Steelers goalie hopes to impress after strong Nottingham showing

Steelers goalies Matt Greenfield and Oskar Ostlund at Nottingham.

Matt Greenfield hopes to impress if he gets the starting goalie role against Coventry Blaze this weekend - a team that had designs on him during the Summer.

The 6ft 1in American stopper did well before last Sunday's home crowd in the 4-3 win over Nottingham Panthers and in the later part of Saturday's game against the same opposition.

Oskar Östlund, the more seasoned of the pairing, shared the first game with Greenfield, conceding four, and was on for 60 minutes in the midweek reverse at Manchester Storm.

Coach Aaron Fox said the first two goals conceded in Altrincham "weren't great" from a defensive point of view but that he was happy with the way Östlund, 30, performed after that team-lapse.

So it will be interesting to see who starts in Steelers' remaining exhibition games.

Whichever goalie Fox selects over the two-game weekend, Greenfield has cause for optimism that he will, at least, be competing for the starting role over the months ahead.

His skills were one that had perked off-season interest from both Coventry and Dundee Stars, before Fox brought him to South Yorkshire.

"I talked to Dundee and Coventry and I came close but I made my decision after Sheffield was calling me" he recalled.

"It will be a lot of fun to play against the teams that tried to sign me and I am looking forward to those challenges and representing Sheffield best as I can."

The 27-year-old, who laced up a pair of skates at age three, describes his style as hybrid but says he as he gets older: "I stand up a bit and read and react to what I think will develop.

"I try to be calm and try not to do much swimming around in the net like a fish out of water.

"Goalies get all the credit when you win, and all the blame when you lose. It's probably somewhere in the middle."

Matt Greenfield v Notts for the Steelers.

Greenfield's association with the South Yorkshire EIHL club may be a new one, but there was a mutual attraction for some time before he signed.

Fox has said he'd kept an eye on his development for years.

"I was not aware of that, but that was pretty good to hear," said the Floridian stopper.

"It was a nice honour.

"I was really excited when my agent texted me and said about Sheffield, actually it was a team I had been eyeing up for a couple of years. If you are looking to play in England, you can't look past Sheffield.

"In May, I had been talking to a team in the Austrian League and thought we get a deal done there but I was also looking at Sheffield... I should have been more vocal we could have got this done a lot sooner than we did!"