Eisbaren Berlin v Sheffield Steelers: Daniel Ciampini on why Steelers back themselves to overturn CHL deficit
WHILE there may have been frustration in the home locker room at the Utilita Arena last Wednesday, there remained an unwavering self-belief.
It is a combination of those two emotions that could see Sheffield Steelers continue to confound the sceptics when they step out on the ice at the Wellblechpalast tonight as they try to overturn a two-goal deficit against German DEL champions, Eisbaren Berlin in the second leg of their Champions Hockey League last 16 tie.
As they were going into the first leg last week, Berlin will start the game favourites, even more so, perhaps, after scoring two unanswered goals in the third period in Sheffield.
But the Steelers head to Germany hurting - their first reverse by more than one goal in Europe this season - and determined to cause what, from their current position, would be a major upset.
Daniel Ciampini typifies the attitude that has been borne out of a string of stellar performances by the Steelers in the CHL, displays that have dispatched two Swedish teams as well as two top-notch Czechia sides, while only losing out to Switzerland’s Fribourg-Gotteron 4-3 before taking Swiss champions Zurich Lions to a shoot-out.
They also matched Berlin for large parts of last week’s encounter in South Yorkshire and the fact they were disappointed to have lost out is just another sign of how far Aaron Fox’s team have come just two months after launching their European campaign.
The Steelers are not going to the German capital tonight simply to play their part in what many feel will be a processional route to the quarter-finals for their more illustrious hosts.
The experience gained from their exploits on home ice and abroad over the past few weeks has shown them what they can achieve.
“You want to play in the big games, the big moments when the spotlight is on you,” said 33-year-old Canadian forward, Ciampini. “This is why a lot of guys from the core group decided that they wanted to come back.
“And it’s been a good test for us. We’ve played ourselves into this position, we’ve earned it because we’ve played good hockey and it is important to remember that as we go over there.
“We’ve got another 60 minutes of hockey ahead of us and we’ve already shown that we can come back from two goals down against this team, so we’re looking forward to getting over to Berlin and getting the job done there.
“We’ll be going into a pretty tough atmosphere as well and it’s a little bit of an uphill battle.
But we’ve been here before, played in some tough rinks, played against some tough opponents and we’ve managed to claw our way through.
“We have a pretty resilient group and I think we’ve shown that over the course of this season and the core group has shown that over the last two years.”
The CHL has brought the Steelers not only up against high-quality opposition, but high-quality opposition that play slightly different styles of hockey than what they are used to in the Elite League.
If anything, Berlin perhaps represented something closer to the North American style they are used to in the EIHL, no surprise given they have eight players from that area on their roster, plus former Steelers’ forward, Liam Kirk.
“They are a hard team,” added Ciampini. “They play four lines, they’ve got crash and bang and they hunt pucks and they stay above you and they make you work for everything.
“That is what good teams do and we knew that was going to be the case on Wednesday.
“They are definitely up there with the rest of the teams we have faced in the CHL - a little bit more physical, a little bit more of a North American-style game.
“So they play a little bit differently to the Czech teams and the Czechs play a little bit differently to the Swedish teams, so we’ve gotten to see quite a few different styles (of hockey), even the Swiss style is fast and they play physical as well, the Czech teams play physical - so it’s been a little bit of a mix of everything.”
Initially, Steelers’ head coach Fox felt his team were struggling to replicate their CHL form on the domestic front, a situation which has improved, most recently after Sunday’s 4-1 win at Fife Flyers - courtesy of a Mark Simpson hat-trick and a Cole Shudra strike - which saw them close the gap on leaders Cardiff Devils in the EIHL regular season standings to four points - with three games in hand.
“I spoke to a couple of guys playing on other teams in the CHL and I think it’s just the case that you get up for these games in a different way than you do for the domestic games,” said Ciampini, who has posted two goals and two assists in his seven CHL appearances.
“It’s about finding that rhythm again, the style of hockey’s a little bit different, you’ve got to play a little bit differently but, ultimately, you’re just wanting to bring your work ethic and your compete (every night) - those two things are non-negotiable, those two things should remain and I think that’s something that we were kind of missing a little bit.
“There has been a lot of travel but those excuses get thrown out the door because these are the games you want to be playing.
“Ultimately, we’ve got a good group of guys. There’s a lot of good leaders in our room. It starts with them and the rest of the guys follow in their footsteps.”