VIDEO: Positive response sought after King’s shock exit from Steelers

Many fans were left stunned on Wednesday after news came out that Finnerty had decided to show the popular winger the exit door, with the player-coach refusing to divulge the exact reasons behind his decision.

If nothing else, the timing of the decision is perhaps the biggest surprise, coming just three days before the club’s two-legged clash in the first round of the play-offs with Hull Stingrays.

King is one of the club’s leading scorers this season, chalking up 52 points, including 27 goals, in 61 games. The 29-year-old was brought in to add a physical presence to the Steelers’ line-up and had not disappointed with 199 penalty minutes.

But the Steelers head into the post-season in their worst stretch of form this year, losing four of their last five matches.

Finnerty had made his frustrations clear following Sunday night’s 5-4 home defeat to Braehead Clan and admitted his team was carrying a number of ‘passengers.’

Many people will have interpreted that as necessitating a series of personnel changes during the summer months. Nobody will have expected the rebuilding process to begin so soon.

Unlike last year when the club went through a second successive summer of off-ice financial turmoil, a rare spell of stability in the coming close season will benefit Finnerty as he looks to build a championship-winning team.

More money will be available for the coach to persuade better players to come to South Yorkshire with Finnerty expected to seek upgrades in several positions and it‘s believed King was unlikely to return for a second season anyway.

Some fans will see King’s dismissal as a case of him being made the scapegoat for recent poor performances and while it’s obvious there will be other reasons behind his departure, it’s now clear he was one of the ‘passengers’ Finnerty referred to on Sunday night.

“It will have rocked the boat a bit and hopefully guys will respond because we’re not playing good hockey right now,” said Finnerty, who spent most of Wednesday holding a series of one-on-one meetings with his players.

“We’re a team that looks like we’re feeling sorry for ourselves and I think something needed to happen and now we move on.

“We need to get the identity back in our club and we’ve lost that over the last few weeks.

“Obviously it’s a bit of a difficult week for the guys, but we’re all professional and I’m hoping it will bring the best out of the guys.”

King’s exit will see Neil Clark handed an opportunity to prove Finnerty wrong in leaving him out of so many matches this season, with the 30-year-old Canadian most often being the one left on the sidelines because of the Steelers’ decision to operate with spare import players.

“What you’ll see is Clarky will move into Kinger’s spot and he’s obviously itching to get back in the line-up,” added Finnerty.

“I think the guys generally will respond the right way after what’s happened.”