VIDEO: Big changes likely at Steelers under Christiansen

CHANGE is expected to be in the air at Sheffield Steelers this summer after new head coach Doug Christiansen swept in to replace axed predecessor Ryan Finnerty.

The 34-year-old, from Milwaukee, was persuaded to leave Elite League rivals Belfast Giants after three successful years by Steelers owner Tony Smith, who is desperate to end the club’s trophyless spell.

Finnerty was unable to deliver any trophies during his two-year time in charge and ultimately paid the price with his job last Wednesday.

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The former head coach was convinced he had the makings of a championship-winning side and, while Christiansen agrees there was definite quality in the Sheffield locker room during the recent campaign, he made it clear at a press conference at the Motorpoint Arena on Tuesday afternoon that there is certainly no guarantee many of the current roster will still be there come the start of the 2013-14 season.

“No doubt about it, the Steelers were an outstanding hockey team last season,” said Christiansen. “But that was a team signed by somebody else.

“I want to have my own players here. I want to put my own stamp on this team.

“Having other people’s players, although they are outstanding, doesn’t allow me to build my own team from scratch. And so I am going to try and bring in as many of my own players as I can.

“I’m not scared of reshaping a team and restarting a team.

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“But once I’m really able to get my hands into it and see what players are earning, what the market place looks like – that will really drive who comes back and who doesn’t come back, not how many goals and assists they’ve had or how long they may have been with the club.”

Christiansen said those players currently on two-year deals would have those contracts honoured, but his frankness about rebuilding a team “from scratch” left open the real possibility that a major overhaul could take place on the rest of the roster. That would include the club’s British contingent, with former Steelers forward Rob Dowd, who played under Christiansen at Belfast for a season, possibly heading back to South Yorkshire after a season in Sweden.

Christiansen may also try to bring a couple of British players with him from Belfast, with GB No 1 netminder Stephen Murphy one such possibility.

Sat alongside his new boss Smith, it was clear that whatever deal had been done to bring Christiansen to Sheffield from Belfast included an assurance that he could do things his own way.

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Smith admitted that it may take more than one year to deliver the league championship his club’s supporters clearly craved, even more so following the treble won by arch-rivals Nottingham Panthers – made possible by their 3-2 overtime win against Christiansen’s Belfast team in the play-off final at the national Ice Centre on Sunday.

“It’s not realistic at this stage to think we can achieve what Nottingham Panthers have just done,” said Smith, who along with Christiansen confirmed the deal between the two was largely done via a succession of emails on Monday morning.

“I would be delighted with one trophy next season.

“When I took the club on from Paul Ragan it was all about a five-year plan. We’re at the start of year three and it’s not a quick fix at the Steelers.

“The off-ice side of the business is going in the right direction, crowds are up and the like. The on-ice side just needs to catch up a bit and I certainly think Doug is the right man to help us do that.

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“We gave Ryan a couple of seasons, he did a god job for us but not quite good enough and we had to get a better coach on board, a stronger coach who can lead us to better things.

“I think right now is the start of a new era for the club. Doug, like I, is ambitious and wants the best for the club and, hopefully, he’s going to deliver. Yes, he might take a year or two but we’ll get there.”

As for Christiansen, he will spend part of this week working as Tony Hand’s assistant helping prepare Great Britain in Manchester for their World Championship campaign in Hungary, which begins on Sunday.

In between, practice sessions, he said he would in contact with Smith and other club officials helping to put plans in place to begin team-building for the 2013-14 campaign.

“It’s going to be a busy time,” added Christiansen.

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“It’s about taking the time and the effort and doing the due diligence to make sure we sign the absolute best hockey team that we can for the budget that we have and to make sure that we bring in the right players and the right mixture of players - whether that’s returning players or players from other teams in our league, or players from Europe or North America.

“It really isn’t until you see the market place that you know what you actually have and what the market place dictates for, say, a power forward, or a centre or a defenceman or an offensive defenceman or goaltender.

“There are obviously a couple of players that I think would be really good here and those players we will try to get here as quickly as possible. But if those players say that they want to wait until July then we have to wait potentially until July - but we’ll keep our eyes open for other players.”