Rival coach Finnerty backs Hull to move on up

The Sheffield Steelers’ head coach was relieved to come away from Hull Arena on Sunday night with both points having beaten the hosts 3-1 – their fourth straight win over their Yorkshire rivals this season.

While third-placed Steelers will spend the remaining 11 weeks of the regular season chasing down the nine-point advantage leaders Nottingham Panthers currently have over them, Hull will be fighting to secure a lower-end play-off spot in an attempt to repeat last season’s feat of reaching the finals weekend.

That was made possible by Hull’s stunning play-off quarter-final victory over the Steelers, although carbon copy successes have proved elusive so far this season.

“Make no mistake, Hull are a good hockey club, they’ve come on tons and where they are in the standings isn’t indicative of how good they are,” said Finnerty.

“They are well-coached, well-drilled and they create a lot of offence. I’ve got a lot of respect for that club. They play hard, are chippy and like the physical battle.

“This team has changed and they are on the up and up. The old Hull Stingrays are gone – this is a new breed and their rink is not somewhere you go to expecting to get points because it’s always so tough there.

“They should get the support they got (on Sunday) every night because it’s a fun team to watch. It’s one of the loudest rinks around when it’s packed, I’ve got a headache every time I leave here.”