I couldn’t give a monkeys to be fair. The challenge cup is a nice to have but it doesn’t float the boat. Here for the main course not the starter. As soon as Devils took the win Friday it was going to be a lot harder for them last night. No complaints here. Well done Sheffield. They have been too good not to win a trophy this year but if they could now peacefully step aside that would be good.
steelers Vs Devils - 8 Mar 20 - Challenge Cup Final Spectacular
- Thread starter James
- Start date
I watched on webcast, as I have most of the season - which I think takes the emotion out of it and let’s you watch a bit more subjectively.
I didn’t think Sheffield were the better team, we were. But that was always going to be the case as we were the team chasing the game, their NM were outstanding. We weren’t clinical but we weren’t horrendous either. 40 odd shots on goal to 20 odd shows we dominated the game, but sometimes that happens. Sheffield played like a team desperate for the win and defended like it. Credit to them. As soon as they got the lead they trapped us out of the game in the neutral zone, we didn’t get good zone entry which we seem to struggle with. I get Lord shortening the bench. Louis and the 4th line seen little ice later in the game but the team should’ve been fresh after a rest Saturday and you want your scorers/playmakers on the ice as much as possible. We weren’t defending a lot anyway and Louis and the 4th line offer little offensive output.
Maybe because I wasn’t there live I haven’t got the emotion of it, but I’m genuinely astonished at the slating the team and individuals have had on this thread. We played a good game, no player can be found wanting in terms of effort, we just lost - by a single goal - to a very good Sheffield team. No shame in it.
I didn’t think Sheffield were the better team, we were. But that was always going to be the case as we were the team chasing the game, their NM were outstanding. We weren’t clinical but we weren’t horrendous either. 40 odd shots on goal to 20 odd shows we dominated the game, but sometimes that happens. Sheffield played like a team desperate for the win and defended like it. Credit to them. As soon as they got the lead they trapped us out of the game in the neutral zone, we didn’t get good zone entry which we seem to struggle with. I get Lord shortening the bench. Louis and the 4th line seen little ice later in the game but the team should’ve been fresh after a rest Saturday and you want your scorers/playmakers on the ice as much as possible. We weren’t defending a lot anyway and Louis and the 4th line offer little offensive output.
Maybe because I wasn’t there live I haven’t got the emotion of it, but I’m genuinely astonished at the slating the team and individuals have had on this thread. We played a good game, no player can be found wanting in terms of effort, we just lost - by a single goal - to a very good Sheffield team. No shame in it.
Many fans like myself have been moaning this season of sterile hockey, it's not been a good spectacle. Yesterday's final had it all entertainment wise, two teams of players two sets of fans giving it everything. While I felt we defended poorly in the first, I think we were the better team in the second and third, we didn't test duba with quality shots, we never dropped our heads and kept battling to the end. I'm not blaming bowns but he's looking a little tired on times, I think he's playing too many games with chl and GB he's simply playing too many games, we need a back up lord is willing to play 15 games a season to give Ben a rest and keep him fresh, bens a game winner on his day , but with his workload he can't save us week after week without a bit of help, we are carrying two spares, personally I'd rather have one and a decent import nm to help out.
Rich I'm glad you and Glynne have sorted things out like men, both apologising and rightly so. Sometimes I feel your too passionate in what you write and too pro team when I believe we're playing dire hockey. I wish I could be a positive with the team as you are, but we all see the game differently, which is a good thing. I do agree with a lot of what you said about yesterday's game, but not all, keep up you positivity, but also try to keep it real
i disagree totally about louis being sat due to offensive output. he is far more reliable at defence than a number of the other players which leads to breakaways and his pass out of defense is just better and more importantly safer. if masi and richie on two occasions were not so selfish lou was wound up for a better placed one timer in the 1st period and they totally blanked the better opportunity.
i also think do you honestly think on the Connolly spin a rama assist the scorer is putting that in if Louis was on the ice instead of Morrisonn? louis would have cleared him 10 ft from the net than let him stand there like that. mcmonagle on the first was extremely weak and to me bowns should be saving it anyhow.
I also think if we had gotten a better bounce on a couple of goal mouth scrambles it was the difference.
I felt when the refs didnt call some absolutely blatant foul play we didnt up the level of physicality enough and that hit on myers at 3 down was a perfect opportunity to settle it down. instead our passive reaction actually encouraged the rats to do more and more.
i also think do you honestly think on the Connolly spin a rama assist the scorer is putting that in if Louis was on the ice instead of Morrisonn? louis would have cleared him 10 ft from the net than let him stand there like that. mcmonagle on the first was extremely weak and to me bowns should be saving it anyhow.
I also think if we had gotten a better bounce on a couple of goal mouth scrambles it was the difference.
I felt when the refs didnt call some absolutely blatant foul play we didnt up the level of physicality enough and that hit on myers at 3 down was a perfect opportunity to settle it down. instead our passive reaction actually encouraged the rats to do more and more.
I‘ve re-watched the game and I still don’t think we were the better team. Poor defending cost us the first goal, a mistake led to the penalty shot and a intercepted pass from our end led to the 4th. Individual errors really which have been prevalent all year. The first period wasn‘t great, we didn’t really test Duba much in the opening 20 for me. We dominated the second period and deserved more but we were always chasing the game generally and had more possession. We huffed and puffed in the third without really creating too many clear chances after the fourth went in. As Lord said, maybe we were pushing too hard? At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter whether we think we were the best team or not, it’s what’s on the scoreboard that counts. Time for the team to put it behind them now and get the league won.
"Well at least nobody can blame Bowns for that defeat"
*checks inferno*
"Oh FFS!"
I can't work out whether people are serious at this criticism or whether it's opposition fans trolling us pretending to be Cardiff fans.
Goals 1 and 4 were from a Sheffield player being left along in front and both shots were just inside the post.
Goal 2 was ridiculously clever from Connolly, flipping the puck as everyone else was going the other way.
Goal 3 was from a penalty shot.
Bowns made some huge saves both nights. Friday the luck was with us. Sunday it deserted us.
*checks inferno*
"Oh FFS!"
I can't work out whether people are serious at this criticism or whether it's opposition fans trolling us pretending to be Cardiff fans.
Goals 1 and 4 were from a Sheffield player being left along in front and both shots were just inside the post.
Goal 2 was ridiculously clever from Connolly, flipping the puck as everyone else was going the other way.
Goal 3 was from a penalty shot.
Bowns made some huge saves both nights. Friday the luck was with us. Sunday it deserted us.
Very frustrating result.
The first was almost a complete reversal of Friday. This time we started the better and created more chances and shots but Sheffield scored two against the run of play. We also took a period to work out what the referees were going to call. It also seemed to take the officials a period to decide too. Were happy to let some dodgy hits go and then called Mosey for one which had been let go several times previously.
Second started awfully but from 3-0 down the traffic was one-way. We dominated that period and outchanced them something like 3 to 1. At 3-2 I lost count of the number of goalmouth scrambles. On Friday we scored two of them. Sunday we didn't. If we'd got it back to 3-3 at that point I'm convinced we would have gone on to win comfortably as Sheffield would have imploded after blowing a 3-0 lead.
Third period started much the same way. Lots of Devils pressure but no luck to get the puck over the line. With time slowly ticking down we started to take more risks. Surprised at the criticism of Richie on here as from where I was it looked like a great pass but the intended received left it/didn't see it allowing Davies to nip in and kill all our momentum.
By the time we regrouped it was too little too late. Nobody likes to lose a Final but I can't criticism any player's effort. It just wasn't our night. Last year Belfast IMO outplayed us for much of the Playoff Final but we nicked the win. This time we were on the opposite end.
The first was almost a complete reversal of Friday. This time we started the better and created more chances and shots but Sheffield scored two against the run of play. We also took a period to work out what the referees were going to call. It also seemed to take the officials a period to decide too. Were happy to let some dodgy hits go and then called Mosey for one which had been let go several times previously.
Second started awfully but from 3-0 down the traffic was one-way. We dominated that period and outchanced them something like 3 to 1. At 3-2 I lost count of the number of goalmouth scrambles. On Friday we scored two of them. Sunday we didn't. If we'd got it back to 3-3 at that point I'm convinced we would have gone on to win comfortably as Sheffield would have imploded after blowing a 3-0 lead.
Third period started much the same way. Lots of Devils pressure but no luck to get the puck over the line. With time slowly ticking down we started to take more risks. Surprised at the criticism of Richie on here as from where I was it looked like a great pass but the intended received left it/didn't see it allowing Davies to nip in and kill all our momentum.
By the time we regrouped it was too little too late. Nobody likes to lose a Final but I can't criticism any player's effort. It just wasn't our night. Last year Belfast IMO outplayed us for much of the Playoff Final but we nicked the win. This time we were on the opposite end.
Brendan Connolly is a horrible little sh*t of a player, but I'd have him in Cardiff in a heartbeat. Although Riley tried, had someone like Louis or Batch properly laid him out it may have changed the momentum of the game. As it happened he got under our skin all night, cross checking our best players for fun as the referees took a blind eye.
As nice as it is to beat Sheffield, as long as we win the league I don't think anyone will be too traumatised in the long run by losing the hockey equivalent of the Carabao (Football League) Cup.
As nice as it is to beat Sheffield, as long as we win the league I don't think anyone will be too traumatised in the long run by losing the hockey equivalent of the Carabao (Football League) Cup.
Having just watched the game again on tv, and seeing different angles we sure were in that game more than I thought. The first period killed us, and with Sheffield being gifted 2 goals it was always going to be difficult, we took the second period and had many chances in the third to have taken the lead. We had problems with their speed, we dropped our physicality which was a shame, and Duba certainly had a great game. It certainly was a great game to watch, roller coaster at times, the atmosphere was truly amazing, so it’s history now and we move on. Two big ones left let’s now concentrate on those.