It can't happen again says Sheffield Steelers captain Jonathan Phillips after Cardiff Devils thrashing

Steelers' skipper Jonathan Phillips had a single mindset after his team was ripped apart in their last game - this kind of defeat must never happen again.
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The Great Britain winger was in no mood to put any positive spin on the 0-5 defeat to Cardiff Devils but hopes it will focus the team's mind on the importance of following the coach's instructions, in the future.

The 200-plus supporters who follow Sheffield to the Continental Cup series in Denmark this weekend will get a grasp there on whether the team will have succeeded with that aim.

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Phillips said it was "just not our night" against his old team.

Sheffield Steelers were thrashed 5-0 by Cardiff Devils. Photo: Dean Woolley.Sheffield Steelers were thrashed 5-0 by Cardiff Devils. Photo: Dean Woolley.
Sheffield Steelers were thrashed 5-0 by Cardiff Devils. Photo: Dean Woolley.

"Cardiff outplayed us from the first puck drop. As a team, we are not happy with our performance. In this league, every game counts and we have got to learn from that and just make sure that never happens again" he said.

"Cardiff outworked us and what tends to happen then is you try to and do things individually - everybody wants to be the person who gets the boys up on the board and kind of turn the ship rather than just playing the same way we have been drilled into playing and keeping to our systems.

"Once we start veering away from the game plan you start to open up holes and they were very hard and disciplined in the way they played on the forecheck. There is no sugar coating it, they took us apart.

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Phillips said there had been no big speeches or home truths delivered by players in the two period breaks, last Sunday.

Jonathan Phillips.Jonathan Phillips.
Jonathan Phillips.

"I don't think there is any need for it...nobody is trying to make mistakes.

"It is just a case of making sure everybody is trying to buy back into that system. In the third, even though the game was pretty much gone by then, I think it was a better third period, a case of trying to rectify something."

Phillips and his team play host team Aalborg Pirates on Friday, to launch their Continental Cup weekend in Denmark.

The aim is to finish in the top two of their group and advance to the final round in January.