Wounded Devils still pose serious threat – Finnerty

Steelers head to Cardiff Bay having extended their winning streak to five games with Sunday night’s 3-1 home win over second-bottom Dundee Stars.

Cardiff return to home ice having enjoyed a perfect three-night road trip of Scotland, taking maximum points from games at Dundee, Fife Flyers and Edinburgh Capitals.

But Steelers will face a Devils team hampered by the loss of key players, most notably forward Max Birbraer with a neck injury. Fellow winger Brad Voth is also out, while Canadian defenceman Mark Smith will not be back until March following shoulder surgery.

But Steelers’ player-coach Finnerty – who captained the Devils for one-and-a-half seasons before returning to Steelers as player-coach last summer – said Cardiff will still pose plenty of problems, particularly on home ice.

“They have got some key players out but, particularly on home ice, they are still dangerous,” said Finnerty. “We’ve got to be at our best otherwise we’ll get hurt.”

Finnerty will give a debut to stay-at-home defenceman Nick Duff, whose arrival takes the club’s import tally to 12.

But Finnerty said there are no immediate plans to ship anybody out, particularly with Matt Stephenson – Steelers’ most consistent defenceman this season – currently being ruled out with an upper-body injury which saw him sit out the Dundee match.

“Nick’s going to be a hard, stay-at-home type of defenceman which is what we really need,” said Finnerty.

“He’ll clean up the front of the net and make life miserable for anyone standing in John Decaro’s way.

“He’s been wanting to come over here and I felt the time was right to give him a chance. He’s played with a few good friends of mine and he wants to show what he can do.”

To watch highlights of Steelers’ recent 3-1 win over Dundee go HERE

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