Steelers making changes

SHEFFIELD, U.K. – A poor start to the season for last years double winning champions the Sheffield Steelers has seen them make changes regarding players. Poor league form seeing the team winning only three of the first ten fixtures, and long term injuries to key players, are the main reasons for the changes. The first player to have a spell on the sidelines was former Manchester Phoenix captain, Scott Basiuk. The towering blueliner sustained a shoulder injury during a fight with Belfast Giants’ Pat Bateman. Basiuk won the fight but evidently lost the war as he is sidelined for a minimum of two months after recently having surgery. Sheffield Steelers Head Coach Dave Matsos moved quickly for a replacement, and he captured the signature of former AHL defenseman Stephen Wood. American native Wood, 28, has a wealth of experience mainly split between the AHL and ECHL, playing with former Steelers favourite Steve Munn. Steelers have had other injury problems, starting goaltender Kevin Reiter has suffered a groin injury, with a further suspected hernia, so he will be out of action for a while. Once again Dave Matsos worked hard to secure the signing of highly rated veteran, Andrew Verner. Verner, 36, is vastly experienced playing in the AHL, DEL, FNL, and several seasons in Austria. Verner played last season with the Newcastle Vipers where he was also an assistant coach, and was rumoured to be joining the Steelers over the summer. Andrew Verner spoke of his move to Sheffield “It’s always been in the back of my mind that I might end up in Sheffield and I always thought that if I was going to play in England then it would be in Sheffield because of their winning tradition and the fact it is a well-run organisation. It has been a big rush to get over here. They were rushed as well trying to get me in. It is a life-altering decision to make on the back of a five-minute conversation”. Verner added. “I expected I would have a week or so get my family settled, but it’s hockey and so you have to go when you get the call.”

Joining Verner will be highly regarded Matt Hubbauer, for his first taste of British ice hockey. Hubbauer, 26, has spent the last three seasons playing in Germany, in the same league as current Steelers fan favourite Jeff Legue. The Winnipeg native featured on a Canadian reality TV series ‘Making The Cut’ which followed a group of aspiring hockey players, working for the grand prize of training with an NHL team. The show featured former Steelers Dan Tessier and Jeff Brown, along with a host of other Elite League stars. Hubbauer outperformed Tessier, and made it to the final six, being selected to train with the Calgary Flames. In 2002, Hubbauer triumphed over adversity as he was found to have an extremely rare tumour in his sinus. The tumour was so rare that only a few people in Canada were qualified to remove it. Initially the doctors believed the surgery would shatter any hopes of a professional career. Hubbauer showed true determination by battling back to fitness and being back on the ice a few months later. The signing of Hubbauer signals the end for much travelled Elite League forward Jeff Hutchins. Hutchins suffered a concussion after a hit, away at Newcastle. Hutchins seemed to have been deemed surplus to requirements.
Sheffield Steelers Head Coach Dave Matsos, spoke of Hubbauer and the other new players, “I’m told he will be just what we are looking for, he has a great record in North America and Germany, if he brings those numbers to the Steelers then we will be OK. I felt I just had to change things up a bit. We have seen the impact Andrew Verner has made and the new signings of Wood and Hubbauer will certainly give us a big boost.” Contact the author scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com