Cardiff Devils v Sheffield Steelers - Dominant leaders on brink of clinching Elite League's most coveted crown

With eight games remaining, the Steelers headed down to South Wales last night 12 points clear of hosts and second-placed Cardiff Devils and knowing a regulation win would be enough to see them crowned champions for the first time since 2016.

A victory inside 60 minutes - like the one they enjoyed there back in January when they triumphed 5-1 - is enough to give the Steelers the four-point swing over Cardiff that they need to take the title, the Devils being unable to catch the Steelers due to the number of regulation wins the runaway leaders already have.

It would be a fitting venue for Fox to capture his first league championship as Steelers’ boss, given it was in South Wales that he won his first trophy for the organisation when they lifted the Challenge Cup there back in 2020, defeating Cardiff 4-3.

The Steelers, of course, are still basking in the glow of reclaiming that crown after battling to a 3-1 win over Guildford Flames at the Utilita Arena.

Despite the celebrations that followed for the players and staff, they were able to remain on course for the main prize at the weekend, edging to a 3-2 win over Nottingham Panthers in a shoot-out before a 7-4 road win at Coventry Blaze.

Coupled with Cardiff dropping a further point in a shoot-out loss at home to Fife Flyers on Saturday, it has put the Steelers in with a shout of clinching their second trophy within a week.

As far as Fox is concerned, the head coach having waited almost five years for this moment, any more glory that comes his and his team’s way in the coming days and weeks will have been fully-earned.

“I just think it’s down to the depth and consistency of our group,” said Fox. “The willingness to lay it on the line each and every night.

“There’s been no real lull from us, no multiple game losses, no stretches of six-eight games where we didn’t put positive points on the board.

“And that is why we're 12 points clear right now with the amount of games we’ve got left.

“For me, it feels obviously good, but nothing is done and that is the mindset we’ve got to continue to have here.

“We’re obviously going to put a lot of effort into the Cardiff game, but if things don’t go our way we know that we are still in control of everything. We’ve just got to be uber-focused on the task in hand.”

Although for many the Steelers’ lifting the regular season crown has long been a foregone conclusion, given the way their campaigns have fallen away in the final third in each of the past two years, Fox and his players were never likely to take anything for granted.

“I hoped the chance to win the league would come earlier, rather than later,” added Fox. “With the way that we’ve played throughout the year, there has been a pretty good gap for the last couple of months now and we hoped that we could stay on that path where the opportunity to win the title wouldn’t come down to the last weekend or last two or three games.

“It just shows how good we have been throughout the year that we now have such a great opportunity.”