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Who is your money on?
OK ladies and gentlemen the league is over and it was our boys here in Sheffield who brought home the Championship. A great achievement for the boys and for rookie coach Ben Simon yet he wasn't good enough for coach of the year consideration. A strange decision in my mind but not one that is likely to keep the Steelers coach awake at night. He has worked hard and led by example all season. Despite all this I still don't like the position of player coach. Only twice in eight seasons has a player coached team won the league title and it’s exactly the same ratio in terms of the playoffs. So when it comes to the two biggest trophies in our game you have a tougher time winning with a player coach. That been said this season only one of the top four teams has a traditional head coach.
Anyway rant over and so we look to the playoffs. Whose your money on? I would like to think that taking a 6-1 lead up to Dundee we will advance to finals weekend. Dan Ceman has said publically that the Stars season is not over yet. Frankly that is what he has to say and unless the Stars play twenty times better than they did Tuesday they will not turn around the five goal deficit they are up against. So the Steelers should be there but who will join them. Cardiff came 2nd in the league and therefore meet Hull at the weekend, while Belfast play Coventry and the Nottingham Panthers will meet the Braehead Clan.
Really as you look at these quarter final ties anyone can beat anyone. All it would take is for Hull to turn up and play their best 2 games of the year and Cardiff not play to their potential and we could have an upset. The same applies for the other teams. Personally however I take Cardiff to win over Hull and I take Belfast over Coventry. Cardiff have shown this year that they are a top side and Hull just don't have enough in their arsenal for me. Belfast have a huge point to prove after missing out on 2 trophies already this year. Coventry! well what can be said about their season? Frankly they have had as bad a season as anyone could have imagined them having. We here in Sheffield thought our season was bad last year but Coventry have eclipsed that in my mind. The most likely place for an upset is Nottingham vs Braehead. The Clan know how to win in Nottingham but something has changed in Panthers locker room and you have to think they may just about have the edge. So much rests on the first leg Friday night. If one team gets a two or three goal lead then you should be looking at the winning team. I take Nottingham just.
So with that said you will get the Steelers vs Panthers and Devils vs Giants in the Semi finals. Mouth watering no? I honestly believe the Steelers can go all the way so I will take them to beat the Panthers but it will by no means be easy. Nottingham have got their game back of late. Ok I know they failed miserably in the final weekend of the season but how hard did they try? Not very in my opinion. It will be tight but I feel the Steelers would just edge it in the semi final. So then we have a rematch of the final from last year. Penalty shots were needed to separate them last year as Belfast took the title. This year however I think Cardiff will win and make it back to back finals. Belfast are as good as they were last year but Cardiff are a better team than they were and that is where you will find the difference on this occasion.
This then brings us to the final, the climax of the Elite League season. If I am right we will see the Sheffield Steelers vs the Cardiff Devils. This years league champions vs last seasons playoff runners up. Mustukovs vs Pelle, Munn vs Matzka, Legue vs Lyle, Talbot vs Weller and Simon vs Adams. Paul Ragan where will your loyalties be? Who knows but as for the game itself is probably as tight as it gets and I honestly couldn't pick between them but I will tell you one thing. Sheffield have more proven winners in their line up. Does that make a difference? Its a good question. I think it does. Winning is a habit and while past trophies doesn't directly equal more trophies it puts you in the right frame of mind.
So once again I ask whose your money on?
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5-3 |
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4-5 |
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| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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4-1 |
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5-2 |
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3-7 |
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1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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- Adam Walker
- Alex Birch
- Andy Pierce
- Chris Gent
- Christopher Beal
- Craig Simpson
- Dave Simms
- Elliott Stanley
- Gareth Chalmers
- James Broughton
- James Gordon
- Katy Madgwick
- Luke Catterson
- Mark Briggs
- Mark Duell
- Mat Young
- Patrick Smyth
- Promotion
- Russ Morrell
- Seanna Murdock
- Stephen Dowson
- Stewart Roberts
- Tom Forster
- Vicki Smart
- William Lyon
