Two In Two Out for Steelers
To coin a well-worn phrase in these parts – there’s never a dull moment in Steelerland.
Now, if you’ve never been to the Motorpoint Arena you’d be forgiven for thinking that there’s a revolving door on the Steelers’ dressing room right now.
Just when the Broughton Lane faithful were expecting the team’s injury ravaged ranks to be boosted by the arrival of forward Simon Ferguson, the Steelers confirmed that NHL’er, Tom Sestito, would be leaving the club with immediate effect and that they were also releasing young British forward Danny Wood. This news was closely followed by the announcement that former Cardiff Devils defenceman, Chris Frank, would be signing for the remainder of the season.
Talk about a busy few days for the Steelers’ equipment manager.
Now, at first glance it would seem that Ferguson for Sestito is a straight swap. Not so according to Head Coach Ryan Finnerty: “This was never a one in and one out move with Ferguson arriving,” he explained via the club’s website, “I wanted them both to play together.”
In fact Ferguson had actually been signed some weeks before but delays due to visa problems meant that he couldn’t fly into the country until this week.
Plus it would appear that it was Sestito that called time on his spell in the Elite League. After a spectacular first few weeks in the UK, the Philadelphia Flyer had come under some criticism for an apparent lack of effort during more recent games. However, had you seen the 25-year old’s hat-trick performance up in Braehead a couple of weeks ago, you’d be hard pressed to question his attitude.
As it is, Sestito will leave the Steelers with an impressive 8 goals and 19 points, along with 69 penalty minutes, from just 17 games – not bad for a man known primarily for his fighting prowess. He will also leave a lasting memory of his time in Sheffield.
“He made a hell of an impression in such a short period,” said Finnerty, “I think he will be remembered here for a long time by both his team mates and the supporters. We are sorry to see Tommy leave us, but he was up front with us all along. He has more than played his part for us and we can’t thank him enough and have nothing but good things to say about the big man”
It was initially suggested that Sestito was likely to take up a more lucrative offer in Europe, but given the slightly more positive noises being made in the CBA talks mid-way through this week you can’t help wondering if big Tom had got wind of an end to the lockout.
So with fan’s favourite Sestito gone and defenceman James Jorgensen out until at least February with a broken ankle, the Steelers’ line-up will have a different look about it going into the festive period. The 29-year old Ferguson will arrive in Sheffield after a disappointing spell in Austria with Olimpija Ljubljana, but he won’t be a complete stranger in the Steelers’ dressing room having been a team mate of both Steven Goertzen and Drew Fata, not to mention his fellow new signing Chris Frank, for the San Antonio Rampage back in 2008-09.
Frank, renowned for racking up penalty minutes, iced for the Devils last season but found himself frozen out of the San Francisco Bulls’ line-up this season after only a handful of games. The 26-year old was apparently a target of Finnerty’s during the summer, so the Steelers’ Head Coach was obviously pleased to finally secure his signature: “We spoke all last summer trying to bring him here. He enjoyed his time in Cardiff but wanted to give North America one last go; but that didn’t quite work out. Chris will be bringing us toughness of course but he is also a very good player, he is mean and nasty and I will be looking for him to continue with this style whilst with us.”
Speaking on Danny Wood’s departure, who will be moving across the road to join the Sheffield Steeldogs in the EPIHL, Finnerty said: “I don’t think it’s the last we have seen of Danny in a Steelers shirt. He needs the ice time we can’t give him right now. I know he would rather stay but this move might be the best thing for him.”
The Steelers face Edinburgh on Saturday night in Ice Sheffield and then pop down the M69 to the Sky Dome on Sunday afternoon to complete their Challenge Cup group games against the Blaze. With both Ferguson and Frank likely to be ring rusty, Finnerty sees these games as the perfect opportunity to start getting them back to full fitness: “It’s important we get them both going right off the bat. Simon hasn’t played a game for a month and Chris has been at a team with 10 D men because of the lock out. They will get ample ice at the weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing them in action”
