The Sheffield Steelers coach will start by introducing the team to specific tactics that he hopes will bring them the league title.

After two friendly matches at iceSheffield against German team Bietigheim-Bissingen last weekend, the Steelers squad is practising at Sheffield Arena.

Power play, penalty kill, fore-checking strategies and break-outs will be on the agenda.

Said Matsos: "We have got the luxury of spending time at the big rink;we will get a good work-out in this week and touch on some systems.

"We will carry over some systems that we used last year and add some different stuff.

"Shepp (Doug Sheppard, player/assistant coach) and I want to get our systems embedded in guys' heads so everybody is on the same page and breakdowns are few and far between."

Matsos said the team avoided any injuries in the first combat of the pre-season, despite the robust nature of some of the challenges and the late arrival of some of his key Canadian players.

"Ryan Finnerty, Jeff Legue, Scott Basiuk and Nathan Gillies never skated once last week; they just got off the plane and hopped straight into back-to-back games," he said.

"So hats off to those guys. They came to play and played hard."

Steelers face a beefed up Hull Stingrays, away and at home, next weekend.

"They have got a lot stronger this year, a lot more physical. They have some young tough kids," Matsos added.

"But at the end of the day we are not going to be a team that will back down. We are going to play gritty and stand up for ourselves."

That signals the first real enforcer duties for Andrew Sharp, who did not see a lot of ice time against Bietigheim.




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