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Wednesday 13th October: Sheffield Steelers v Excel Hull Stingrays @ Ice Sheffield, F/O 7.30pm
The Excel Hull Stingrays return to action on Wednesday night with their second Challenge Cup fixture of the year, this time against Yorkshire rivals the Sheffield Steelers at Ice Sheffield.
Having claimed an encouraging point against Cardiff in their first game of the year the Rays will be hoping to build from that against a Steelers side that are edging closer to mathematical elimination from the group stage of the tournament, having been defeated by Coventry and lost one and drawn one against the same Devils side that the Rays tied on opening day.
New player-coach and former NHLer Ben Simon has built strong roster that has so far this season claimed nine wins from 12 games including eight out of nine in the league.
Like the Stingrays, who lost to Braehead but triumphed over Edinburgh, last weekend was a mixed one for the South Yorkshire side, beating fierce rivals Nottingham 4-1 before going down to title favourites Belfast on Sunday.
Like the Stingrays, who lost defenceman Craig Mitchell to a broken arm, the weekend and game against the Panthers, who come to the Hull Arena this Sunday, did not come without sacrifice with key forward Rob Globke and British defenceman Mark Thomas sustaining injuries that will see them sit out tonight alongside the banned Derek Campbell.
The Steelers loss may be the Rays gain but Sylvain Cloutier's side should not be fooled by Globke's absence because they still possess impressive firepower including returnees Joey Talbot and Jeff Legue,who have combined for 19 goals and 45 points in 24 games during their sides rise to second in the league.
Last year, the two sides split their eight game series at four wins a piece an surprising statistic but pleasing statistic that also saw the Rays win their first ever game at the Sheffield Arena. That record will be something Cloutier would be over the moon to replicate this season given the Steelers outstanding start to the year.
His side have had an indifferent but positive start to the year, winning one, drawing one and losing one, but he will be hoping for victory at Ice Sheffield to really kick start the club's season and Challenge Cup campaign.
Challenge Cup
Stingrays 4TH 1GP 0W 0L 1T 3GF 3GA 1PT
Sheffield 5TH 3GP 0W 2L 1T 11GF 16GA 1PT
Form
Stingrays: D L W
Sheffield: L W W L W
Last 3 Meetings
v Sheffield
28/02/10 6-2 L A
13/03/10 2-3 W A
21/03/10 7-4 W H
Stingrays 09/10 Series
v Sheffield: 8GP 4W 4L 23GF 29GA 8PTS
Key Player
Stingrays: Kurtis Dulle (3GP 1+2 0PIM)
Sheffield: Jeff Legue (12GP 10+10 10PIM)
Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Christian Boucher (3GP 4.00GAA 89.4sv.%)
Sheffield: Ervins Mustukovs (12GP 2.42GAA 92.6sv.%)
Absentees
Stingrays: Craig Mitchell (broken arm), Ryan Lake (work commitments)
Sheffield: Mark Thomas (groin), Rob Globke (concussion), Derek Campbell (suspension)
Predictions
Sheffield 5-3 Stingrays
