Steelers Play Off Quarter Final Away from the Arena Ice Sheffield.
The Sheffield Steelers, unfortunately, will be unable to play their end of season play off quarter final at the Utilita Arena on the weekend of Saturday 13th or Sunday 14th April.
Steelers will not have any home ice available at the arena following their final scheduled league game against Cardiff Devils on Saturday 30th March with their final league games being played on the road in Belfast on the 6th and 7th April.
With Great Britain qualifying for Men’s World Championships, the EIHL end of season play off’s were originally scheduled for the weekend of the 27th and 28th April with the quarter finals being played at the Arena on either the 20th and 21st.
However, following a request from IHUK for more preparation time to play exhibition games in the UK prior to the World Championships, the play off finals were moved forward a week, which clashed with the recently announced dates of Take That
The Arena’s calendar was already completely full by the time the new time frame required for the play-off fixture was decided upon and there is no availability at the venue.
“This is a significant issue” said owner Tony Smith “and one we have been looking for a way around for several weeks. We have no alternative but to confirm that our play off quarter finals will take place this year at Ice Sheffield.
“ The Arena has done everything in its power to accommodate our play off fixture but with the league changing the dates of the play off finals we have been left in this difficult and unwanted situation.
“We are, of course, aware of the issues this creates with regards to ticketing for this popular fixture and are working hard to find an acceptable outcome to the position we now find ourselves in.
“We will of course confirm more information on this issue in due course and regret any inconvenience this will cause many of our supporters”.