HAVING gone two years without silverware, Aaron Fox is fully aware of the clamour among Sheffield Steelers’ fans for their team to end the Elite League dominance of Belfast Giants.

In the six completed seasons played since 2018, only two teams have won the regular season crown - the Giants have prevailed on five occasions, with the Steelers coming out on top just the once, part of their memorable treble-winning campaign of 2023-24.

Fox is preparing for his seventh full season behind the bench in Sheffield, a tenure that got off to the best possible start when he won the the Challenge Cup in 2019-20 - the only trophy that was awarded that season due to the Covid pandemic that led to lockdown just a few days later.

As is expected of the Steelers, they have always been in the frame for honours ever since the return to normality in 2021-22 but, aside from that one year of total dominance, they have failed to deliver.

MIND THE GAP: Sheffield Steelers' head coach Aaron Fox is aware of the pressure he and his team face to end the dominance enjoyed by Belfast Giants since 2021. Picture: Hayley Roberts/Steelers Media.

placeholder image — MIND THE GAP: Sheffield Steelers' head coach Aaron Fox is aware of the pressure he and his team face to end the dominance enjoyed by Belfast Giants since 2021. Picture: Hayley Roberts/Steelers Media.

Fox knows there is pressure, a pressure he has always embraced willingly and after two lean years - they only missed out on retaining their league crown on the final weekend of the 2024-25 campaign - the demand for silverware is probably greater than at any time during his reign.

In all, it has proved a busy summer for Fox in terms of recruiting, with nine new faces joining the roster for a campaign which gets underway with a Challenge Cup clash at the Utilita Arena against Coventry Blaze on Saturday, September 12.

Before then, he will road test his new-look team in double-header weekends against Cardiff Devils and Manchester Storm which form part of a relatively short pre-season lasting just three weeks.

Ahead of Saturday’s visit to the Vindico Arena in South Wales - the Steelers host the Devils on Sunday (4pm) - Fox is confident he has dealt with areas of the team he felt came up short last time around, adding speed, experience and grit in all areas.

KNOW-HOW: Sean Collins - seen in action for Black Wings Linz - adds some veteran presence for Sheffield Steelers going into the 2026-27 Elite League campaign. Picture: BWL/Reinhard Eisenbauer

“First and foremost, we wanted to make sure we got our core guys back that we feel are here for the right reasons and willing to buy in and do the little things that need to be done to win games and, hopefully, trophies,” said Fox.

“So once you've identified that, then you kind of go back to the drawing board and see what you were missing and I felt like we were a little thin down the middle last year.

“I believe we've added some high-end centres, we've got Brandon Whistle back as part of our Brit core, which I also felt was light last year.

“We've added some size into our lineup, some youth and a couple of culture veteran guys.

WELCOME BACK: Brandon Whistle makes a welcome return to Sheffield Steelers after playing for Elite League rivals Belfast Giants last season. Picture: Dean Woolley/Steelers Media.

“At the end of the day, you never really know how the puzzle pieces are going to fit, but I believe we've managed the roster very, very well in terms of what we've recruited.

“We've got a couple of high-end, point-producing offensive forwards and on the back end, I love the way we look – you’ve got to build your hockey teams from the back-end out.

“We've got great goaltending and a really solid D with a forward group that we know, coming back, can produce and the guys that we've added are going to compliment that very, very well.”

Belfast - under head coach Adam Keefe - will once again start out the season as understandable favourites, while Cardiff Devils and Nottingham Panthers will again be in the mix.

FAMILIAR FACES: Brien Diffley (left) and Mitchell Balmas form part of the key core Aaron Fox was desperate to retain at Sheffield Steelers for the 2026-27 season. Picture: Hayley Roberts/Steelers Media.

Fox is confident he has a team capable of being in the frame once more.

“From the outside looking in, your goal is trophies,” said Fox, who yesterday added American defenceman Robbie Stucker to his roster. “And that's my goal here as well.

“We've been uber competitive for all those trophies in my time here but we fell short last year.

“We lost a play-off final when we were super, super thin. We lost a cup semi-final in overtime after a 10-minute bad start in Nottingham there put us behind the eight ball, but played really, really well for the rest of the two legs.

“And then obviously we battled throughout the regular season before those two double-headers with Belfast ended up costing us an opportunity to push them close down the stretch.

“But in saying that, we didn't get it done and that's reality in this business. But I also didn't feel it was the type of season where you're just going to blow everything up because I feel like there were some really, really high-end players and characters in the group of guys that we’ve got coming back.

“And then there's the little details and the little things that you've got to learn from and then build off some of those mistakes that you maybe made from the character side of things in your group over previous years.

"So you're looking to just get a little bit better than we were last year.

“We weren't far off and hopefully the guys we brought back and the group coming in are going to pay the price and do the little details that need to be done for 34 weeks here.”