Been a while! Tried to make a post-season breakdown, about 5 times, couldn’t really coherently come up with any thoughts, or anything that was less than 4500 words in the first section, said bugger it, enjoyed my off-season without the stress of the Steelers. I’ll also be the first to admit that I’ve paid little to no attention to much about hockey of the summer, so this is also an exercise, for me, to get to know the new signings.
So, what are we looking at? I think it’s probably best to look at the departures, and what we’ll be missing in their leaving, the retained pack, and the incoming, and what we can expect from the new players. So, let’s not waste any more time (having said that, this will be three parts, 3 posts)
Leavers
In no particular order – Kevin Tansey, Cole Shudra, Joona Huttula, Kyle Watson, Reece Kelly, Curtis Warburton, Eamon McAdam, Brett Ritchie, Mitch Heard, Stephen Harper, Jordon Southorn, Jack Dougherty, Sam Tremblay & Patrick Watling
In Kevin Tansey, you’re losing out on someone who, from day one, knew what it meant to put that jersey on. In my time of being a Steelers fan, which granted, is only about 8 years, I’ve never seen anyone take to it as well as he did, or as quickly. It was like he was meant for it. Ypu’re also missing a guy who in his time here, across all comps, 193GP, 35 Goals, 55 assists, 90 points and an overall =/- of +82. Ever reliable, barely took a shift off and was a swing-guy when needed, though, best not to talk about that with last season as the reference, though it wasn’t his fault. Also led the league with a stupid +/- of 40 in his debut campaign.
Big, tough, willing to step up for his team mates, always gave it his all. Will definitely be missed
Cole Shudra was always a bit of an odd one for me. Never seemed to gain the trust properly of Fox, but was willing to stick the jersey on, and if the whole road blokes thing is anything to go by, which at a guess, was started by him, seemed to be a great locker-room guy, never complained about anything and just got on with it. But it always seemed like there was more there, we just didn’t see much of it. There’s not much use in talking stats with Cole, as it’s not really what he was there for, as much as he was a fourth line crash-and-bang grinder, getting you through a shift against their top line, so you can play better match-ups. On his day, he is electric, and it’s not easy to replace that energy.
Joona Huttala is a bit of a mixed bag, for me. I remember seeing him in first season constantly picking the puck up behind his own net, skating it out and avoiding checks, driving plays to the opposition blue line, always being strong on his stick and not really making much of a mistake. Bundled in with that ridiculous pass to Simpson, and his few goals where he’d pop up in the crease, it seemed like we’d got a genuinely great two-way D man. He also had an incredible talent for laughing people off, immediately after he’d wound them up, which is always something you’ll miss.
Whether that’s rose tinted glasses or not, I’m happy to be told otherwise, but last season we got a very different version of him. Whether that’s because he was getting less minutes, or his role changed as he was primarily with Reece Kelly, I’m not sure, but the amount of turnovers, daft mistakes and general lack of compete in him last season really made him look worse than I think he plays at his general level. I’m not saying him glad he went, but after last season, I think there’d have been some sort of inquisition, had he stayed.
Kyle Watson. What could have been. Great player who had oooooodles of potential, and is probably in rare company, in that he can say he fought Milan Lucic (not to say Lucic didn’t fight a lot of people – he most definitely did – but there’s not many players under the age of 32 who can say that). Loads of energy, great player, had a decent shot on him and could pick out a pass too, and always looked extremely comfortable on the ice, and to say he’d not had much of a chance at the EIHL before, not the sort of player to give up the puck straight away. Not sure what it was that lead him to Scotland – no promise of more ice time, role change, or just the club telling him hes not wanted anymore – but a player that will be missed among a lot of fans, I think, if not only because we won’t get to see him at his absolute best in an Orange jersey.
Reece Kelly, much like the above, clearly had a load of potential, and seemed to really come into his own this year, which says a lot given he was playing 10 minutes a night, with no special teams. Again, never looked out of place, didn’t really look nervous beyond his first few games, and I think we were all expecting him to come back this year and make a great showing of himself, but, alas.
Was also the target of Aaron Fox’s benchings and healthy scratches at times, and subbed out for someone else in crunch time, which fans did not take too kindly oo – though, not his fault.
Another one we’ll miss his best of, in an Orange jersey, but if him moving means he gets more ice time and can be the player we hope he can be, then go for it big man.
Curtis Warburton is a player I can’t really speak on. Genuinely was just the Brit backup to let us play an extra import every night. Hope he gets a good proper shot at playing full time, now hes dropped down.
Eamon McAdam. What a man. I always hated him being in net, but not because he was bad. 2.20 and a .927, 12/7 W/L tells you he wasn’t bad. He was just mental. Erratic, even. It was like watching a slightly less calculate Dominik Hasek some nights. Pure theater. But a fantastic goalie. Not yet been announced what he’s up to now he’s gone, but a genuine miss in a system where you’re going 1A/1B with your goalies.
Brett Ritchie is quite possibly the biggest coup this team, maybe even league, has seen in a while, and all that after the fanfare of Nottingham apparently eyeing up Nick before last season, too. Probably for the best they didn’t get Nick in the end, given his 8 game suspension + contract termination in Liiga, but I digress.
Unreal player for this level, and his points per game tell you that. Took him a while to get his feet wet but scored from anywhere, was absolutely willing to dry and undress a player (you would, if you’d been playing in the NHL a few years ago). Also joined the team in our absolute worst stretch of last season, and was a shining light for us for a while there. But, could never fully be arsed. Which when you’ve got him player with Heard and Harper, one of you has to be. Think we probably saw the best of him in the playoffs, when the handbrake came off, but I think it was too little to late. If concessions were willing to be made (you let him do what he wants, and make the system allow for that, on the basis he’s fucking brilliant), I’d have loved to see him back, but that probably wasn’t possible, so… Thanks Brett!
Mitch Heard was a fan favorite, but I’m not sure we ever saw much of the reason as to why. At Glasgow, he was lights out. In both the sense that he was great basically every time he got on the ice, and he wasn’t afraid to put someones lights out. More often than not last year he looked pretty unbothered, and it also seems like the handbrake was stuck on, never really allowed to drop the mitts, apart from the one Storm game where he did it twice, or be the rink rat we knew he could be. Had the ability to do just about anything, and we got flashes of that, just seems like we never got it in droves.
Stephen Harper was another funny one. His CV gleaming, his history in the sport just as shiny, and looked the part for a bit. Big net front monster who made his living 5 feet in the net and strong on his skates to stop people from getting him out of the way. But we didn’t see much of that. He was a good player, on his night, but dear lord did he have it in him to just forget how to play for 5 seconds, at the worst time possible (Belfast Giants at home, anyone?)
Had streaks of being unstoppable, and then crashed back down to earth shortly thereafter.
Jordon Southorn got far too much of a kicking for my liking. Is that me saying he wasn’t absolute dog water sometimes? No. But that is also me saying that he wasn’t complete dog water, all the time, and was actually on some nights, absolutely great. We probably didn’t get him at his best, on account of him being 35, but he did beat his point total from when he played for Grenoble, and took less PIM doing it. He did have a mistake or two in him, but I think if we could have had him say, when he originally went Dundee (way back when in 13/14) and we got the best of him, fan sentiment would be way higher. We just got a much older version of him.
Jack Dougherty. Tough one. Quite often was what people thought Southorn was. Did think when the lines got mixed up and he was playing with Diffley, we got a much better version of him, and he did start to play a whole lot better from that point on, but by that point I think fan sentiment on the whole had soured too much and it just became too little too late. (though judging by the below, he was quite good on Feb 15th)
He also came in with a great resume that he didn’t seem to, at least in the eyes of the fans, live up to. Not massively sad about seeing him go, but that goal he scored against Coventry that time was bonkers. Plus, who else is giving us a Christmas video where he’s got Shrek with him?
Patrick Watling, for my money, one of the best to ever don an Orange jersey. Great skater, unbelievable hands, absolute pistol of a shot, could pick out a pass like no ones business and, when he wanted to, knew how to play in the grey parts of the rule book. Came in with an unreal CV and lived up to every bit of it. Had he retired when he was supposed to, I dont think any fan would be realistic in having a bad sentiment about them. Though, even after coming back and being… less than stellar in his return, I still don’t think he was actually that bad. There was clearly an adjustment period, coming back from a massive injury and being retired, not skating much, he did still manage 15 points in 23 games on a team that was in a full blown tailspin. Great player, and at his peak, one of the best players that has ever graced the league. Very, very tough to replace.
