Yorkshire icemen show grit after turbulent start to the season
There are not many people who would have tipped the Sheffield Steelers to become League champions at the start of the current campaign.
After a turbulent summer, the club were preparing for the upcoming season more in hope than expectation.
With the departure of the coaching staff, worries over finances and a lack of player arrivals, fans of the Steelers were hardly preparing for a season of title-chasing.
Shortly before the start of the season, the club had to contend with the departures of Dave Matsos (coach), Dave Simms (club founder) and Mike O’Connor (general manager). The trio’s exit in July 2010 stemmed from a declining relationship with previous owner Bob Phillips.
Phillips took over at the Steelers in July 2005, and under his regime, the club achieved play-off success in both 2008 and 2009. But a drop in the team’s performance co-incided with key stars leaving, and the relationship between the owners and the coaching staff eventually became more and more strained.
The collapse of the club’s management company at the time, Yorkshire Sports Ltd, meant that a new company had to be called in, fuelling rumours of financial troubles at the club. At the same time the club’s fans were growing restless and after the departures of Matsos, Simms and O’Connor many fans turned on the owner Phillips with boycotts and demonstrations being mentioned.
After a few uneasy and unamicable months, Philips ownership of the club ended in December 2010, when he sold up to Paul Ragan, who also owns Steelers’ rivals Cardiff Devils.
The change of ownership brought stability to the club and allowed them to mount a serious title challenge. As a result the club finished the current regular season at title winners, ironically finishing on the same points (87) as Cardiff, but with more regulation wins that ensured the title returned to the Motorpoint Arena after a two-year absence.
Andy Turner, operations manager at the Steelers, believes that the key reason to the success achieved this year is head coach Ben Simon, 33, who was appointed during the off-season. Turner said: “They’ve come through really well this year, and the majority of that is down to the coach (Simon).
“He’s managed to keep everything that happens off the ice a separate matter. He’s got the guys just worrying about the hockey and that’s all.”
Seth Bennett, a local journalist for BBC Radio Sheffield, shares Turner’s sentiment that Simon is at the heart of the positive season for the Steelers: He said: “It’s been a hard season. Behind the scenes they’ve had big problems and a change of ownership was what they needed.
“But that brought its own internal problems, with guys that have played under Bob Phillips and guys that hadn’t. So then Ben Simon had to try and unify the locker room, and he managed to do a decent job through the first half of the season.
“Once the ownership took place, and you look at how their season has gathered pace, they’ve maintained a good work ethic.”
As far as the second half of the season was concerned, the Steelers built on a solid base. Their road to title success was helped no end by huge home wins including an 18-1 trouncing of Edinburgh, a 9-0 hammering of Newcastle and the final day 7-2 victory over Braehead which eventually clinched the title.
As they enter the play-offs, Coach Simon will be hoping that one of the Steelers’ stars of the season will keep up his impressive form. Ervins Mustukovs has undoubtedly been a key component in the team’s fantastic campaign.
Upon Mustukovs’ arrival at the club, the previous coach Matsos called his signing a “big gamble”. However, the Latvian has certainly repaid the faith that was put in him. This season Mustukovs has had ten shut-outs and has played a pivotal role in the Steelers rise to the summit of the league.
Bennett believes the Eastern European has had a memorable debut campaign. He said: “He’s already got ten shut-outs, which is a phenomenal feat. He could well be the best goalie in the league. He could even be one of the best goalies, statistically, in British ice hockey history.”
After all the positivity around the club since the new owner’s arrival, there was an air of unrest that entered the locker room, when in mid-March Simon rejected a new contract offer. He said: “Nothing has been offered that I would accept. I want to get myself what I think I am worth without pricing myself out.”
After those comments, the Steelers have since gone on to claim the regular season title and it is hoped that the American will commit to the club as new owner Ragan aims to build a core foundation at the club for long-term success.
With the play-off series now in full swing, the Steelers can look forward to brighter times. A meeting with Cardiff in the final could lie in store, should both clubs progress past their respective semi-final opponents. That would put owner Ragan in an unenviable position should that meeting occur at the National Ice Centre on April 3, as it would put two clubs together, both of whom he has ownership of.
However, even if the Steelers do not achieve play-off success, they can still look back on what has been a hugely successful campaign.
For them to be disappointed at losing out in the play-offs would show just how far the club has come since the final days of the Phillips era.
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