Over the weekend, the two British teams in the upcoming Champions Hockey League squared off in the Holiday Inn Royal Victoria Cup, a two-legged affair with both games played in front of a sold-out crowd at Ice Sheffield. In two intense contests, the Sheffield Steelers took the spoils, taking a 7–3 aggregate victory.

by Jon Rowson

SHEFFIELD – Saturday’s game was the first time both sets of fans had a chance to see their new look rosters in action after the long summer break. The hometown fans had much more to cheer on Saturday, as the Steelers took the game to a Clan side missing a number of players. In both games Braehead were without defenceman Nathan McIver and forwards Brendan Brooks, Chris Bruton and Matt Haywood. These omissions were sorely felt as the Steelers jumped out to a 2–0 lead after twenty minutes following goals by Colton Fretter and debutant Levi Nelson.

Nelson would add a second goal in the third period to propel the Steelers to a 4–0 victory, with British forward Luke Ferrara getting Sheffield’s other goal. Goaltender Tyler Plante, also making his first appearance in Steelers’ orange, made 28 saves for his shutout.

The following day, it would be Sheffield who once again had the better of the early chances, but Braehead goaltender Chris Holt was in fine form, turning away shot after shot to keep the scores deadlocked. After four scoreless periods, the Clan’s offence finally came to the party in the middle frame, scoring twice in the opening 69 seconds of the second period. Alex Leavitt’s fine deflection was followed up 13 seconds later by a marker by former Steeler Stefan Meyer. Jeff Legue halved the Steelers’ deficit mid-way through the period, but a fantastic no-look pass by Scott Pitt allowed Ben Davies to restore the Clan’s two goal lead with a booming one-timer past Plante. 

Speaking after the game, Steelers Head Coach Paul Thompson commented, “Braehead were the better team in the second period and I thought our focus defensively, from the offensive zone, lapsed; we gave up too many odd man rushes, we started following the puck and got away from our systems. That happens when fatigue kicks in, and at the end of the second period we had to regroup.”

And regroup they did. Last season’s EIHL Player of the Year Mathieu Roy reduced the deficit to one goal six minutes into the third period with a power-play marker, and Sheffield kept knocking on the door only to be denied at each turn by an imperious Holt. However, the former Dinamo Riga goaltender was powerless to prevent the Steelers’ equaliser with 87 seconds to go, as a Ben O’Connor point shot appeared to cannon off a number of players in front of the American, with Mike Duco getting credit for the game-tying goal.

Steelers’ coach Thompson added, “We’ve only had five days of preparation leading up to this weekend’s games, so we really have pushed them [the Steelers players] out of their comfort zones, tested them and pushed them hard, as we know what’s ahead of us. Everything we’ve been doing, we’ve been doing with a high intensity level and I think the games have shown that.

“In pre-season I want to see my team under stress. I want to see how it reacts under stress and when things aren’t going the right way as that’s when you see the character of your group. We showed we have a lot of character, as we refocused on where we felt we needed to be. We can’t just play gung-ho hockey, we have a defensive responsibility. It’s tough enough the Braehead Clan took us apart a couple of times in the second period, on Thursday against Frolunda it’s going to be much tougher. We showed great character to come back and tie the game, and I think we had the jump and could have nicked it.”

Home is the road for both the Clan and the Steelers in the coming week, as both of the British representatives in the 2015–16 Champions Hockey League play their two group stage away games over the next few days. There is cause for optimism for Braehead fans, whose team travels to Sweden to face the Vaxjo Lakers on Thursday. The impending additions to the roster in the form of Brooks, Bruton and McIver will give the Clan added quality and toughness in order to face the reigning SHL Champions. 

At the same time, the Sheffield Steelers will have faced off in their CHL opener, also in Sweden, at Frolundaborgs Isstadion. For Coach Thompson, the CHL presents the toughest test for his team: “We don’t want to go there and embarrass ourselves, we want to give our city, and British hockey, a great name.”

The former British national team coach and four-time EIHL winner added, “We respect the opposition and understand the level of the leagues they come from, and the quality of the player they have. We’re prepared, we’re thorough, we’ve watched a lot of video and we know what to expect, and then on the day, every player has to give 110 percent of what he has and we’ll see where that gets us.”

This week, the Braehead Clan and the Sheffield Steelers will face their toughest tests of the season, on the road against heavily favoured opposition. However, anything can happen in hockey, as shown when the Nottingham Panthers upset the Hamburg Freezers in the Champions Hockey League last season. A large contingent of Clan and Steelers fans are expected to follow their respective teams to Europe this week, each with the hope that their club will do both their city, and country, proud.