The Sheffield Steelers are expertly representing the UK in the Champions Hockey League with three wins on the bounce for the first time ever.
Having won the treble last year, with the EIHL title, the EIHL play-offs and the Challenge Cup all won by head coach Aaron Fox’s side.
The UK is not one of Europe’s elite ice hockey nations, let alone in the world, and many expected that the hugely successful 2023-24 side would be torn apart as in-demand players moved on to different leagues.
Indeed, some big names, such as Brett Neumann, Josh Nicholls, Sam Jones and Niklas Nevalainen left the side in the off-season.
However, the side remained intact for the most part, while Patrick Harper, Angelo Miceli and Sacha Guimond were amongst seven players brought in from overseas to build on the historic year.
YOUR 2024 PLAYOFF CHAMPIONS! 🍊
That’s all 3, WE’RE GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS! 🏆🏆🏆#SteelersHockey pic.twitter.com/kGHE6VObFl
— Sheffield Steelers (@steelershockey) April 22, 2024
Their success meant qualification for Europe’s elite competition, the Champions Hockey League (CHL), for the first time since 2016-17, and for only the third time in their history.
In their two previous in CHL, they only won one of eight overall games, going 0-4 in their maiden European campaign.
However, this year, the Steelers have shocked the ice hockey world with three straight victories, putting themselves in a great spot to qualify for the knockout stage.
Their first CHL game of the season was a loss, going narrowly down 4-3, away at Swiss side HC Fribourg-Gottéron.
However, they didn’t let up, and hit straight back with a stunning over-time win against 2018 finalists Växjö Lakers, who last year were the only side unbeaten in the group stage of this competition.
It was a huge statement against the Swedish side, and this weekend saw the Sheffield Steelers finally back playing CHL hockey in Sheffield.
Here, an unbelievable 5-1 victory over 2017 finalists Sparta Prague was surely the greatest win in the club’s history, comfortably dispatching of one of European hockey’s biggest names – leading after just 109 seconds thanks to Joel Janatuinen’s early goal, they never looked back.
That was the first time they’d ever won more than once in a CHL campaign, but they were back for more the following day, defeating another Swedish side, Skellefteå AIK, 3-2 after two goals in the first four minutes before a Mark Simpson winner in the second period.
60.00 | 🚨 Buzzer Goes!!!!
Just a standard night in the CHL really…
NO ITS REALLY NOT! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!
3-2#SteelersHockey | #SHEvsSKE pic.twitter.com/zvaTdwdQLt
— Sheffield Steelers (@steelershockey) September 15, 2024
The significance of this win can’t be understated – the away side were finalists just last year in this competion, placing them firmly in Europe’s elite – and the Steelers sent them home defeated.
The Steelers now place eighth in the overall ranking – and the top 16 qualify for the knockout stage, which they have never reached before.
Standing in their way are ZSC Lions Zurich on the 8th of October, before Czech side Dynamo Pardubice are in town, with the sides facing each other at the Sheffield Arena on the 16th of October.
featured image credit: Chris Carr via Wikimedia Commons
