Sheffield Steelers coach Aaron Fox on where the Elite League title was lost PLUS Brandon Whistle update

For Sheffield Steelers’ head coach Aaron Fox, this year it’s quite simple where their regular season title bid faltered – in the head-to-head series against defending Elite League champions Belfast Giants, they have come up short. By some way in the end.

Last week’s 8-2 humbling at the hands of Adam Keefe’s team at the Odyssey Arena meant the Giants won five out of six of their encounters against the Steelers.

Had the series been evenly split, the Steelers could have been ahead by one point going into the final weekend.

With regard to the rest of the league, Fox is happy with his team’s points return.

“The double-header there in Belfast (in January) I felt was two great hockey games that could have gone either way and that we came up just short in,” said Fox. “The last two games we’ve met, Belfast has definitely been the better team.

“So the reality is that when you look at our season as a whole - and I’m sure all coaches do this - we’re one and five against Belfast. That there is the difference.

“If we’re three and three against Belfast right now we’re in first place by a point. If you look at the points we’ve taken against the other teams, you would probably take those year after year. It’s just that one and five record that has buried us.

“When I came into the league, the aim was to close the gap on Cardiff and Belfast and we’ve definitely done that. We finished ahead of Cardiff last year and are on pace to do that again but Belfast has been the thorn in our side these last two years.”

The final weekend of the regular season sees the Steelers head into tonight’s home clash against Glasgow Clan knowing a win would guarantee them third spot over Cardiff Devils, who they visit tomorrow.

Forward Brandon Whistle - out injured since the 4-0 home defeat to Belfast on March 11 - is continuing his recovery and may feature this weekend at some point.

"Brandon has had a couple of skates this week,” added Fox. “So he’s trending in the right direction and we’ll see how he gets on today and Saturday to see how he is for this weekend.”