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Old Time Hockey UK

Old Time Hockey UK

The Puck Drops Now!

Tim Cranston Interview Part 2 – Episode S4E05

25 January 2020 by Ken Abbott

Tim Cranston Podcast Interview Episode S4E05

Welcome back to Part Two – The  Sheffield Years
It was the summer of 1993 when Team GB and Sheffield head coach Coach Alex Dampier invited Tim to join his Sheffield Steelers team.  

Tim Cranston

If you haven’t already listened to Part One, The Tim Cranston Interview – The Early Years, you’ll enjoy this episode that much more.

Sheffield Steelers

Tim jumped at the chance and made Sheffield his home for the next 5 seasons. At the same time he continued his law degree studies. He decided to continue his law degree studies at York University, a round trip of approximately 112 miles.
He became an integral part of a Steelers team that was about to turn UK ice hockey on its head.
Although not everything went according to plan during that first season, the team suffering a devastating 12 – 1 Playoff final defeat to the Cardiff Devils.
Tim recalls:

After that devastating Wembley Playoff defeat
we were determined never
to let it happen again.

Tim Cranston

Second Season

In Tim’s second season the Sheffield Steelers stunned the “old guard” by winning a League and Playoff Championship double. They first secured the League Championship on the ice of their fierce rivals, the Nottingham Panthers.

The team then gained Wembley revenge by defeating the previous season’s Playoff champions, the Cardiff Devils, in the semi finals.
The Steelers defeated the Edinburgh Racers 7 – 2 in the final to take their first Playoff Championship.

Grand Slam

The following season was one that Tim, and everyone connected with the Steelers, would never forget.
First they beat arch rivals, the Nottingham Panthers, 5 – 2 in the Benson and Hedges Cup final. They then won the League Championship, finishing 4 points ahead of second placed Cardiff Devils.
The Steelers completed the Grand Slam with a hard fought penalty shots Playoff Championship victory over the Nottingham Panthers.
Thus the Steelers joined the Durham Wasps and the Cardiff Devils as the only BHL teams to have completed the Grand Slam.

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Tim Cranston

Tim’s unusual Wembley Playoff record

Tim won the Man of the Match award in all 3 of the Sheffield Steelers consecutive Wembley Playoff final appearances.

SuperLeague

The 1996 – 97 season was a massive one for UK Ice Hockey. It was the start of the brand new SuperLeague. Despite the new league having unlimited imports, the Steelers retained Tim and the core of the previous season’s squad.
It was a good move, success again followed as the Steelers finished league runners up to the Cardiff Devils. Better was to follow in the Playoff final with a 3 – 1 victory over the Nottingham Panthers.
Tim’s final Steelers season ended in disappointment, for the first time in 4 seasons the team finished trophy-less. However, on a personal level Tim had passed his final exams and had qualified as a law professional. So, at the age of 36 and not getting any younger, Tim decided his ice hockey days were over.
Tim CranstonIn total, Tim played 297 games for the Steelers, scored 208 goals and had 205 assists. He also played 32 times for GB, scored 8 goals and had 12 assists.

Tim in Edinburgh

However that was not quite the end of Tim’s UK hockey career. His license to practise law in Canada was temporarily delayed. He now had a lot of spare time on his hands, plenty of spare time.
So when former Steelers team mate Scott Neil offered him a slot on his new team he immediately agreed. Ironically, as with his first UK team, his last UK team was also to be in Scotland. Tim played 17 games for the Edinburgh Capitals, scoring 10 goals and 9 assists.

You can also listen to Podcast interviews from Tim’s Alumni of former Sheffield Steelers players here:

Sheffield Steelers

Ron Shudra  Episode S1E03
Les Millie  Episode S1E05
Ken Priestlay  Episode S1E09
Jamie Leach  Episode S1E10

Scot Neil  Episode S1E23
Selmar Odelein  Episode S2E01
Tommy Plommer  Episode S2E03
Steve Carpenter  Episode S2 E06
Tony Hand  Episode S3E09
Ed Courtenay Episode S4E09
André Malo Episode S4E10
Shayne McCosh Episode S5E05

Shout out time

Today’s shout out goes to my Patreon Patrons, to:
Tommy Boll, Oscar Brownsword, Michael Cook, Colin Dunn, Sean Holland, John Hume-Spry, Jim Murden, Jeff Povey, Chris Saddington and Andrew Williamson.
As ever, thanks for your continued support guys.

Become a Patron!

PatreonPatreon

You know I really love contacting former players and recording their hockey memories and then editing and producing this Podcast to bring those memories to you.
More importantly I know you love hearing them too.
We all love listening to those often hidden stories from inside the game, the stories that we, as fans, never get to hear.
Above all it really gives me a buzz every time I upload a brand new Podcast, knowing that you’ll remember and reminisce about those memories from your hockey heroes of the past.

However, it’s not cheap bringing this Podcast to you, that’s why I’ve chosen to use Patreon to ask for donations to keep the Podcast going.
You can really help the show by donating say, just $2 per Podcast episode (about £1.40) for the price of a cup of Coffee or the price of a Beer at $6 (about £4.20) – you really will be helping to keep the show going.

In addition, my Patrons will receive a reward, right now there are 4 different reward levels to chose from.
Plus I’ll be continually posting to Patreon, Videos and Podcasts that are exclusive to you, my Patrons.

Click on to the video below, I’ve recorded a brief  “Welcome to my Page” video – well, that’s from me and the dog – you’ll see what I mean when you checkout it out.

Become a Patron!

If you’d like more information about Patreon, the video below explains everything:

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Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee

Then why not buy me a “one off” coffee instead.

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As a result of your review it’ll help the Podcast get found by others.
All 5 Star reviews get a shout out on the Podcast.

You can read other reviews and even leave one yourself by following this  iTunes link.

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