Sheffield Steelers coach Aaron Fox reveals why Cole Shudra has earned his Great Britain opportunity

Shudra got the call from GB head coach Pete Russell on Monday as a late replacement for Cardiff Devils’ winger Josh Waller, who was forced to withdraw through injury.

With Steelers’ team-mate Brandon Whistle also coming through his return to action with a clean bill of health at the weekend, it means Fox will be without four key players for this weekend’s Elite League clashes against Manchester Storm and Coventry Blaze.

Captain Rob Dowd and defenceman Sam Jones make up the Steelers quartet who joined up with the rest of the GB squad on Monday night ahead of the qualifiers which get underway at Cardiff’s Vindico Arena on Thursday.

After opening up against China, GB then face Serbia two days later before finishing off their campaign against Romania on Sunday.

The group winners will then progress to a final qualifying round in August when they will compete for a place at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina in Italy.

Since returning to the Steelers on a full-time basis last summer, Shudra has enjoyed an impressive campaign with his hometown team, who he originally signed for as an apprentice back in 2016.

In 44 league and cup games he has contributed seven goals and 13 assists and has offered Fox welcome flexibility given his ability to play either in defence or as a forward.

The Steelers’ head coach believes the 25-year-old left-hander was worth a place in the original squad and was prepared for him to be called up as a replacement if Whistle had not been recovered in time from the injury which had kept him out of the Steelers’ line-up for six weeks.

In the end it was an injury to another player that has given Shudra his opportunity, something Fox feels is fully deserved.

“If you just look at where he is at numbers wise on our team and in the league, he should have probably made that team outright in my opinion,” said Fox. “But it’s good to see that he has got the call.

“I’d already had a call from Pete saying that Cole was more than likely going to be Brandon’s replacement if Brandon wasn’t available to go, so I kind of knew it was coming.

“But then when Brandon had such a good weekend and came back as well as he did, losing Waller opened that spot up for Cole.”

Fox believes Shudra has returned from playing two full seasons in NIHL National with Leeds Knights a more confident player, something shown in his performances for the Steelers in 2023-24.

“He’s one of those cases that just goes to show that if you’re not quite ready for this league, going down a level and ripping it up and building confidence and working on your game can do wonders,” added Fox. “And then when he came back, I had some trust in him already which obviously helps, but he has come in and played great.

“The biggest difference in him was confidence, if I’m being honest. He’s making plays, he’s creating offence, he’s holding pucks and that just comes with having the puck on your stick a lot more down at the level below - you’re not always in as much of a hurry to get rid of it and it’s been great to see that.”