Sheffield Steelers coach Aaron Fox not worried about summer recruits' ability to adapt to new challenges in Elite League

Fresh from hammering Manchester Storm 6-1 in the Challenge Cup on Wednesday night, the Steelers pay a visit to Altrincham tonight.

One of the smallest ice surfaces in the league, a trip to Manchester’s building can always present problems for visitors, who can take some time to adjust.

But having already visited and come away from both Guildford Flames and Coventry Blaze with the win, head coach Fox believes he has a group of players capable of dealing with whatever comes their way at the moment.

“There’ll be a little bit of an adjustment,” said Fox. “But I feel like we’ve been into Guildford now, we’ve been into Coventry - they are not the prettiest of places and the ice sheet sizes are a little bit different in each one.

“So we’ve dealt with a little adversity already early on and we’ve had some success so it’s not something I’m really worried about.”

One of the most pleasing aspects of the Steelers’ win in front of an 8,000-plus crowd on Wednesday night was that there were six different scorers.

The same thing happened when Fox’s team beat hosts Nottingham Panthers 6-0 in the cup two weeks’ ago.

Not surprisingly, Marc-Olivier Vallerand - who posted four assists against the Storm and has eight for the season plus one goal - believes the current Steelers’ roster is the deepest he has been a part of since first arriving in South Yorkshire back in 2019.

“We’re very deep, we’ve got four lines who can all play,” said Vallerand.

“That’s why we’re rolling four lines because anyone can play and anyone can play against any line on other teams.

“The six defencemen back there are very deep, Greener (goalie Matt Greenfield) is doing a good job also.

"It’s the deepest team I’ve been on during my time in Sheffield.”

The Steelers finish their weekend off by returning to league action at the Utilita Arena when they host Dundee Stars in the league.

Steelers’ owner Tony Smith, meanwhile, believes the end of a two-way deal between Sheffield Steeldogs and Blackburn Hawks for Tate Shudra, is further evidence of the organisation’s commitment to developing young British talent.

Shudra, who last season played with Leeds Knights, came through the Sheffield Ice Hockey Academy and returned to the city as part of a new agreement between the NIHL National Steeldogs and NIHL One North team, the Hawks.

But, from now on, he will just ice for the Steeldogs, the team Smith bought after a protracted wrangle in the summer.

Shudra’ older brother Cole, who also played for Leeds last season, returned to the Steelers in the summer. Their dad, Ron, is a Steelers legend from the 90s.

"When we took over the Dogs and brought them under the Steelers umbrella we said our aim was to encourage the best local talent and in many ways that meant bringing back talent that had left to play elsewhere,” said Smith on Friday afternoon.

“I think some people thought, when we took over the Dogs that we were just speaking words but I think our actions in the last few weeks show that we mean business and are serious about developing young British players and giving them a pathway to the Steelers and the professional game.

“We are a long way off where we want to be, but we are all delighted with the start we have made and the early progress.”