Finnerty delighted with extended deal at Steelers

The 30-year-old forward was appointed in the summer as the successor to league title-winning player-coach Ben Simon, who returned to North America.

The Steelers are currently joint-second with Nottingham Panthers in the Elite League table, four points adrift of leaders Belfast Giants with four games in hand.

An initial one-season deal has now been extended by another year.

“I have been impressed with everything about Ryan since I took over,” said Smith. “He has a great work ethic – what fans see on the ice is replicated off the ice as well. It is obvious that he cares a lot about the club and I see him as a part of this club for a long time.”

Finnerty will be busy this week preparing his players for the first league meeting of the season with arch-rivals Nottingham, staged at the National Ice Centre on Saturday (face-off 7pm).

The Steelers will be keen to atone for two defeats to the Panthers last month - both in the Challenge Cup group phase - and will head into the game on the back of an impressive league run which has seen them lose just one game in 12, a 4-0 defeat in Cardiff.

The Canadian, who lifted to play-off trophies during his first spell with the club as a player under Dave Matsos, said the decision to sign a new deal was not a hard one to make.

“Of course I’m happy to be staying. I love Sheffield, that’s why I came back in the first place,” said Finnerty.

“I took a risk coming as a rookie coach, but it was Sheffield and it was a chance worth taking.

“I see only good things ahead both on and off the ice. I see what’s goes on behind the scenes, the incredible work and I want to be a part of it. I want to do some of that off ice work and be more involved.

“Coaching isn’t an eight-month job. It’s a 12-month job. We work on this season and next season hand in hand. I’m looking forward to the 18 months ahead and hope it will be a lot longer.”

BRITISH forward Andy McKinney has moved to Hull Stingrays on a permanent basis after quitting English Premier League outfit Telford Tigers.

The 20-year-old was on a two-way contract and had impressed in last month’s 9-4 victory over Braehead Clan.

But his sudden move has upset his coach at Telford, Tom Watkins, who said: “I feel very let down. I’m very disappointed at the manner of his leaving, with no notice. It really leaves a sour taste.”

His new team-mate and captain, Josh Mizerek, meanwhile, admits he was relieved after discovering his arm wasn’t in fact broken, as was first feared after he was forced off the ice after blocking a shot against Cardiff Devils on Sunday night.

X-rays revealed Mizerek had just swelling and the American is expected to be in the line-up in the cup game at home to Coventry Blaze on Saturday.

“It was a relief to hear it wasn’t broken,” he said.

“When it happened my arm went pretty numb and I couldn’t grab my stick, I even had trouble getting my glove off.

“But hearing there was nothing broken was good news.”

The expected release of an import forward following the return of defenceman Kurtis Dulle now looks likely to be delayed for a few more days,

Player-coach Sylvain Cloutier brought in Dulle following a poor start to the season saw his side win only one of their first 14 games.

He placed the entire team on two weeks’ notice and was expected to announce which player was heading for the exit door at the beginning of this week.

But injuries to other players - including forward Jason Silverthorn - have forced Cloutier to delay his decision.

Two of Hull’s younger players - forward Jack Watkins and defenceman Daniel Scott - have been named in the preliminary Great Britain Under-20 squad for their World Championship campaign next month.

Scott, 19, and Watkins, 18, were part of the team which claimed a bronze medal in Division One, Group A in Belarus last year and the pair have again been included in the party for games against hosts Germany, Austria, Belarus, Norway and Slovenia between December 11-17.