Lyle signs 3 year Devils deal

N

nmase20

New Member
#21
#21
What just because hes originally from wales he has to stay with cardiff devils for the rest of his career? slightly unfair i think, if he wants a chance to experience different things then thats his choice and he shouldn't be judged on that.
As far as the three year deal goes i wouldn't pay much attention to that as really its quite meaningless, either side can get out of it anytime they want.
 
ASHIPP

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#22
#22
Wow! :shock: A 3 year deal - that's expecting a big commitment. It wouldn't have been easy to tempt Lyle away from Belfast after winning two cups there so was a 3 year deal plus other stuff part of the big carrot? But hang on, he's just admitted he still had 1 year to go on his contract at the Giants....and didn't he leave Basingstoke mid-season to go to Belfast the previous year. Not being negative here - just stating fact. :|
Stevie has always been part of winning teams wherever he's played. Definitely true when he was last with the Devils. He's had an international career and is selected for Team GB. A good netminder indeed and a favorite home son in Cardiff. Good to see him back in a Devils' shirt....but a great netminder who can help carry the New Devils forward? Behind our solid D this season, we'll have to see. :?
 
C

cardiffdevil

Member
#24
#24
I can't believe people are making comments because he left and has come back again, and questioning his loyalty and commitment.

Sport is no different to any other job, other than it's a short career, you simply go where the opportunities are especially when you have a family to support. As someone else said, is it because he is Welsh that he is getting these comments which, given the same comments haven't been used againt other players who have done the same, seems to be the case and that is a very insular attitude.

I am quite happy to have him back
 
ASHIPP

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#25
#25
ASHIPP said:
Wow! :shock: A 3 year deal - that's expecting a big commitment. It wouldn't have been easy to tempt Lyle away from Belfast after winning two cups there so was a 3 year deal plus other stuff part of the big carrot? He should absolutely take career opportunites where they are but he still had 1 year left with the Giants....and left Basingstoke mid-season for a better offer in Belfast. Not being negative here - just stating fact. :|
Stevie has always been part of winning teams wherever he's played. Definitely true when he was last with the Devils. He's had an international career and is selected for Team GB. A good netminder indeed and a favorite home son in Cardiff. Good to see him back in a Devils' shirt....but is he the netminder to help carry the New Devils forward over 3 years? Behind our solid D this season, hopefully he'll settle in and do the biz.
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Finny

Finny

Well-Known Member
#26
#26
Just a couple of important points:

Lyle had several offers to leave Cardiff back in the ISL. He left eventually when Bob Phillips stopped paying him wages and the team then dropped to the BNL.

A year and a half later he returned when Paul MacMillan returned. At the end of the season Bob Phillips returned and Lyle decided he didn't want to take the same chance again.

Again, he left Basingstoke mid-season after he stopped getting paid. Whilst we all want to see Loyalty in sport, if we're honest how many of us would be happy to work for free when a bigger and better company were offering to pay us more money?

I'm very happy to have Lyle back. He might not be the best netminder in the league this season, but he is a proven winner who with a defensive defence infront of him will do very very well. And the fact that he allows us another import will be a massive advantage.

Well back Stevie!!

(Oh - and whoever suggest Ledley turned down teams to stay in Cardiff - he was never given the chance to talk to them. Risdale refused them access to him. Though in the end he agreed to stay in return for being Club Captain and walking the team out at the new stadium ;) )
 
J

John 1927/1986

New Member
#27
#27
Very happy with this. A lot of fan favourite netminders (who have been good) have come and gone in the last 10 years without being able to say that they won the Devils the league championship. This is not the case for Steve Lyle who back stopped us to the Superleague title in 96/97 and won the Superleague player of the year. I certainly remember him 'stealing' very big games for the Devils that year - particularly two home games against Sheffield after Christmas (both 3-2) that ultimately won us the championship. He was younger then - as a late 20's netminder I would think that he is probably hitting his peak.

Someone also made the good point earlier that he played behind an offensive defense last year and was hung out to dry on more than one occasion. I don't see this being the case quite so much in Cardiff.

Welcome home Steve - another league title would be very welcome!!!

Cheers,

John
 
Finny

Finny

Well-Known Member
#28
#28
Another thing that should be mentioned, is that this is another sign the Devils management and team mean business this year.

Thornton wanted Lyle to stay, and offered him big big money to do so. They knew how big a bonus it is to sign a top british netminder (and Lyle is the best) and were determined to keep him.

But they failed. And we were able to tempt him away from a team which won 2 trophies and was challenging for the league title until they hit bad injuries.
 
O

Ocko

Well-Known Member
#29
#29
Finny said:
Just a couple of important points:

Lyle had several offers to leave Cardiff back in the ISL. He left eventually when Bob Phillips stopped paying him wages and the team then dropped to the BNL.

A year and a half later he returned when Paul MacMillan returned. At the end of the season Bob Phillips returned and Lyle decided he didn't want to take the same chance again.

Again, he left Basingstoke mid-season after he stopped getting paid. Whilst we all want to see Loyalty in sport, if we're honest how many of us would be happy to work for free when a bigger and better company were offering to pay us more money?

I'm very happy to have Lyle back. He might not be the best netminder in the league this season, but he is a proven winner who with a defensive defence infront of him will do very very well. And the fact that he allows us another import will be a massive advantage.

Well back Stevie!!

(Oh - and whoever suggest Ledley turned down teams to stay in Cardiff - he was never given the chance to talk to them. Risdale refused them access to him. Though in the end he agreed to stay in return for being Club Captain and walking the team out at the new stadium ;) )
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At last someone talking from fact!! Some of the loyalty comments have annoyed me on his thread, the majority having no substance. The only time Stevie has left the Devils for 'better things' was when he went to play in the OHL to try and make it across the pond, you cant deny the lad a chance of that.

All the other occasions have justifiable reasons, would any of you want to work for Bob Phillips?

Lyle will suprise quite a few people I think. The majority are basing their opinions of him on hearsay and the odd game they've seen him play for the Giants, as I doubt many were even watching the game in his last stint here! Welcome back to a proven winner IMO.
 
Finny

Finny

Well-Known Member
#31
#31
Ugly Betty said:
Hope people give him a chance.
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I doubt some people will. Netminders have always divided fans opinions', and are often the first to get criticised.
Even last season Aubry was having a great start, then had one bad game. Suddenly there are threads on here and messages on facebook suggesting he should be sacked!

The other problem Lyle will face is that I feel we will be a lot more offensive this season. Last years team was built with a defence-first mindset. In fact, you could probably argue that the season before was too. The team plan was to try and stop the other team scoring more than 1 or 2 goals - and then hope we could score more.

This year I think/hope we will be more attacking, which will of course mean we might be more open and allow the opposition more goal scoring chances.
 
G

Gingers Husband

Active Member
#32
#32
The main thing confusing me regarding Lyle is that G has publicly stated he thinks Stevie is a weak nettie. I wouldn't mind knowing what caused his opinion to sway enough to sign him for three years. That said, I'm willing to go with Gs decision as he is the man that has to take the undoubted flak should it backfire on him but would hope that if Lyle doesn't work out, he would do something about it sooner rather than later.
 
D

Devils101

Member
#33
#33
Mmmm. :eek: A bit of a suprise this one, especially the 3 year deal!!! I guess we'll have to see how he plays this season and make a decision on him then. He won trophies with Belfast last season so he can't be all that bad. Now he'll have the Devil's defence in front of him so he's bound to get better. Very surprised indeed.
 
K

Kipper

Active Member
#34
#34
We love crucifying people on here don't we. One of our recent signings nearly changed his mind because comments on this forum had convinced him that he wouldn't be appreciated here and that he wasn't liked, when in fact the opposite is true. I am glad that influential people were able to change his mind.

Be careful what you wish for. Stevie Lyle has signed for us and I think he is a great signing as he is very capable,experienced and allows us another import skater. Last season's problem was scoring goals consistently. This signing gives us a further import option to help in that area.
 
R

R777GAB

New Member
#36
#36
Im A little thrown by all these loyalty comments aswell . . .

Didnt Jarvis leave Bison also? . . . cant remember many people being unhappy due to loyalty when we signed him.

Mark Richardson left us for Panthers.

Tyson left us to play abroad.

Myers, Phillips, Sly, Smith and Max have all left us. . . yet many would appear to jump at the chance to have any of these back. I really dont uinderstand the difference with Lyle, perhaps im missing something?

Its a short career and most of these guys want to win and earn as much as they can, the reason most people sign one year contracts is because nobody is loyal!

Due to the fact the Lyle allows us another import makes me happy with the decision to sign him, if he was an import then id be dissapointed with the signing but he wins trophies and you cant argue with that.

To the people who are dissapointed with this signing though, dont worry because Lyle isnt loyal and will probably leave next season ;)
 
Mooney#16

Mooney#16

Well-Known Member
#37
#37
May not have dawned on alot of people but Jody Lehmans main reason for leaving the UK was the falling pound on the global market had effectively left him with a near 33% pay loss. Hence good goalie unaffordable in this country and off he went to the euro zone. Other good goalies will not even entertain coming if the salery ain't right and you could find yourself deep in the off season holding on for a commodity that just isn't there.

It may just be that the overall standard of netminder in the eliteleague is about to fall due to an inability to pay competitive wages in the global hockey community and the Devils have just pulled off a very shrewd move in picking up what could be one of the best netties in the league next year on a competitive salery that allows them an extra import player and financial room to just get that game breaking forward everyone wants to see. There is afterall a far bigger picture to some of these things.

Coventry will have paid through the nose for there new guy but will have to loose out somewhere along the line. Namely less import skaters with some of them potentially off lower standard than others would like.

All signings are a gamble but at least give G credit for knowing his business market and making a judgememnt call accordingly. If it don't work I don't actually have a problem with it as he's shown he's trying to be proactive and that is the most you can ask from the guy.

Good signing. Possibly great one at the end of the year.

And to echo previous. Lilly never walked out or showed disloyalty to the Devils. There were reasons when he left. God knows even fans walked away for the same reasons. He did what he had to do for his career and family. No one can blame him for that so an apology is in order on that one.
 
S

scottydoesntknow

Member
#39
#39
J.B said:
I can see why this signing makes sense for the Devils as you lack a geniune British "star"
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I'm sure Phill Hill would be classed as a british star, especially after the season he has just had.

Back on topic though, on terms of loyalty I agree with Finnys post which is a bit further up the page. The time he left us to go to North America was a fair reason to go. That is like "the dream" I'm guessing and given that they're only allowed 2 imports in the OHL they must have rated Stevie, who probably had hopes of moving up the ranks in North America.

I am very happy with this signing as it gives us the extra import slot. I think it should also be noted that he wins trophies etc. wherever he goes. He is obviously a very good netminder who, I think isn't being given the credit which he deserves atm because last season he was behind the most offensive D in the league. With our defence Stevie could be the find of the season :)

I think most people are judging him on the few times they have seen him come to Cardiff, which is only half of the story. Plus Belfast beat us nearly every time and he was behind the mst offensive D. Also Since he has played for Cardiff he has also gained experience from other leagues around Europe which is obviously a good thing so I think everyone should see how things turn out before questionning this signing.

Welcome back to Cardiff Stevie :D
 
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