Sheffield Steelers

Sheffield Steelers
City	Sheffield, England
League	Elite Ice Hockey League
Founded	1991
Operated	Rhino Sports
Home arena	Sheffield arena
Colours	Orange, Black, White
Owner(s)	Tony Smith
General manager	Paul Thompson
Head coach	Paul Thompson
Captain	Jonathan Phillips
Championships
Regular season titles	1994–95, 1995–96, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2015-16
Autumn Cups	1995–96, 2000–01
Challenge Cups	1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03
Playoff championships	1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2013–14

The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. It was formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and plays its home games at the Sheffield Arena. It is currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League, where they are the current league champions . The club's main (title) sponsor is Sheffield Window Centre.

History

Sheffield Arena: home of the Steelers

Ice Hockey existed in amateur form in Sheffield, but the sport began its return to an era of arenas and stadium size crowds with the opening of the Sheffield Arena in 1991 and the creation of the Sheffield Steelers — the ice hockey team that was to occupy the new arena. The Sheffield Arena was built as part of the city's facilities for the staging of the World Student Games, and is a sizeable stadium originally seating 8,500 and located close to the city centre.^[1] Ronnie Wood and David Gardener-Brown were at the helm as the Marketing Director at the club and set about promoting ice hockey to a city raised on the footballing success of Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. Wood had a specific target, seeking to attract children and families to the city's new sporting Arena. As he stated in an interview in Liam Sluyter's A Game of Three Halves (Mainstream Publishing, 1998), "we were sending guys around schools. We wrote to all the schools in Sheffield and said 'Bring the kids, see the Arena, sit down, experience the whole thing'". They also began taking players to local football matches and parading them around the ground with mascots in an attempt to pull in football fans too. Another marketing ploy was to give certain players nicknames to help the crowd associate with the new (and as yet unknown) players. This idea was hatched by the announcer Dave Simms.

The Steelers were named in honour of Sheffield's industrial past, much like the American football team of the same name based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the sharing of nicknames are merely a coincidence. The American football team actually predates Sheffield's team by 58 years and was already popular worldwide due to their dominance in the National Football League in the 1970s. Sheffield and Pittsburgh are considered sister cities.^[2]

The Sheffield Steelers were the first ever fully professional ice hockey team in Great Britain, and O'Brien suggested that there was a lot of resentment from the followers of other hockey teams who saw them as a "cheque book hockey club" able to buy whoever they chose. Likewise, Sluyter questions the authenticity of the majority of Steelers fans in the club's early days. Though he admitted that it was a generalisation, Sluyter suggested hockey fans of teams like Cardiff, Fife and Nottingham were ice hockey fans first and foremost, while Steelers' supporters were only Steelers fans, and knew very little of ice hockey outside of Sheffield. However, it made little difference as Sheffield began breaking several British ice hockey attendance records, and in March of that year added an extra 1,200 seats to the Arena to meet the growing demand.

Sheffield Steelers had begun their first ever season in English Division One of the British Hockey League. One year later Sheffield Steelers won promotion into the British Premier League, before going on to win this in 1995 — the last team to do so before the formation of the new British Ice Hockey Super League (ISL) that year.

On Sunday 3 December 2006, the Steelers played in their 1000th ever game.^[3] The game was against the Basingstoke Bison at the Hallam FM Arena, for which special orange jerseys had been made for the match.^[4] The Steelers lost the game 3–2^[5] and the jerseys were all auctioned off at the game.

2000–present

In the 2000–01 campaign the Steelers completed a Grand Slam, becoming only the second club to win the Autumn Cup, League, Challenge Cup and Playoff Titles in the same season. They retained the Play-off title the following season, the first team to achieve this in the Superleague era, beating Manchester Storm on penalties in the Play-Off final, held at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham in front of a full house.

David Matsos was appointed as coach for the 2006–07 season. He led the Steelers to a fourth-place finish in the league and a place in the Challenge Cup Finals.^[6] The club broke an Elite League Attendance record against the Manchester Phoenix with an attendance of 7,339.

In 2007 team Owner Bob Phillips and his wife sold their other Elite League club the Cardiff Devils in order to concentrate on building the Steelers.^[7] The club won that season's Elite League Playoff Championship after beating the Coventry Blaze 2–0 in the final with goals from Johnathan Phillips and Dan Tessier. The Steelers were knocked out of the following season's Knockout Cup and Challenge Cup early, but finished first in a league campaign that saw them lose just three times in regulation. They made this a double by beating Nottingham Panthers 2–0 in the Play-Off final. The Steelers season ended in the Quarter Finals of the Play-offs after being knocked out by the Cardiff Devils.

The 2010–11 season was preceded by a "walk-out" of Steelers management and office staff, after a vote of no confidence in Owner Bob Phillips. Phillips put the club up for sale, and in December 2010 Paul Ragan, the CEO and owner of the Cardiff Devils, finalised acquiring the rights to the Sheffield Steelers. The Steelers were at the top of the league for the majority of the season, battling it out with the Cardiff Devils, .and won the league after back-to-back victories against the Braehead Clan. The Steelers were tied on points with Cardiff but won the league having more regulation time wins. After several rounds of negotiations, Simon decided not to renew his contract, and Ryan Finnerty was installed as player/coach after.

During that season Sheffield Steelers became the first EIHL team to win a medal in Europe after their appearance in the Continental Cup superfinal.

Tony Smith took over as sole owner in August 2011 after buying out Paul Ragan. The Steelers won the 2013–14 Play-Off final 3–2 against Belfast Giants.

At the end of season 2014–15 they beat the Cardiff Devils to clinch the Elite League title with 74 points. On 20 April 2015 they parted company with coach Gerad Adams. They soon brought in Paul Thompson, former GB coach, as Head Coach and General Manager.^[8]

Current roster

2016-17 Elite League season

Netminders

No.		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
30		Brad Day	R	2015	Huddersfield, ENG
33		Ervīns Muštukovs	L	2016	Riga, Latvia

Defencemen

No.		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
29		Rod Sarich	L	2014	Bladworth, Saskatchewan, Canada
2		Anders Franzon	R	2016	Plattsburgh, New York, United States
5		Christoffer Björklund	L	2016	Borlänge, Sweden
13		David Phillips	R	2016	Kingston upon Hull, England
44		Michael Ratchuk	L	2016	Buffalo, New York, United States
28		Zack Fitzgerald	L	2015	Two Harbors, MN, United States
81		Ben O'Connor	L	2014	Durham, England

Forwards

No.		Player	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
8		Jesse Schultz	RW	2016	Strasbourg, Saskatchewan, Canada
12		Andreas Valdix	C	2016	Malmö, Sweden
14		Liam Kirk	F	2016	Maltby, England
17		Markus Nilsson	C/LW	2016	Ljungby, Sweden
27		Cole Shudra	F	2016	Rotherham, England
15		Mathieu Roy	LW	2014	Amos, QC, Canada
20		Jonathan Phillips C	LW	2006	Cardiff, Wales
19		Luke Ferrara	RW	2015	Peterborough, England
41		Guillaume Desbiens	RW	2015	Alma, QC, Canada
91		Yared Hagos	C	2016	Stockholm, Sweden
67		Colton Fretter	C	2014	Harrow, ON, Canada
75		Robert Dowd	LW	2013	Billingham, England
76		Levi Nelson	C	2015	Calgary, AB, Canada
90		John Armstrong	C	2016	Unionville, Ontario, Canada

Coaching Staff

No.		Name	Position	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
N/A		Paul Thompson	Head coach	Singapore
N/A		Jerry Andersson	Assistant coach	Sweden

^{[9] [10]}

Honoured members

The Steelers have retired the numbers of five players.^[11] Ronnie Wood's number 7 and Tim Cranston's number 4 have been retired. Tony Hand's number 16 and Ken Priestlay's number 9 were retired on 21 January 2003 at a challenge match against the Dundee Stars,^[12] with Ron Shudra's number 26 retired in summer 2009.

Eight people who have been associated with the Steelers have been inducted to the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.^[13] Alex Dampier, who coached the Steelers from January 1993 to the end of the 1997–98 season, was inducted in 1995 and Mike Blaisdell, who coached and occasionally iced for the Steelers between 1999 and 2004, was inducted in 2004. On the player front, Chris Kelland was inducted in 2002, Rick Brebant in 2004, Paul Adey in 2006, Scott Neil in 2007, and most recently, legendary players Tim Cranston and 'Rocket' Ron Shudra in December 2010.

The Steelers started their own Hall of Fame in 2005 in which honoured members are voted for by the fans. There are two Hall of Fames: The Players Hall of Fame^[14] and the Backroom Staff Hall of Fame.^[15] Ken Priestlay, Tommy Plommer, Scott Allison and Tim Cranston were inducted to the Players Hall of Fame in 2005 and Ron Shudra and Mike Blaisdell were inducted in 2006. David Simms, responsible for Press and Media at the club, and Andy Akers, Equipment Manager, were inducted to the Backroom Staff Hall of Fame in 2006 and Mike O'Connor, General Manager, was inducted in 2007.

Honours and awards

League Championships

• 1994–95, 1995–96, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2015–16

Play Off Championships

• 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2013–14

Autumn Cups

• 1995–96, 2000–01

Challenge Cups

• 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03

20–20 Hockeyfest Tournament

• 2009–10

Player of the Year Trophy

• Ed Courtenay – 1999–00
• David Longstaff – 2000–01
• Joel Laing – 2002–03

Coach of the Year Trophy

• Mike Blaisdell – 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04
• David Matsos – 2008–09

The Ice Hockey Annual Trophy (Leading British points scorer)

• Tony Hand – 1998–99

First Team All-Star

• 1994–95 – Martin McKay
• 1995–96 – Wayne Cowley, Tony Hand, Ken Priestlay
• 1997–98 – Ed Courtenay
• 1998–99 – Ed Courtenay
• 1999–00 – Ed Courtenay
• 2000–01 – Shayne McCosh, David Longstaff
• 2002–03 – Joel Laing, Marc Laniel
• 2003–04 – Dion Darling, Kevin Bolibruck, Mark Dutiaume
• 2006–07 – Dan Tessier
• 2008–09 – Jody Lehman, Rod Sarich,Steve Munn
• 2010–11 – Ervins Mustukovs

Second Team All-Star

• 1999–00 – Shayne McCosh, Teeder Wynne
• 2000–01 – Adam Smith
• 2001–02 – Scott Allison
• 2002–03 – Dion Darling, Rhett Gordon
• 2003–04 – Erik Anderson
• 2005–06 – Mark Dutiaume
• 2007–08 – Rod Sarich
• 2010–11 – Jeff Legue,Joey Talbot

Grand slam winning teams

The Steelers have won the Grand Slam of all available trophies twice in their history. In the 1995–96 season they won the Benson & Hedges Cup, the league championship and the playoffs. In the 2000–01 season they won the Benson & Hedges Cup, the Challenge Cup, the league championship and the playoffs. The players who played for the Steelers those seasons were:

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

^†Finished second with 60 points. However, five points were deducted for breaking the wage cap

^‡Three points were awarded for a win in the 2000–01 season

^††Five team league

Club records

League titles

• British Premier Division Titles: 2 (1994/95, 1995/96)
• Superleague Titles: 2 (2000/01, 2002/03)
• Elite League Titles: 5 (2003/04, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2014/15, 2015/16)

Cup titles

• Yorkshire Cup: 2 (1993/94, 1994/95)
• Benson & Hedges Cup: 2 (1995/95, 2000/01)
• Challenge Cup: 4 (1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03)
• Knockout Cup: 1 (2005/06)
• 20/20 Hockeyfest: 1 (2009/10)
• Charity Shield: 1 (2009/10)

Play-off titles

• British Championship: 9 (1994/95, 1995/96, 1996/97, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2003/04, 2007/08, 2009/09, 2013/14)

Team records

• Most points in a season: 104 --- 3 pts for a win (2000/01) 92 --- 2 pts for a win (2003/04)
• Most wins in a season: 44 (2003/04)
• Most regulation losses in a season: 26 (2009/10)
• Most overtime losses in a season: 8 (2006/07)
• Most ties in a season: 12 (2001/02) --- ties ceased after the 2005/06 Season
• Most goals scored in regular season: 378 (1991/92)
• Most goals conceded in regular season: 198 (1993/94)
• Least goals scored in regular season: 105 (2005/06)
• Least goals conceded in regular season: 106 (2003/04)
• Highest league position: 1st (1994/95, 1995/96, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2014/15)
• Lowest league position: 6th (1997/98, 1998/99, 2005/06)
• Most goals scored in a single game (competitive): 30 (30–4 .v. Solent Vikings, 15/03/1992)
• Most goals conceded in a single game (competitive): 14 (14–3 @ Basingstoke Beavers, 07/11/1992, 14–10 @ Durham Wasps, 18/09/1993)
• Biggest winning margin at home (competitive): 26 goals (30–4 .v. Solent Vikings, 15/03/1992)
• Biggest winning margin on the road (competitive): 25 goals (4–29 @ Sunderland Chiefs, 28/12/1991)
• Biggest losing margin at home (competitive): 6 goals (2–8 .v. Whitley Warriors, 16/10/1993, 0–6 .v. London Knights, 11/09/1999, 1–7 .v. Belfast Giants, 19/02/2006, 1–7 .v. Cardiff Devils, 12/01/2011)
• Biggest losing margin on the Road (competitive): 11 goals (14–3 @ Basingstoke Beavers, 07/11/1992, 12–1 @ Cardiff Devils, 24/04/1994)
• No. of Teams shutout (all time): 97
• Most shutouts in a season (team, all comps): 10 (2008/09)
• Team shutout most (all time): Nottingham Panthers (14)
• No. of times shutout (all time): 37
• Most times shutout in a season (all comps): 8 (2005/06)
• Team most shutout against (all time): Nottingham Panthers (8)
• Longest winning streak (all comps): 13 games (07/09/2000 – 11/10/2000)
• Longest losing streak (all comps): 7 games (23/02/2003 – 15/03/2003)
• Longest unbeaten streak (home, all comps): 53 games (49 Wins, 4 Ties – 27/12/1993 to 19/10/1996)
• Highest attendance (home): 10,136 (Sheffield Steelers 5–2 Nottingham Panthers, 02/12/1995, Benson & Hedges Cup Final)
• Highest attendance (away): 17,245 (Manchester Storm 6–2 Sheffield Steelers, 23/02/1997, Superleague)

Individual records

• Most Games Played: Ron Shudra (626)
• Most Goals Scored (All Time): Steve Nemeth (356)
• Most Assists (All Time): Ron Shudra (463)
• Most Points Scored (All Time): Ron Shudra (792)
• Most Penalty Minutes (All Time): Tommy Plommer (1,007)
• Most Goals Scored in a Regular Season: Steve Nemeth (92) (1991–1992)
• Most Assists in a Regular Season: Mark Mackie (101) (1991–92)
• Most Points Scored in a Regular Season: Steve Nemeth (186) (1991–92)
• Most Penalty Minutes in a Regular Season: Andrew Sharpe (230) (2008–09)
• Most Goals Scored in a Play-Off Championship: Steve Nemeth (21) (1991–92)
• Most Assists in a Play-Off Championship: Steve Nemeth (18) (1991–92)
• Most Points Scored in a Play-Off Championship: Steve Nemeth (39) (1991–92)
• Most Penalty Minutes in a Play-Off Championship: Timo Willman (77) (2002–03)

Goaltender records

• Most Games Played (All Time): Jody Lehman (252)
• Most Minutes Played (All Time): Jody Lehman (14,927)
• Most Wins (All Time): Jody Lehman (142)
• Most Losses (All Time): Jody Lehman (73)
• Most Shutouts in a Season (All Comps): Ervins Mustukovs (11) (2010–11)
• Most Shutouts (All Time): Jody Lehman (24)
• Best Goals Against Average (All Time): Christian Bronsard (1.23) (Min. 30 Games Played)
• Best Save Percentage (All Time): Christian Bronsard (94.5%) (Min. 30 Games Played)

Notes

External links

• Sheffield Steelers
• Elite Ice Hockey League

Ice hockey in the United Kingdom
Elite League	Belfast Giants Braehead Clan Cardiff Devils Coventry Blaze Dundee Stars Edinburgh Capitals Fife Flyers Manchester Storm Nottingham Panthers Sheffield Steelers
English Premier League	Basingstoke Bison Bracknell Bees Guildford Flames Hull Pirates Manchester Phoenix Milton Keynes Lightning Peterborough Phantoms Sheffield Steeldogs Swindon Wildcats Telford Tigers
National League	Altrincham Aces Basingstoke Buffalo Billingham Stars Blackburn Hawks Bracknell Hornets Bradford Bulldogs Bristol Pitbulls Cardiff Devils 1 Cardiff Devils 2 Chelmsford Chieftains Chelmsford Warriors Coventry Blaze Deeside Dragons Fylde Flyers Grimsby Red Wings Haringey Greyhounds Invicta Dynamos Invicta Mustangs Kingston Jets Lancashire Raptors Lee Valley Lions London Raiders Milton Keynes Thunder Nottingham Lions Oxford City Stars Peterborough Islanders Romford Fury Sheffield Spartans Slough Harrier Hawks Solent Devils Solihull Barons Solway Sharks Streatham Redskins Streatham Bruins Swindon Wildcats Sutton Sting Whitley Warriors Wightlink Buccaneers
Scottish National League	Aberdeen Lynx Dundee Comets Dundee Tigers Edinburgh Capitals (SNL) Kilmarnock Storm Kirkcaldy Kestrels North Ayr Wild Paisley Pirates Solway Sharks
British University Teams	Anglia Ruskin Rangers Birmingham Eagles Bradford Sabres Bristol Lions Cambridge Blues Cardiff Redhawks Durham Knights Edinburgh Eagles Huddersfield Ice Hawks Hull Ice Hogs Imperial College Devils Kent Knights Universities Of London Dragons Manchester Metros Newcastle Wildcats Northumbria Flames Nottingham Mavericks Oxford University Ice Hockey Club Sheffield Bears Southampton Spitfires St Andrews Typhoons Surrey Sharks UCL Yetis UEA Avalanche Warwick Panthers
Womens Premier League	Bracknell Queen Bees Guildford Lightning Kingston Diamonds A Milton Keynes Falcons Sheffield Shadows A Slough Phantoms Solihull Vixens Streatham Storm A Swindon TopCats A
Womens Ice Hockey League Division One	Basingstoke Bison Ladies Billingham Wildcats Blackburn Thunder Bracknell Fire Bees Cardiff Comets Chelmsford Cobras Coventry Phoenix Ivicta Dynamics Kingston Diamonds B Nottingham Vipers Oxford Stars Peterborough Penguins Sheffield Shadows B Solent and Gosport Amazons Streatham Storm B Telford Wrekin Raiders Whitley Squaws
Governing bodies	English Ice Hockey Association Ice Hockey UK Northern Ireland Ice Hockey Association Scottish Ice Hockey
Competitions	League Championship Playoff Championship Challenge Cup Knockout Cup Northern League Varsity Match
Player awards	Alan Weeks Trophy Best British Forward British Netminder of the Year Coach of the Year Trophy Ice Hockey Annual Trophy Player of the Year Trophy Vic Batchelder Memorial Award
Defunct leagues and competitions	British Ice Hockey Association Ahearne Cup Autumn Cup British Hockey League British National League (1954–1960) British National League (1996–2005) English League English League North English National League Ice Hockey Superleague Inter-City League Northern League Scottish National League Scottish Premier Hockey League Southern League
Defunct teams	Ayr Bruins Ayr Scottish Eagles Brighton Tigers Castlereagh Knights Dundee Rockets Durham Wasps Earls Court Rangers Harringay Greyhounds Harringay Racers Hull Stingrays Hull Thunder Humberside Seahawks London Canadians London Lions London Knights London Racers Medway Bears Milton Keynes Kings Murrayfield Racers Newcastle Jesters Newcastle Vipers Niagara Ice Hockey Club Oxford Blades Peterborough Pirates Princes Ice Hockey Club Richmond Flyers Sheffield Lancers Sheffield Scimitars Southampton Vikings Sunderland Chiefs Swindon TopCats B TDC Northern Stars Telford Tigers ENL Telford Titans Wembley Lions Wembley Monarchs Wightlink Raiders Wightlink Tigers
Miscellaneous	Great Britain men's national ice hockey team Great Britain women's national ice hockey team British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame Ice Hockey Journalists UK IHSAUK
Related IIHF IIHF Continental Cup IIHF European Champions Cup