R eiter does however, have big shoes to fill replacing Denmark bound Jody Lehman, who was a fan favourite with the Steelers fans after backstopping them to a fair amount of success in the last four seasons.
The next new arrival is former-Steeler Kevin Bolibruck. The six feet, one inch blueliner featured in 39 games for the Steelers in the 2003/04 season, acquiring 27 points along the way. Bolibruck’s impressive performances earned him many plaudits from fans, players and coaches alike.
Since leaving the U.K., Bolibruck has played in the FNL (Finland), DEL (Germany) and the LIHG (Italy) all of which are the top leagues in each country.
The Steelers then strengthened their forward ranks by signing Jeff Hutchins from the Newcastle Vipers. Hutchins has played the last two seasons with the Vipers, via a brief spell with the Edinburgh Capitals. Hutchins, 32, has also played for the Coventry Blaze and the Belfast Giants.
It was with Belfast where Hutchins had his most prolific season. In 54 games Hutchins bagged 69 points (36 goals, 33 assists) along with 174 penalty minutes, showing he is more than capable of dropping the gloves.
Steelers fans hope Hutchins can replicate the form he showed in Belfast, as he is replacing former fan favourite Ryan Finnerty who is playing with Bloomington Prairie Thunder, of Illinois, in the International Hockey League.
The final new face to the Steelers line up is Sheffield born defenceman Ben Morgan.
Morgan, 21, is a familiar face to many Sheffield ice hockey fans, as he makes
the short trip next door from EPL outfit the Sheffield Scimitars.Morgan who was the captain of the Scimitars last season, has also featured for Great Britain at Under 20 and Under 18 level, and has established himself as a formidable force in the EPL. He has already played in 186 games in the EPL, collecting 146 points along the way.
The addition of Morgan, coupled with the departure of Ashley Tait to Italy, has completely changed the matrix of the team. One of these changes will see defenceman Rod Sarich playing on the wing.
Sarich featured in two games as a forward last season, picking up nine points along the way. Fans see the signing as a gamble, but it does add versatility to the team, if a defenceman gets injured, Sarich would be able to cover in defence.
Sheffield Steelers Head Coach Dave Matsos spoke about the decision to play Sarich as a forward.
“You don’t replace the Rod Sarich’s of this world, players of his skill level don’t come around that often and when they do you try and keep them and that’s what we have done. I would have thought that there wasn’t a player in the Elite League that would have received the amount of offers this summer that Rod did, the fact that we kept him, that he stayed here pays a huge tribute to this hockey club and the principles we believe in here,” Matsos said.
The familiar faces of Dan Green (back-up netminder) Mark Thomas, Scott Basiuk, and Randy Dagenais complete the defensive core.
Returning forwards for the Steelers include, Robert Dowd, Joey Talbot, Doug Sheppard, Jonathan Phillips (captain), Jason Hewitt, Jeff Legue and Brad Cruikshank.
Last seasons enforcer, Andrew Sharp, has joined Elite League rivals the Edinburgh Capitals. This move signals the end of an out and out enforcer in Sheffield, meaning power forward’s Brad Cruikshank and Jeff Hutchins will keep themselves busy with the likes of Brad Voth and Sean McMorrow of Cardiff and Belfast respectively.
With this being said there is a drastic decrease in heavyweight fighters in the league this season, with Jeremy Cornish, Rumun Ndur (retiring), Brett Clouthier, and Andre Payette all leaving for pastures new.
Overall the Steelers chances of winning silverware are good, the only real question mark is whether goaltender Kevin Reiter can be consistent every week, as Steelers defence is somewhat weaker, with Rod Sarich playing as a forward, and unknown quantity Ben Morgan stepping up from the EPL.
However, it should be a great season for the Elite League as all the teams are looking more balanced, which should hopefully make for an interesting and highly competitive season.
Contact scott.sntcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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