Tomorrow, we welcome another side for their first visit to the Link Centre, the Sheffield Steeldogs are the last team in the league not to have played at the Link already this year.
The Dogs are led once more by head coach Greg Wood, he is back for his 2nd season as a full-time head coach, his 4th season in total as head coach, two of those years were as a player/coach.
In goal things look much the same as Dmitri Zimozdra is back for yet another year with Sheffield, this season will be his 8th consecutive. Over the years he has been a very solid presence between the pipes and has allowed the Steeldogs to know that they go into each game having a chance to win thanks to his goaltending abilities. The starting responsibilities will most definitely rest upon Zimozdra’s shoulders as he is backed up by 17 year-old Charlie Henry who is playing his first season at NIHL National level.
Up front the Steeldogs have re-signed Canadian power forward Matt Bissonnette, since joining the league he has been putting up good numbers and that is no different this season, Bissonnette is currently on pace to score 71 points across a full season. In addition to Bissonnette, Sheffield have signed Vladislavs Vulkanovs, a Latvian forward that so far has only played in the UK at the lower levels of the NIHL. At these levels he has recorded two superb scoring seasons, first with Altrincham and then with Widnes. This year he was given the chance to step up to the NIHL National and he’s currently performing at just under a point per game.
To supplement the import forwards I’ve mentioned above the Steeldogs have also made some key British re-signings. One of the best forwards in the league, British or otherwise, is Jason Hewitt and he’s back again to lead the Dogs offence. Joining Hewitt is very promising young player Alex Graham and proven NIHL talent Lee Bonner, both will be looking for productive offensive season to help Sheffield towards achieving their aims this season.
On the blueline there is very much a feel of young and old without much in the middle. The defence will be led by the veterans Lee Haywood, Ben Morgan, Tim Smith and Lewis Bell. These are 4 defencemen that are quality at this level but all are the wrong side of 30, whether that has an impact is yet to be seen. At the other end of the scale the Dogs have Henry Adams, Matt Cross and Oliver Turner, all three of these are 20 years of age or younger. The odd man out is Jonathan Kirk who at 27 is right in his prime hockey playing years.
Once again, the Sheffield Steeldogs side has a very much “homegrown” feel and one thing that can be counted on is the team will work hard every night for the shirt and each other. The Wildcats will be after nothing short of 2 points tonight and they will be looking to perform to their absolute best.
