Sheffield Steelers’ youngsters blossom as Elite League ice time remains rare
Ahead of the 2019-20 campaign, Fox helped forge what for many was a long overdue working relationship with neighbouring Sheffield Steeldogs, the city’s NIHL National team, one tier below the Steelers.
The agreement enabled the Steelers’ younger players to ice for the Steeldogs at weekends, while still training with their parent club during the week.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIt meant the likes of Keiran Brown, Alex Graham and Jordan Griffin and, to a lesser extent 21-year-old Cole Shudra, were able to log big minutes in the UK’s second tier under the watchful eye of Steeldogs’ player-coach Ben Morgan.
Of the four players involved in the two-way arrangement, Shudra was the one who got to see regular ice time with the Steelers, although he often found his minutes limited.
Forwards Brown and Graham, along with defenceman Griffin, figured in pre-season for the Steelers, but spent the majority of the campaign across at Ice Sheffield.
Winger Brown, 19, was enjoying an impressive campaign before a serious injury forced him to miss the majority of the season, returning briefly before the coronavirus pandemic brought a premature end to the sport for all concerned.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdGraham, 17, stepped up to fill the gap left by the unfortunate Brown, finishing the season with 52 points in 40 games for the Steeldogs, including 21 goals.
His form and obvious progress eventually saw him rewarded with more minutes from Fox and led to him scoring his first EIHL goal in an 8-2 win over Fife Flyers at the end of February.
Griffin, while unable to get any regular season ice time with the Steelers, won regular praise from Morgan throughout the NIHL National campaign.
While their game time was limited under Fox, the Steelers’ head coach and GM was able to keep a close eye on all the team’s young prospects during weekday practices, impressed with the way each of them were able to develop their game further.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“Having that close relationship with the Steeldogs has been really helpful,” said Fox.
“Being able to give those guys a place to play if they are not going to be logging big minutes with us has been huge. They’ve practised with us every day and if we’re not going to use them that weekend then they have gone and played huge minutes with Ben.
“It is in our own backyard, it’s been a really good relationship.”
Fox admitted that the competitive nature of the EIHL and its focus on the regular season title race above all else, had made it more difficult for him to grant ice time to the team’s youngsters, a situation he believes was replicated at all of the Steelers’ title rivals such as Cardiff Devils, Nottingham Panthers and Belfast Giants.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“That was probably the hardest thing for me as a coach this year, having to coach every game as if it were a playoff game,” he explained. “That’s really hard for development and hard to develop young talent.
“That’s why I ended up giving those guys so many games at the Steeldogs as I didn’t feel it was fair for me to sit them on the bench and play them for, say, two minutes or so.
“I mean, if things went well then maybe they would play 10-12 minutes, but if things didn’t go well early on in games then they are sitting there playing a minute or two minutes and that’s not a great spot for a kid to be in.
“The reality is that if you look at the top teams, how many kids legitimately get a ton of ice time on any of those rosters? The likes of Cardiff, Nottingham, Belfast? You just don’t see many kids in those line-ups getting huge ice time.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“If we were 20 points off a league title with nine games left, then those kids would have played 20 minutes a night down the stretch.
“I’ve had conversations with people around the league about it and it is the hardest side of trying to develop talent and young kids at our level.
“There is such a premium put on winning the league, every game counts so much and you end up shortening your bench much earlier than you would in any other league.”
Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAlmost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.
And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.
Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.
If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.
Sincerely. Thank you.
James Mitchinson
Editor
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.