Why Sheffield Steelers' opponents will be seeing double next season

Canadian 24-year-old forwards Matt and Ryan Rupert have arrived from the Indy Fuel in the ECHL.

They join two other brothers on the roster, Jackson and Brandon Whistle.

Ryan was third top scorer and penalty-taker for Indy last season and could be Sheffield’s first line centre this coming season. “I’m excited to land the pair of them” said coach Paul Thompson.

“They tick so many boxes for what we were looking for -young, talented, skate extremely well and play with some jam.

“Ryan has over 150 AHL games under his belt – an excellent centre who seems to win the vast majority of face offs.

“He sees the ice really well and makes great plays.

“Matt (left winger) out-scored his brother last year, he has a good eye for goal and also sees the ice well.

“I see them playing together, they want to. They are identical twins so we’ll start with them as line mates.

“Both brothers played together at London Knights, (OHL) they come from good stock and I’ve been impressed watching them and speaking to them about what is required here.

“Both boys were attracting a lot of interest around Europe, to land the pair is an added advantage.”

Thompson added: “We wanted to bring the age level down but we didn’t want to lose the quality.

“I don’t think we have in our other signings and I don’t think we have with these two either.”