Sheffield Steelers belief in Aaron Fox finally gets its reward with Elite League crown

When Fox arrived in South Yorkshire in the Spring of 2019 one of his remits was to rebuild a team and a club that had somewhat lost its way under coaching predecessor Tom Barrasso.

Barrasso had replaced Paul Thompson in October 2018 following a poor start to that campaign and after the former GB coach’s last full year had seen the organisation go empty-handed in terms of silverware for the first time since 2013.

Fox delivered a trophy in his first season in charge - the Challenge Cup that had previously proved elusive in the EIHL era - but on three occasions, including the Covid-shortened 2019-20 campaign, his teams were well-placed to win the league title, only to fall away in the closing weeks.

Pressure from team owner Tony Smith was on head coach Fox to bring an end to that all-too familiar pattern at the start of this season and it is something he has been able to accomplish in stunning style.

The Steelers landed their sixth EIHL championship with plenty to spare. With five games remaining they are currently sat 12 points ahead of second-placed Cardiff Devils - the team who also finished second when the Sheffield club last landed the top tier’s most coveted prize back in 2016.

They have dominated in all facets of the game, most goals scored, least goals conceded, the best powerplay, the stingiest penalty kill - the list goes on and on.

That it has taken so long for everything to come together is testament to the doggedness of Fox himself, but also the patience of Smith.

Fox alluded to Smith’s willingness to back him in his on-ice interview on Sunday night as the celebrations got into full swing behind him, the Steelers’ owner once again digging deep for the extra money needed to bring in timely injury cover.

Fox arrived in Sheffield with a reputation as a top recruiter given his time working in Croatia at Medvescak Zagreb which had given him experience of the Champions Hockey League.

As a result of ending their wait for the league title, the Steelers will have a chance of mixing with Europe’s best once again, but before then, Fox has another trophy in his sights.

“It’s been three years on the bounce where we’ve been working really, really hard at it,” said Fox. “Obviously that 19-20 (season) didn’t finish but what a group of guys we’ve had, what a hard trophy to win, the amount of consistency that is needed, the ownership group that allows you to bring in players when you’ve got injuries.

“There are such a lot of things that go into something like this, that I’m just so glad that we were able to get it done.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t get the treble done.

“We’re probably going to fall off it a little bit for the next week or so I think, we’ll give some guys some rest, probably rotate a few things in and out and change a few things system-wise probably, just to give some different things a look.

“Then we’ll refocus and try to make sure we’re playing our best for that opening play-off weekend.”