EIHL Challenge Cup finalists confirmed.
The second leg of the Semi-Finals confirmed the finalists as the Sheffield Steelers took on Glasgow Clan and Nottingham Panthers faced off against Cardiff Devils.
Sheffield Steelers having never won
the Challenge Cup in the EIHL era the Challenge Cup hangs like a millstone
round their neck and something they’re keen to put right, especially with Fox
seeking a first trophy since joining the club. As for Clan, they have never
reached any final since joining the league in 2010 and in this, their third
Challenge Cup semi-final.
In the other game between
Nottingham Panthers and Cardiff Devils, both sides have winning pedigree in
this competition so know what it takes to go on and lift the trophy, especially
Devils’ Blair Riley, who has won the tournament in the last two years
with Belfast Giants.
Yesterday, the Sheffield
Steelers progressed to the final along with Cardiff Devils.
Sheffield, perhaps
unsurprisingly, got the better of a struggling Glasgow Clan who failed to
overturn a four-goal deficit from the first leg. The Scottish side were made to pay when Lucas Sandström effectively
ended the tie with two goals in just over two minutes at 27:35 and 29:51 to put
the Steelers six up on aggregate. Marc-Olivier Vallerand made it three on the
night for the Steelers to see Steelers win on aggregate by nine goals to one.
The other tie was much closer
and although the Nottingham were the better side throughout and took a two-goal
lead, not converting some gilt-edge chances came back to haunt the
home side, who surrendered the lead just as they had done a week before in
Cardiff. Haddad got his second of the game as a loose puck eventually
deflected into the net off Mark Matheson with 9:53 to go, and then a little
over two minutes later Joey Martin finished into an empty net as Kevin Carr was
stranded. The Devils' comeback was complete when the visitors caught the
Panthers on a line change and Matt Pope had an open cage to aim at after Carr stopped
Sean Bentivoglio's shot.
The final is to be played in the Viola arena in Cardiff on
March 8th at four pm.