When you first play for the Sheffield Steelers they tell you that the Nottingham games are the biggest of the year.

When you have played for other clubs you always imagine that these Steelers-Panthers games are a big deal, but you can never imagine just how big a deal they are until you play at one of the two top clubs.

I'll be honest with you, I feel the nerves from Monday morning and I never feel nerves that early in the week. But soon after arriving here, you realise that these games mean everything not only to the players and the fans, but to the club and to our building.

You walk into training and the security guy says good luck against Nottingham on Saturday; you walk out of the building and the receptionist shouts don't forget to beat the Panthers on Saturday.

The car park attendant, the cleaners, the people in the cafe round the corner in a week building up to a Nottingham game, there is no escape.

Don't get me wrong, that's good, it gets you focused, it gets you ready and it gets you excited. Not that we need any reason to get up for any game at the moment. We have won our last 10 League games and, as a club, are playing well.

Your team is made up of many components like an engine, I suppose. All I can say right now is that our engine is running smoothly. Jody in goal has been dominant recentlly. Defensively, we have been solid, we've even been getting goals from our defenceman - Randy Degenias scored two last weekend and then up front we've been taking our chances.

Ryan Finnerty has upped the tempo; he is a gritty rink rat. I would hate to play against him, he niggles you all game, goes after you, he never misses an opportunity to make a hit and is always in the opposition's ear.

Some of the banter and some of his remarks can cut you to the quick, they can be funny but sometimes you just have to shake your head. I love playing with Ryan.

We've scored goals as well recently, we look dangerous coming forward. Teams who play against us are struggling to contain us.

Dan Tessier has made a huge difference in a couple of ways. Firstly, he is of course, a great player and has made our powerplay outstanding.

However, his arrival has done something even more impressive, it has now given us three balanced scoring lines so opponents might try and shut one line down, might even be able to shut two lines down but we can come back with an offensive third unit.

One player has changed the whole chemistry of our team and I like our offensive outlook.

Please don't take that as a knock against Jeremy Cornish, we all loved Corney but I do think that our team has more chance of winning silverware with the make-up we have right now.

I know many of you will travel to Nottingham on Saturday. We really hope to give you another good night but for those of you who can't make it, please come and support us on Sunday when we are at home at iceSheffield against Hull Stingrays.


Tickets will be available on the door. If it sells out, you just tell the lady collecting tickets that Jonathan Phillips said it was OK to come in. I carry some weight at this club, you know, I'm the captain!