Stingrays head to Steelers for Cup boost

FORWARD Jason Silverthorn believes a successful Challenge Cup campaign is guaranteed to boost Hull Stingrays on and off the ice.

Sylvain Cloutier's team travel across to Sheffield Steelers on Wednesday night (Ice Sheffield, 7.30pm) hoping to go one better than the 3-3 draw they achieved in their Group B opener 10 days ago against Cardiff Devils.

They will face a Steelers team desperate to replicate their fine league form having failed to win any of their three Cup matches so far.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Doing well in the Cup can only be good for us all round," said Silverthorn, now in his second season with Hull.

"Reaching the next stage will only give us more confidence as a team, as well as bringing in extra finance and raising the profile of the club."

Although Ben Simon's team surrendered their unbeaten league run in a 6-5 home reverse on Sunday to Belfast Giants, Silverthorn believes Hull will have to work hard to find ways through what is a normally tight Steelers defensive unit.

"I know Belfast scored five but most teams have found it difficult to score against Sheffield so it's going to be a real tough test," he added.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Defenceman Mark Thomas said Steelers would look to bounce back immediately from Sunday's defeat, which left them three points adrift of Belfast, but with two games in hand.

"We seem to have struggled in the Challenge Cup so we really need to get a win under our belts," said Thomas, who hpoes to be passed fit after suffering a foot injury in training last Friday which effectively ruled him out of Saturday's 4-1 win over Nottingham Panthers.

"Hull started a lot later than everybody else, but they're up and running and have had a couple of good results.

"They seem to have recruited well and they've got a coach who knows this league well so there's no way that we'll be taking them lightly."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Stingrays will be missing defenceman Craig Mitchell, out for up to six weeks with a broken arm, and former Steelers' forward Ryan Lake who has prior work commitments.

Steelers will be missing Derek Campbell again as he serves the last of a three-match suspension, while Simon will be hoping Rob Globke has recovered from the concussion he sustained in Nottingham on Saturday.