V
Saturday 21st November: Sheffield Steelers (7th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Ice Sheffield, F/O 7pm Sunday 22nd November: Cardiff Devils (5th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Cardiff Bay Arena, F/O 6pm
Form
Stingrays: L W L L L
Sheffield: L L L W W
Cardiff: W W W L L
Last 3 Meetings
v Sheffield
17/01/09 0-4 L H
22/02/09 2-4 L A
11/10/09 1-4 L H
v Cardiff
13/09/09 5-2 L A
26/09/09 4-1 L A
31/10/09 5-7 L H
Season Series
v Sheffield: 0-1, 0 points, 1 GF, 4 GA
v Cardiff: 1-3, 2 points, 12 GF, 18 GA
Players to Watch
Stingrays: Curtis Huppe (16 GP 5+3 12 PIM) Pressure is building on the Stingrays assistant coach after failing to begin the season in the kind of form that has seen him hit 26, 28, 20 and 38 goals in his four previous spells in the Elite League. Just one assist in five games is not enough for a player the Rays were supposed to rely on offensively, especially since he is likely to be one of the team's top earners. Without Huppe, the Rays continue to rely on Jeff Glowa and Konstantin Kalmikov for much of the team's forward production.
Sheffield: Matt Hubbauer (11 GP 10+3 43 PIM) Hubbauer, recently signed after an extensive spell in the German Bundesliga, once hit 48 goals in 62 games during his junior career, in a year that saw him highly touted ahead of the NHL Draft. Unfortunately, the Canadian suffered a serious injury at the back-end of that campaign and was never quite the same again. That is, until now. After a terrible start to the season for the Steelers, Hubbauer was signed and has gone on to net ten goals in 11 games to give the Sheffield side a very welcome boost in a lowly seventh position.
Cardiff: Max Birbraer (27 GP 7+20 26 PIM) Returning to South Wales alongside Mark Smith, after a year away, Birbraer has continued to show his genuine quality in a Devils side that has begun to show signs of taking the next step. Despite the absence of Smith through injury, the Israeli has netted seven times and added 20 assists in 27 games, and it is thought that there is still more to come.
Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Tommy Sandahl (21 GP, 89.5 sv.%, 4.25 GAA)
Sheffield: Andrew Verner (12 GP, 89.2 sv.%, 3.73 GAA)
Cardiff: Stevie Lyle (21 GP, 89.8 sv.%, 3.15GAA)
Absentees
Stingrays: Pavel Gomenyuk (broken rib)
Sheffield: Kevin Reiter (groin), Rod Sarich (broken thumb), Scott Basiuk (back)
Cardiff: Mark Smith (knee; doubt)
Predictions
Sheffield 4-2 Stingrays
Cardiff 4-5 Stingrays
