What a great weekend

Hello again everyone, right then congratulations Belfast worthy Playoff Champions. They won one of the best finals weekends ever. Ever single game was a good game to me. The Cardiff Coventry game was an entertaining game but it didn't feel all that much like a playoff game. A dominating performance by Cardiff got them through. Then Belfast outplayed Nottingham for most of their semi final but failed to score a put away goal. A Magnificent long bomb pass from Neilson put Galbraith in 1 on 1 with Murphy who had being outstanding but the panthers were level. Then the excitement of the shootout. I actually felt this suited Nottingham because St Pierre naturally covers most of the net. However the Giants had the better shooters and progressed.

So then the final Giants vs Devils. Both looking to win the big one, their first trophy of the season. A lot of people fancied Cardiff but for some reason my gut feeling was Belfast. I think it was the way Murphy played the night before. He has being great all year and I felt I would come down to who had the better netminder. That being said I backed Murphy, when I have seen Lyle this year I have seen him as a weakness for Cardiff and not a strength. How wrong could I be? I actually think Lyle kept Cardiff in the game. Both goalies were great. Belfast went 2 goals up then the Devils pulled it back and with one period left it was all to play for. At that point I favoured Cardiff but the period break seemed to kill their momentum and Belfast finished stronger, forcing Lyle into a string of big saves. So we went all the way to penalties and this time I went with Belfast. They proved me wrong the day before and having cheered for them all weekend i was with them all the way. It was left to Evan Cheverie to step up and score the winner and Congratulations Belfast.
 
Right then to other business and by that i mean Steelers business. It has being announced this morning that the Steelers have Ashley Tait coming back for next season. This is one of the worst kept secrets in the Elite League but now its official I feel a whole lot better. He is simply a winner, I do wonder how he will be the next couple of years as he is well into his mid thirties now. He should be ok he will probably just lose a bit of speed but good players find ways to compensate for that. Also the rumours are flying around the fan forum that we are signing Brad Voth. I like this rumour. A lot of people don't and i can kind of understand that but he is what Sheffield haven't had since Scott Allison. Don't get me wrong he is not anywhere close to the Player Allison was but he is that type of player. He is a much better player than Mike Sgroi end of debate he is. People can disagree and that's fine but he is a better player simply because he is a better skater. I think Sgroi has done a job for the Steelers but he is not the player he was supposed to be. Voth has a bad history with us but people should not hold that against him if he does come here. They will, (my own mother among them) but they shouldn't. He has being allowed to be reckless, stupid at times in Cardiff but that is down to coaching. It will be down to Matsos to control him if he comes here. Another strong rumour is that we are replacing Verner with a former team mate of Voth's Phil Osaer. Again i like this one. He has being playing in Norway the last couple of years and by his stats has played well. I think he would give us the solid goaltending we need as we rebuild our team. 
 
Finally it is quite a sad situation that we find Newcastle in. The problems with the Arena up there puts a great cloud of doubt about them for next season. I think i speak for all fans when I say I hope they find a solution quickly and wish them the best of luck in doing so.
 
That's all folks.

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