of Sam Smith to their blueline. The former Cardiff junior, who joined the Bison last season picking up a goal for three points, will turn 18 just before the season starts and is looking to step up in his first senior season.
Bison head coach, Ash Tait, said: “He is a really talented player who showed a lot of potential last season and when we had injuries he stepped in and played really well.
“He is still a young player and we have spoken on where I think he needs to improve and I really hope he will pushing for middle tier defensive berth this coming season.”
The Steeldogs struck again announcing the return of Craig Elliot. After taking the 16/17 season out. Elliot iced with the Sutton Sting for most of last season where he picked up 13 goals for 46 points, before his return to the Steeldogs for the upcoming season
Morgan said: “We are bringing Craig back to do what he does best. Not necessarily that old agitating player who gets under the skin of the opposition – although that’s in his style of play and I don’t think he will ever lose that!
“I see a different side to his game now, where if he gets the right line mates and regular ice time, he can be put into positions where he is able to contribute to the offence and will be able to put up some good numbers.
To start the new month, Swindon Wildcats announced the signing of Toms Rutkis on a two-way deal with the EIHL Cardiff Devils alongside Jordan Lawday, who will continue to play for MK Lightning alongside his duties with the EIHL side.
Head coach, Aaron Nell, said: “Having this agreement with Cardiff for Toms for 19/20 really benefits everyone. You can all see how much he has improved in the last couple of years and when he plays for us he makes a big impact on the ice.
“Heʼs quick and skilful, but heʼs also been working on his physical side of the game as well. He goes to the net and scores the scrappy goals but thatʼs what we want. I look forward to welcoming him back to our lineup over the course of the season.
It was back to Sheffield next with the Steeldogs announcing the return of Alex Graham who is on a two-way deal with the Sheffield Steelers. Graham, who is still only 16-years-old split last season between Sheffield under 18s, under 20s and the senior side, picking up 11 goals for 19 points with the senior team to make a combined total of 95 goals for 174 points in all EIHA competitions in the 2018/19 season.
Joining Graham is Jordan Griffin. The 17-year-old spent last season playing between Sutton and the Steelers. The young ‘D’ man picked up two goals for 12 points with the Sting, and made 17 EIHL appearences with the Steelers, who he will continue to be available for in the 19/20 season.
This news was the foundation for the official announcement from the Sheffield Steelers and Sheffield Steeldogs that the sides will be joining forces and working to produce a full development pathway in one of Britain’s premier hockey cities.
Although this has been leaked prematurely a short while back, this was not enough to dampen the enthusiasm that the teams and their owners have for the link-up. We will look into this further in a later edition.
The final signing of this week, while in Yorkshire, was not the Steeldogs.
The Leeds Chiefs announced the signing of Ethan Hehir from Billingham Stars. The 18-year-old ran up 10 goals for 19 points last season.
Player/coach, Sam Zajac, said: “I was surprised playing against him last year with how much he came on through the course of the season, he had a big impact whenever he came on for a shift and it was noticeable every time he was out there.
“He’s tenacious and was always a real handful to play against – that is the kind of reputation you want to be building and it makes him an ideal player to have.
“With Ethan, I think by the end of the season he’ll have become a real fan favourite because they are going to see a young guy who plays the right way and puts himself about. He will get the fans out of their seats with his skill and his tenacity and that will give the rest of the boys a lift too.”
So, that’s it for this week. This column will be taking a break for a couple of weeks in a last rest before the season starts up again. We’ll be back soon with the look over all of the teams in the league and how things are shaping up over all.
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