Sheffield Steelers Mark Simpson - interview
Interview with Sheffield Steelers forward Mark Simpson
Transcript
00:00 Yeah, for sure. A lot of unselfishness in the room. Everyone's happy for each other
00:09 when guys are scoring and everyone feeds off that. You just want to put your best foot
00:14 forward every shift and feed off each other's success and move forward from that. I think
00:20 it's a big key to our group's success this year.
00:22 You came over after spending the biggest part of last season in the ALCS, HL League, in
00:27 Santiago, I think it was, wasn't it? We've spoken to some of it. Just going back to them,
00:32 what were your expectations coming in and how have they been met?
00:36 I did not expect our group to be so competitive. You come in and you look at where guys have
00:43 played in the past and just how good our team is on paper. To be able to show it on the
00:48 ice as well, it's been awesome. I think our group, if we keep going along the way we are
00:57 right now, it will be a special year.
00:59 Obviously Alan, I thought you'd spoken to Alan a bunch of times before you took the
01:04 plunge. How has what he's asked you to do, or what he's required of you, how have you
01:09 found that? Are you pleased with the roles that you've been asked to do?
01:13 Yeah, definitely I see myself as a big two-way forward and to be able to be good in the dot
01:18 and responsible defensively and good on the PK. Those are my biggest assets. Then I think
01:23 to be able to contribute a little bit offensively, I wanted to find that part of my game again
01:27 at the pro level. He's definitely provided me with opportunity to play in the top nine
01:32 and to be able to provide offensively as well. All my expectations have been met so far and
01:36 I'm hoping to continue that so far down the stretch.
01:39 Yeah, and there seems to be whoever he pairs up or puts in different forward lines, spreading
01:45 it from one down to four, there seems to be depth and plenty of quality on each line,
01:50 no matter who he mixes with each other. Do you have to agree?
01:53 Yeah, I think that's the key in this league, especially with some teams running with 10
01:57 and 11 forwards and then us having 12 forwards, strong four lines all the way through. I think
02:03 that's a key to our depth and a key to our success with the back-to-backs and the travel.
02:07 I think you can really put teams on their toes and really take advantage on that part.
02:12 Yeah.
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