New Season
The hockey season is back, and you can follow it all with us right here on BIH.
Stats Centre
We are working on an archive of matches, stats and players from BIH in the past few years.
Capital punishment from Steelers
The Sheffield Steelers claimed a 6-4 victory over the Edinburgh Capitals at the Sheffield Arena but had to come from behind to do so, despite taking a 3 goal lead in the first period.
Robert Farmer got the home side off to the perfect start after 5:30, flicking in a backhand shot after Matt Hubbauer’s close range effort was saved by Cody Rudkowsky. The roles were reversed for the 2nd goal of the night on 8:41; Hubbauer scored from Farmer’s pass but the credit for the goal belonged to Robert Dowd who set the chance up with a great piece of skating. Dowd set up Farmer to make it 3-0 on 11:25 and the Capitals must have feared another hammering. The Steelers last Elite League game before their European adventures was an 8-0 win over Edinburgh at iceSheffield.
The Capitals called a time out after the third goal in a bid to sort things out but the Steelers kept skating through the visitors’ defence and could have had goals from Joey Talbot and Jeff Legue soon after.
With Andrew Verner taking a deserved rest after his exploits in Europe last weekend Dan Green got the start in goal but was only called into serious action intermittently in the early stages. Shots from Owen Fussey, Neil Hay and Simon Lambert were routinely turned aside but for the rest of the game it was a different story for the home keeper.
Indiscipline cost the Steelers dear and a 5-on-3 powerplay goal got Edinburgh back into the game. With Mark Thomas and Doug Sheppard in the box Dan Welch fed Simon Lambert who scored with a one timer from the right face off circle at 23:58. 10 minutes later it was 3-2, Fussey credited with the 4-on-4 goal at 33:27 although the big deflection off defenseman Thomas left Green with little chance.
With their lead slipping away Sheffield picked things up in the closing stages of the second period. Jonathan Phillips fired over then Legue and Dowd drew good saves from Rudkowsky. The hosts then shot themselves in the foot with a 2+2 penalty for high sticking, called on Legue by ref Andy Carson after consultation with his linesmen. This penalty carried over into the final period and with 42:06 gone Scott McKenzie squeezed the puck past Dan Green to tie the game. If the British goalie wasn’t happy to see that shot creep in he would have been fuming with himself over the goal that gave Edinburgh a 4-3 lead. Green thought he’d saved a shot from Mark Garside on 49:43 but while he was waiting for the officials to blow the whistle the puck had slipped between his legs and just barely over the line. The turn around was now complete and the travelling support, although small in numbers (there were more people in Panthers shirts in the crowd than Capitals gear) knew they were just 10 minutes from another famous road win, following on from their victory in the SkyDome last week.
The lead didn’t last for long though as Hewitt tied the game on 50:35 with a snapshot that came from within a crowd of skates. Farmer, who had been very quiet since his opening period double (his first goals of the
season) forced a good glove save from Rudkowsky but Sheffield’s momentum seemed to evaporate when Legue was called for another high sticking penalty with just under 4 minutes left. Edinburgh pressed but they left the back door open and Doug Sheppard raced clear and beat Rudkowsky with a short handed wrap-around goal at 57:58. With the goalie pulled in the final minute Talbot put the result beyond doubt with an empty net goal at 59:18.
The win for Sheffield moves them closer to Edinburgh in the standings but on this performance both sides have plenty of room for improvement.
The addition of Jonathan Zion to replace the injured Rod Sarich should help the Steelers. Although he had arrived in the UK and was expected to ice he didn’t have his kit and so will make his debut this weekend instead. Despite scoring thbriefly on two breaks whilst a man down in the second period, penalties really hurt the Steelers in this game. They gave the Caps a route back in when seemingly in control and even wasted a powerplay of their own when Brad Cruikshank was called for an unnecessary bit of boarding behind Edinburgh’s net, turning a man advantage into a 4-on-4. Dan Green will also feel that two of the Capitals’ goals were very saveable and with Verner approaching, if not his best, certainly more like the standard of performances Dave Matsos would be expecting from him, it might be a while before we see the Brit in action again.
One home grown player we will surely see more of throughout the remainder of the season is Robert Farmer. His two goals tonight as part of a line that Edinburgh just couldn’t slow down in the first period showed that the talent to be successful in this league is there. Robert Dowd also continued his recent renaissance after a slow start to the season in this game but it was Farmer who rightly claimed the Steelers’
Man Of The Match award. Mark Garside picked up this accolade for the Capitals who will wonder how they managed to expose themselves so badly defensively in the first and last ten minutes of the game. This was ultimately the reason why despite scoring four unanswered goals they’re heading back north with nothing to show for their efforts.
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 19:00 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 19:00 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 19:00 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 19:00 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 19:15 | ||
v |
||
| 12th February 2012 00:00 | ||
6-2 |
||
| 5th February 2012 18:30 | ||
4-5 |
||
| 5th February 2012 18:00 | ||
2-4 |
||
| 5th February 2012 17:00 | ||
6-1 |
||
| 4th February 2012 19:30 | ||
4-1 |
||
| 4th February 2012 19:00 | ||
6-2 |
||
| 4th February 2012 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belfast Giants | 41 | 33 | 8 | 3 | 167 | 83 | 69 |
| 2 | Nottingham Panthers | 40 | 30 | 10 | 2 | 182 | 87 | 62 |
| 3 | Sheffield Steelers | 35 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 133 | 77 | 60 |
| 4 | Coventry Blaze | 40 | 25 | 15 | 1 | 153 | 113 | 51 |
| 5 | Cardiff Devils | 39 | 20 | 19 | 10 | 124 | 112 | 50 |
| 6 | Braehead Clan | 39 | 22 | 17 | 2 | 146 | 127 | 46 |
| 7 | Hull Stingrays | 41 | 11 | 30 | 4 | 107 | 165 | 26 |
| 8 | Edinburgh Capitals | 38 | 11 | 27 | 3 | 89 | 170 | 25 |
| 9 | Dundee Stars | 40 | 7 | 33 | 5 | 95 | 163 | 19 |
| 10 | Fife Flyers | 39 | 7 | 32 | 5 | 79 | 178 | 19 |
v |
||
| 8th February 2012 19:45 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 17:45 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 18:00 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 18:30 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 19:00 | ||
v |
||
| 11th February 2012 19:00 | ||
3-0 |
||
| 5th February 2012 18:30 | ||
4-2 |
||
| 5th February 2012 18:00 | ||
6-3 |
||
| 5th February 2012 17:30 | ||
6-8 |
||
| 5th February 2012 17:30 | ||
3-0 |
||
| 4th February 2012 19:30 | ||
1-3 |
||
| 4th February 2012 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guildford Flames | 38 | 26 | 12 | 3 | 172 | 111 | 55 |
| 2 | Manchester Phoenix | 39 | 24 | 15 | 3 | 145 | 123 | 51 |
| 3 | Slough Jets | 37 | 24 | 13 | 2 | 167 | 117 | 50 |
| 4 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 38 | 22 | 16 | 4 | 119 | 101 | 48 |
| 5 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 37 | 22 | 15 | 1 | 116 | 99 | 45 |
| 6 | Basingstoke Bison | 38 | 21 | 17 | 2 | 135 | 126 | 44 |
| 7 | Swindon Wildcats | 39 | 15 | 24 | 5 | 126 | 134 | 35 |
| 8 | Bracknell Bees | 37 | 13 | 24 | 8 | 107 | 142 | 34 |
| 9 | Peterborough Phantoms | 38 | 14 | 24 | 2 | 123 | 164 | 30 |
| 10 | Telford Tigers | 39 | 9 | 30 | 2 | 106 | 199 | 20 |
- Giants dent Steelers title hopes
- Steelers title challenge charges on
- Trudel released by Steelers
- Steelers sign defenceman Nick Duff
- Steelers back in 3rd in New Years Day
