Bob Westerdale: There's no stopping 'Sneaky Sointu' at Sheffield Steelers

Injuries, suspensions, players wishing to leave, along with poor form, means that's never the case.

Fans buy replica shirts with their hero's name on them, then wish they hadn't (I'm still holding on to my Claude Dumas vest, hoping he'll return.)

Club owners love to see supporters identifying with players who put roots down, (Ron Shudra, Rod Sarich for instance) but all too often skaters are short-term travellers on a hockey journey around the world, Sheffield being a mere pit-stop.

Personnel changes, part-way into a season, can be difficult. They are not always successful, especially in the short term, with new faces struggling to fit in with the team, the country, and/or the culture.

Matias Sointu is surely an exception.

He came in after Travis Oleksuk quit and, frankly, his Nordic nous been a surprise to everyone.

Right now he's on course for his best season, statistics-wise, for a long time. He's a perfect fit for the EHIL.

You have heard of a crafty fox - here is the crafty Finn. Or Sneaky Sointu, as he could now be termed.

His reading of the game allows him to drift unseen into positions where he can make a big difference.

Before the Continental Cup, he'd scored 13 points in seven games.

Only Marco Vallerand has scored more goals and he's played five more matches.

Coach Aaron Fox must hope that his latest signing Vojtech Polak, a former NHL player, can replicate his impact.

On Sointu, Fox says: "He is one of those guys who finds the soft areas out on the ice extremely well" a reference to the player's intuition in locating a vacant spot where he can support team mates with passes or scoring.

"He is not afraid to go to the hard areas but he is very sneaky in how he gets there."

Sometimes raw speed like that illustrated by Martin Latal can drive forwards into dangerous spots, but with Sointu it is his "hockey mind" says Fox.

Sointu's cunning ways will be required on Saturday at Cardiff Devils, who are on a blistering run of form.

They have won their last six outings, two of them shut outs, including that horrible 5-0 win at Sheffield Arena.

Brodie Reid is the league's top goalscorer and MacCarruth is the top man in goal with a 1.91 goals-against average in 10 games.

This is a game where Fox will need to be as near to full-strength as possible.

Robert Dowd showed last weekend how much the team had missed him and it would be nice to see Tanner Eberle and Marco Vallerand do the same, should they be available.