Game Night Preview: CC Game Semi Game 1 - Steelers v Panthers
euuuuuugh. It arrives.
I can't pretend I'm not nervous about this. The gamesheets have been out for a while, so we know what's coming. Fox has stuck with his lines that he's been running with for a few games now, and who can blame him? After going down quick against Cardiff, they bounced back. After being 2 down against Coventry? They bounced back. But this Nottingham team feels like they're made of different stuff.
They've got Fossier back, which isn't good news for us, and so far this season, across both regular season and CC, the games have been split. And we're both fighting to get up the table in the league, so both teams are incredibly well matched. The last time we saw a Balmas hattrick, but it was also the beginning of the poor run of form we hit over Christmas, whilst playing out games that we probably didn't deserve to win with everything accounted for beyond the scoreline.
Nottingham's last 5 have been a 4-1 in Cardiff, a 4-3 OTW in Glasgow, an OTL to Coventry and a split home series against Belfast, so whilst their form isn't on fire, it's not bad either. Then again, neither was Coventry's until Sunday.
The key to this is quite simple. Keep Fossier quiet. Keep Armour quiet. Keep Pearson quiet. Don't them constantly hit shots from the blueline cause Noel has a nuke of a shot on him. Win. Faceoffs. Grande also hasn't been... Grande since his return, so they've stuck with Carr for tonight, which honestly gives them the best chance to win.
One thing to mention since the last time we played - we have acquired a Brett Ritchie, who seems to have been instrumental in helping turn the ship around, and Fox, you wont be reading this, but if you are, please, please, let the handbrake off a little tonight. Let Harper, Heard, Dowd, Ritchie, Jasper, whoever wants to, make hits. Keep it tight, push them to the outside and finish your hits along the boards. As Paul Maurice once said, "FUCK. THE PLAYS. POUND THEIR FUCKING D."
In all seriousness though, this will be tightly fought and will come down to details. Danny Stewart knows how to get this team going, and if they're gonna listen to anyone about getting physical, it'll be a former Danbury Trasher. Lets just hope one set of fans goes home sad.
