Sheffield Steelers axe under-fire goalie Pavel Kantor

The 28-year-old netminder was at fault for some of the goals in the last two games he started, both at Manchester Storm.

His coach Aaron Fox had told The Star this week that Kantor would have to rebuild team-trust in him.

But the Czech player never got the chance, after five starts with a 1-4 record.

“We have decided to part ways with Pavel Kantor,” said Fox through the club website.

“With the strong play of Tomáš Duba so far we felt like this was the right decision to make at this time. Tomas has played so well over the last six weeks that it’s hard to find games to give Pavel an opportunity to find his game again.

"Also, with us needing the injury cover for Anthony Johnson and Jonas Liwing this just made sense for us at this time.

"We will still be looking for an import goalie to come in at some point soon to support Duba as part of a goalie tandem and we wish Pavel nothing but the best and thank him for his time and effort here.”

Kantor is the second player to be released since the start of the season, with Martin St. Pierre first out of the door.

After Sunday's match, tean-mate Brendan Connolly told The Star Kantor was "his own worst critic" and shouldn't be influenced by barbed social media comments.

He said Kantor worked hard in practice and added: "We haven't put the best performances in front of him when he has been in the net.

"But we know how much talent he has and what he is capable of and it's just a matter of time...I think the team totally believes in him.

"It is just a matter of playing a better game in front of him."

Time ran out quicker than expected for the goalie who only played 25 times last year in his home country.

In August, Steelers said they had "found a gem with Pavel Kantor" - but that feeling quickly wore off.

On his arrival in Sheffield, Kantor said he was relishing learning from the older Duba.

But the one time Czech Extraliga Champion is now looking to resurrect his career elsewhere and Steelers can put his wage towards their extra players brought in recently.