Adam Reddish shares his thoughts on the current state of fan feeling following a disappointing opening weekend of the season for The Nottingham Panthers.
Sometimes I contemplate if life would be better without social media (I’m old enough to remember a time without it!). Whilst we all love fawning over a meme featuring an adorable animal as we doom scroll through our timelines, the flipside is seeing the usual social media channels provide a platform to all sorts of vile and toxic content about pretty much every crisis that humanity is currently facing. It is both exhausting and depressing in fairly equal measures. However, if nothing else then I guess the scale of some of the bad and scary stuff happening around the world right now does at least help offer some much-needed context and perspective over a few of the ‘problems’ which lay a little closer to home.
One such example is the Nottingham Panthers underwhelming pair of defeats suffered in last weekend’s opening set of competitive fixtures at home to Cardiff and on the road in Guildford. Now, anyone who happened to be on social media on Sunday evening would’ve believed something truly cataclysmic had happened in the Panthers Nation given what seemed to be a monumental wave of despondency and borderline anger released after the Flames defeat. Okay, no one likes losing (I think?), and after a generally positive and largely enjoyable pre-season schedule which saw Panthers slightly recalibrated roster showcase their character and skill against some decent opposition, maybe expectations had risen a little too much with some misguided sense that we were going to go on a winning run for the ages and sweep all before us. Of course, even for the most optimistic amongst the fanbase, that was never going to happen.
Anyway, as I consumed the various reactions posted about the Guildford loss, I did find myself asking whether the sheer volume of disillusionment which filled the air (or whatever the social media equivalent of that is) was in any way, shape or form justified. Surely that feel-good factor which came from the incredible finale to the 2024-25 season (has everyone’s heart rates dropped yet?), coupled with the retainment of the team’s most vital franchise players, meant that there was still plenty of credit left in the Panthers bank, no? Well, on the evidence of what was being said, that amazing run of form which culminated in the Play-Off win might as well have happened several lifetimes ago, as it seemed a most distant, fading memory in the wake of an awful first period breakdown in the Spectrum.
Look, I do understand some of the frustration. The quality of hockey and high calibre of performances which saw Panthers add more silverware to the trophy cabinet last year has rightfully got Panthers fans thinking that we’re once again mixing with the Elite League big hitters. This is a breath of fresh air after a particularly barren few years knocking around the lower reaches of the standings. Fans were once again provided with a taste of success, and oddly enough, with that comes an appetite and a burning desire for more. The succession of near sold-out crowds for non-Steelers games after Christmas also hinted towards a real surge in momentum around the whole organisation, with the public’s growing interest in the Panthers helped by the efforts of an extremely talented and hard-working set of guys. In many ways, you don’t want those sorts of seasons to stop because of how enjoyable it all was. We were treated to seeing a netminder playing out of his skin, a captain who seemed somehow beyond laser-focused on carrying his team to a title and guys like Mitch Fossier, Cooper Zech and Tim Doherty showing their class and producing elite-level points. I understand that everyone, even us fans, need a break at the end of a season – but the momentum Panthers were carrying made us feared around the Elite League again. Whilst it was nice to be back in the mix for trophies, our efforts during 2024-25 set a very high benchmark and puts a fair bit of pressure on the organisation to compete even more fiercely on all fronts over the next seven or so months.
It’s a big plus that the changes in roster over the summer haven’t been wholesale, and the vast majority of fans have seemed to welcome that. I know I certainly have. However, the biggest retention of a roster for many years has also perhaps given rise to a feeling of strong continuity in the playing and coaching staff, probably fuelling expectations that we ought to be starting the season much like we ended last thanks to the largely familiar personnel. Sadly though, I’m not sure it quite works out like that. Whilst the changes between 2024-25 and 2025-26 have been minimal, there are some pretty huge differences which are bound to have some impact on how Danny Stewart goes about getting the best from his roster during the early stages of this season.
For starters, any Elite League club (and quite a few pro hockey teams outside of these shores) would massively miss the influence of the now-retired Captain Fantastic, Sam Herr. A colossus of a leader, you got the sense that so much hinged on both his on and off-ice presence last season, particularly in setting such high standards amongst the rest of the roster. As captains go, in recent times, I’d say his impact was unparalleled. His regrettable (but sort of understandable) retirement, even after just one season back in Nottingham, was always going to leave a hole that is almost impossible for recruitment to fill. Players that fit the Sam Herr mould simply do not grow on trees. It remains to be seen what sort of captain Matt Alfaro proves to be over the course of this season, but we haven’t even seen him even take to the ice yet – another factor as to why things aren’t quite yet firing on all cylinders without the guy chosen to wear the ‘C’ being able to contribute playing-wise.
Another factor to play into the mix is the situation between the pipes. Jason Grande’s simply stunning performances and incredible goalie stats from last year couldn’t be matched (or, even more improbably, bettered) could they? Without wanting to undermine Grande’s sheer excellence after his mid-season arrival, the fact that he got on a hot streak without any real pressure from a quality understudy allowed him to ride a massive wave of good form all the way through to the Play Off Final win. Such an arrangement was never going to be replicated, and the welcome return of the largely (let’s not mention the Flames game) dependable Kevin Carr gives us a tandem of high class netminders. The battle between them for starts will be intriguing. Carr is unlikely to want to see just the odd game here and there, so Grande’s unchecked run of starts from last season is highly unlikely to be replicated this year. I see two dangers here. Firstly, none of us hope that last season was just a freaky outlier of a year for Grande, with his performances and stats slowly dipping back to his career averages – I guess you could label it a case of ‘second season’ syndrome. Secondly, there’s a slight concern that despite arguably strengthening the netminding depth this season, the fewer starts Grande and Carr make will prevent a reoccurrence of something like what Panthers #30 did last season with that unbelievable run of hot form because of the more equitable way our netminders workloads will be managed by the coaching team.
On the face of it, the two defeats last weekend were of course disappointing. All teams want to start the season on the front foot, sending out a signal to the rest of the league that they mean business. For the first half of the Devils game, the fans were, in my opinion, being treated to a strong Panthers performance, before a series of errors and some physical play from the visitors turned the outcome right round. I guess it’s about what we as fans choose to see in terms of the positives which hopefully will become vital components of what will become a successful season. With our newly appointed captain yet to ice, and a team who are trying to move on from such an inspirational leader in Sam Herr, it was always going to be a cautious, somewhat transitional start to the season. Naturally, whilst the chemistry between some of the players will carry over from last season, the integration of new guys, who, on the face of it all have impressive hockey CVs, will inevitably take a little time and certainly more than a few pre-season games to become a fully coherent group.
Finally, in Danny Stewart, the Panthers have a real workhorse of a Head Coach who has shown that he won’t rest on his laurels in pursuit of excellence. If things still haven’t clicked in a few weeks’ time, I’ve got every confidence that he is a brave enough character to make a potentially big call if he feels a shake-up is needed in the best interests of getting the team winning. I’m sure no one reading this will actually want Danny to have to make such a decision, hoping instead that our forward lines and D pairings click, with individual performances starting to trend upward over the coming games, getting us back to the very watchable hockey we all witnessed for much of the second half of last season.
Nothing was ever won or lost after two Challenge Cup games. This might cause me to eat humble pie in a few months (it wouldn’t be the first time), but the talent across this Panthers roster should be competing for trophies this season and I expect that to be the case. The reaction to the two defeats last weekend was a little odd and slightly surprising in its venom. But if nothing else it just shows the massively high expectations that the fanbase have and the burning desire to be winning more trophies.
After a trip to Altrincham on Friday to face the Storm, the Steelers are in town on Saturday. What a good time to hopefully brush away the disappointment of last weekend and secure our first home Challenge Cup win to get the season properly underway.
Keep the faith everyone!
If you would like to submit an article for consideration, please email it to tcwonlinetv@gmail.com
thecatswhiskersonline.com 