Giants-History.com » David Matsos

Sheffield Complete the Double

Richard Blayney — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:18:20 +0000

What more can be said about Steelers coach Dave Matsos. In his first year at the helm last season he guided the Steelers to the Playoff championship and followed it up this year with a league title, and then this weekend, another playoff crown. Surely it can only be a matter of time before a bigger team from a bigger league comes calling for this promising young coach.

Congratulations to the Steelers on dominating the major trophies this year.

Steelers are the champions – officially!

Richard Blayney — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:33:31 +0000

It has been apparent for weeks now that the Steelers were going to win the league. Their huge lead a-top of the Elite League only needed mathematical confirmation before the trophy celebrations could begin in Sheffield and last night it finally happened. With Hull beating Coventry 4-1, the Steelers are officially now the Elite League Champions 2008-2009.

It is the clubs first championship since the 2003-2004 season but follows their playoff victory last year marking second year coach Dave Matsos as a young coach going places. In just two years with the club since retiring from the game through injury, Matsos has won the playoffs and now the league with Sheffield.

I can see Matsos getting a shot at a bigger league in Europe or even North America in the coming years if this kind of form and ability to lead his teams to trophies continues. I just wish we had got him in Belfast — though that is not meant to be a shot at Ed Courtenay or Steve Thornton who had done excellent jobs since coming in.

Especially for a guy like Thornton who as a rookie coach has been tested to the limits this season given the number of injuries the club have had. In fact, Thornton’s ability to keep the team as competitive as he has through the injury nightmare deserves a lot of credit and gives Giants fans something to be hopeful about going into the playoffs — if they can get everyone fit again — and further into next season.

Sheffield all but win the league title with overtime victory

Richard Blayney — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:25:54 +0000

Well, a 3-2 overtime defeat at the hands of the Steelers has pretty much eliminated the Giants chances of winning the Elite League title this season. I hate to make excuses and I rarely do, but there is little doubt that injuries have been the key reason to the Giants title charge falling apart. On paper they probably have the best squad but as people always say, ‘Hockey isn’t played on paper’ and when you shake out the injuries and eventually take to the ice with such short benches throughout the key times of the season you will inevitably come up short.

That is to take nothing away from Sheffield, who now baring a monumental collapse of proportions of which we haven’t seen before, will walk away Champions. It is a testament to the coaching ability of Dave Matsos, the best coach in the league. He lead his team to the Playoff title last year and now it looks like he has taken them to the league championship. How long such an up and coming young coach remains at the British level of hockey remains to be seen.

I said going into this weekend that the Giants were in trouble with injuries. Missing four forwards on an already small squad and with no option to call up replacements the writing was on the wall. I said if they could take even a point from the weekend it would be something and so it proved to be as their overtime loss ensures they come back to Belfast with a point in the pocket.

The Giants had taken two leads in the game through Shields in the first period and later MacMillan in the second but then fell behind through two goals by the Steelers. The Giants stuck to it though and later tied the game up in the third period through Evan Cheverie only to lose out 2.35 into the overtime period when Scott Basiuk scored on the power play. Mike Burgoyne was serving a holding-the-stick penalty and upon scoring the winning goal, Giants keeper Stevie Lyle lost his cool with the referee and was ejected from the game, although since it was over it didn’t really mean anything.

The result leaves the Giants in forth place, a point behind Nottingham in second but with a game in hand over them. The Steelers are now thirteen points clear of the Giants and even with the two in hand the Giants have you cannot really see a way back for them now.

Matsos to coach Steelers

Richard Blayney — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:11:39 +0000

After retiring from pro-hockey last season after a serious back injury Dave Matsos will return to the game as a coach – of the Sheffield Steelers. After Dave Whistle announced he was quitting the club to take on a coaching role back in Canada before he had even started, the club where quick to appoint Matsos as their replacement.

Klempa shines in Giants victory

Richard Blayney — Sun, 28 Nov 2004 21:44:57 +0000

The Giants put on a superb display to take two points from the league leading Cardiff Devils in a thrilling game in Wales. The Giants who where outplayed for most of the game defended strongly and had some superb goal-tending from super-star Martin Klempa who turned aside 37 of 38 Cardiff shots.

It was the Giants who took the lead in a game that looked to be heading for a 0-0 tie after two periods of no scoring, when player-coach Tony Hand stepped up and scored his 8th goal of the season to make it 1-0 with a goal that looked to have sealed the points for the Giants.

But just as fans where thinking their team had grabbed the points and Klempa had got a magnificent shut-out they where stunned into silence when ex-Giant star Dave Matsos scored with only 22 seconds remaining.

With a guaranteed point on the board for both teams the Giants really needed to grab that extra point and keep in contention with the league leaders and that goal came only 24 seconds into the over-time period when Fredrik Nasval popped up to score his 14th goal in 21 games and win it for the Giants.

Cardiff Devils 1-2 Belfast Giants

Devils: Matsos 59:38.
Giants: Hand 52:22, Nasval 60:24.

Lines:
Huppe – Hand – Nasval
Kelly – C.Bowen – Awada
Morrison – Walton – Levers

J.Bowen – Johnson
Angelstad – Gavalier