Sheffield Steelers Brandon Whistle enjoys return to the fray for both club and country

Fresh from making his competitive bow for Great Britain in the 2026 Winter Olympics Qualifiers in Cardiff last weekend – when Pete Russell’s booked their place in the final round of qualifying in August – Whistle impressed further in front of an 8,000-plus home crowd at the Utilita Arena when scoring in the 3-0 win over their Surrey rivals.

On a Valentines Day night that brought a rare full midweek schedule for the Elite League, the victory – courtesy of other strikes from Mitchell Balmas and Marc-Olivier Vallerand – saw the Steelers maintain their 14-point lead at the top of the standings.

Tomorrow sees them lock horns with the Flames once again, this time at the Spectrum, where the Steelers will look to make it three wins in as many visits there this season.

Before then, an improved Nottingham Panthers - who have reignited their play-off hopes with three wins in four, visit South Yorkshire.

“I think Wednesday was close to the best 60-minute game that we’ve played this year,” said Whistle, who has seven goals and six assists in his 23 Steelers’ appearances this season. “To beat a team like Guildford 3-0 was a very good feeling as they are one of the hardest teams to play against.

“That was also the first time we’ve beaten them in our home barn in two years.”

On his experience with GB in Cardiff, Whistle was simply glad to have been able make his competitive international debut, having just returned to action with the Steelers from a lower-body injury just five days before the Olympics qualifier kicked off.

“It was a relief to have actually made it for the tournament,” he added. “And I wouldn’t have gone down there if I hadn’t been able to get back playing for the Steelers the weekend before, so it was great to be able to do that.

“It was good and it was fun. I probably wasn’t 100 per cent there as I was still pretty sore from the surgery - but it was great to finally get to play competitive games for GB.”