Sheffield Steelers: Robert Dowd poised to overtake fan favourite Ken Priestlay in scoring charts

Ken Priestlay's name will always trigger memories of a golden age in Sheffield Steelers' ice hockey.

In his 279 games between 1994 and 1999, he was the so-called "Messiah" of a club that romped away with league titles, play offs and other trophies.

Many Steelers' fans of a certain age say there has never been a player quite like the former Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins' ace who arrived in South Yorkshire having won the Stanley Cup just a couple of years previously.

In 2018 in a Star poll of 500 Sheffield supporters, Priestlay was voted their top player of all time.

But one of the many achievements set by the super-skilled forward, now 56 years old and living back home in Vancouver, is about to tumble.

And members of the modern-day Orange Army won't be surprised to hear Robert Dowd is the man homing in on it.

The Steelers' skipper needs one more goal on home ice to go above Priestlay in the all-time scorers at the Arena.

Priestlay and Dowd are locked together on 143 goals each (as per http://steelersstats.co.uk/).

Another snipe from Dowd will see him pip KP and go behind two other club legends Steve Nemeth and Ron Shudra, who by another statistical oddity are all square with 176 Arena goals.

Some people will point out that Dowd's goals all came during the Elite League, which is a higher level than the Canadian encountered when he first crossed the pond.

The Great Britain player, aged 35, has scored three goals in his last five EIHL games, and is top scorer in the class of 2023-4.

Overall, Priestlay's record is an eye-watering read.

In his time playing for Sheffield, his 279 outings harvested a total of 254 goals and 218 assists for 472 points (192 penalty minutes.)

In Dowd's impressive Steeler career of 757 outings, he has amassed 321 goals, 322 assists, for 643 points (656 minutes in the box.)

*Meanwhile, Cardiff Devils' Swinton-born netminder Ben Bowns has the league's highest save percentage after his 20-shot shutout of Fife Flyers on Sunday.

Steeler custodian Matt Greenfield leads the way in the EIHL's goals-against-average, though.