Sheffield Steelers benefit from timely words to stay in Elite League title hunt

Trailing 2-0 to leaders Belfast Giants at the Utilita Arena on Sunday evening, it looked as if the Steelers’ hopes of closing the gap on their rivals had all but gone, particularly after a middle period which Fox labelled “lifeless” from his team.

Come the period break and some tweaks to his lines and the Steelers’ head coach got the response he was looking for, the Steelers firing in five unanswered goals in the final 13 minutes to blow the Giants away in a 5-2 victory.

It was the same story in Guildford the previous evening when the Steelers again came from behind, scoring four goals in the third period to win by the same scoreline.

With 16 games remaining, the Steelers now trail the Giants by six points, their game in hand coming on Wednesday at home to rank-bottom Fife Flyers, when Fox will be hoping his players can turn up the pressure on Belfast even further ahead of their Friday night clash at home to Cardiff Devils, part of a double-header weekend between the two at the SSE Arena.

“It was a really important game for us,” said Fox (inset). “We knew our backs were against the wall if we wanted to have a chance down the stretch and hopefully put a little bit of pressure on that team (Belfast) with 16-17 games left.

“I actually liked our start, to be perfectly honest, I thought both teams were hard and physical and neither team was giving up an inch defensively.

“But the second period I didn’t like at all from our group, it felt lifeless and a very uninspiring 20 minutes. We maybe felt a little sorry for ourselves, or felt like maybe we couldn’t claw our way back.

“And then in the third period we were a different hockey team. We had a pretty good talk in between periods there and the boys answered the bell and just played relentless, desperate hockey and pushed and pushed and pushed and they couldn’t manage it.”

Fox said he was proud of the way his players fought back against a team that is deservedly out in front of all the others at the moment.

“They are a really good hockey team and there is a reason why they are at the top of the table,” added Fox. “And that is because they are extremely well structured.

“You know what they are going to do and they just do it so well, they just do it so hard that they continually make you earn everything you get because of how aggressive they are.

“But we found a way to break through that and turn that game, so I’m really proud of our group.”

The Steelers have added a new face to their roster ahead of deadline day on Monday when they acquired British defenceman Reece Kelly from Elite League rivals, Glasgow Clan.

The 23-year-old, from Fife, played a year and a half in Glasgow after joining them in the summer of 2024.

Elsewhere, Finnish goaltender Jere Huhtamma has left the club after joining earlier in the year on injury cover.