Inferno Match Preview - Steelers vs Devils 27th Sept 2014

24th Sep 2014 | Posted by Simon Rafferty

Saturday night see's the Devils make the trip to Sheffield to take on the Steelers at the Motorpoint arena for their first game on the newly repaired Ice of the season. This will be the 2nd Cup game against the Steelers for the Devils this season with the last a win for the Steelers 3 - 2 in the bay.

So far the Steelers are 4 wins from 5 games in all competitions this season and will no doubt be keen to get a first win on their home Ice proper of the season.

It may be considering 'cheating' as we've already seen the Steelers once this season but here's our quick look at what to expect from the Steelers squad this season.

Returning are the core of British forwards from last season of  Jason Hewitt, Jonathan Phillips, Phil Hill, Rob Dowd returning and joining them Luke Ferrara on a two way contract much as he was with us I'd expect he won't feature much for the Steelers (which is a shame).

On the Import front it looks to be all change for the Steelrs with several high profile departures and the arrival of new comers Colton Fretter, Mike Forney, Mathieu Roy, Ex- Devil  Jay Latulippe, Pascal Morency and Tyler Mosienko joining the team.

There really is some impressive Firepower coming in with the likes of Mathieu Roy, who has extensive ECHL experience and having netting twice last against the Devils already this season, Colton Fretter who has good AHL and ECHL experience.  Joining them is, Mike Forney  who spent last season with  Villacher (Austria) and Sparta Sarpsborg (Norway) giving the Steelers some real punch upfront.

Adding to this are the likes of Jay Latulippe who will add grit and agitation of the Steelers as well as chip in with points, Pascal Morency who looks to be the Steelers tough guy this season who also has a good level of experience in the AHL aside from 'getting battered' on his first trip to the Big Blue tent.

Rounding out the Steelers forward line is Tyler Mosienko who joins the Steelers after his banning for match-rigging against his own team in Denmark. Mosienko  is yet to Ice for the Steelers due to a suspension for his antics but looks to be great creative player, standing in for him is Ex- Devil Devin Didiomete on a temporary (probably) contract.

On defence the Steelers see the return of Gord Baldwin, Dustin Kohn and Mark Thomas from last season squad and the addition of Cullen Eddy, Darrell Hay and the return of Rod Sarich after a year away from the sport.  This looks to be a solid defensive unit with a good veteran presence from the likes of Sarich and Hay.

In nets the Steelers have re-signed Frank Doyle, who to be frank seemed a little all over the place last season at times but still posted a 90% Save Percentage for the season so must have been doing something right.  We include the picture of Doyle failing to stop a beach call clearly for amusement value as he's a top flight net minder when on his game.

Backing him up are Andrew Jaszczyk and Geoff Woolhouse will split backup duty.

Coaching duties at the Steelers fall to Gerard Adams in his second season (first full season) with the Club as coach, from his 8 years with the Devils we know to expect hard-nosed no nonsense hockey with some form of mid Ice trap no doubt.

So far the ones to watch for the Steelers have been.

• Michael Forney  on 4 Goals and 4 assists

• Mathieu Roy  on 2 Goals 7 assists

• Colton Fretter on 3 Goals and 2 assists

 

In nets Frank Doyle is running a rather impressive 93.6% save percentage with 2.26% goals against average.

Last weekend saw the Steelers in action twice first up on Saturday against the Panthers in the Challenge cup. Where after a scoreless first period it was Nottingham who opened the scoring when Chris Lawrence slotted home past Frank Doyle in the first period.

Steelers battled back with the all British line of Phillips, Hewitt and Dowd tying the game with just over 2 minutes remaining in the middle session, Phillips getting the final touch of a great shift.

Steelers failed to clear their zone on several occasions for the crucial Panthers winner, after going close three times the puck eventually fell to Brandon Benedict for the game winner at 45.56

The Steelers penalty kill was in fine form killing all ten Panthers Power-plays as Referee Dean Smith awarded 30 penalty minutes against Gerard Adams side.

With the final score being 2-1 to the Panthers.

Sunday night saw the Steelers coming from behind to edge out the Belfast Giants in a 5 goal 'thriller' at ICE Sheffield.

Frank Doyle was the Steelers 'hero' of the night making 47 saves from 49 shots whilst Steelers goals came from Jason Hewitt, Cullen Eddy and Colton Fretter.

Final Score Steelers 3-2 Giants.

On the Injury from at the time of writing the Steelers will be without Rod Sarich who Sunday's game in the 2nd period.

Sarich went straight to hospital following the game and the Steelers have confirmed that he had fractured a bone in his leg.

"It's hard to say how long Rod will be out for," said head coach Gerad Adams. "He will have further scans next week. He could be out two, four or six weeks. We just don't know and won't until the results of the scans next week are known."

The Devils are more closed lipped on the Injury front after missing a few players last weekend but will hopefully be a full strength for the game?

We will be running the 'ridiculously childish and disgustingly biased' Match Night Live service for this game, expect name calling, slurs and one eyed bias in epic proportions, at the usual location of http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/mnl

If you'd like to chip in with a comment or make a score prediction on the night you can contact us at matchnightlive@gmail.com.