Sheffield Steelers netminder Lucas Brine sees clearly to stand tall in the crucial moments

The 24-year-old repelled all of Manchester Storm’s attempts in a thrilling shoot-out as the Steelers came back from 3-0 down to win 6-5 to slightly spoil the hosts’ big homecoming to the AO Arena.

“It’s obviously a pretty big high,” said Brine.

“I know it was only pre-season, but that was a great character comeback and a big win for us.

“Honestly, it was all a bit of a blur - there was a lot of shouting and the guys were all pretty happy. It was just nice to know that I’d contributed to the win.”

Ice time for British goaltenders at the top level in the UK is always at a premium, with the majority of Elite League clubs placing their faith in imports to do the bulk of the work throughout a season.

After two years at Glasgow Clan, this summer saw 24-year-old Brine, from Chertsey in Surrey, take the bold step of switching to the Steelers.

Again he will very much be regarded as the No 2, backing up long-serving American Matt Greenfield.

But Steelers’ head coach Aaron Fox has already made it clear how he wants to get Brine in between the pipes as often as possible during the 2026-27 campaign.

Pre-season games against Cardiff Devils and, at the weekend, against Manchester Storm, have provided Brine the perfect opportunity to showcase what he can do.

And, after replacing Greenfield at the start of the second period at the AO Arena he made it a night to remember.

Steelers had won the previous night’s encounter between the two teams in Sheffield 4-1 but found themselves trailing 3-0 by the time Brine entered the fray.

Goals from Sean Collins, Robbie Stucker and Brandon Whistle pulled the visitors level, although Brine was beaten before the end of the period by Brady Gilmour.

Connor Lee made it 5-3 to the hosts but again the Steelers hit back through Leevi Teissala.

Brine then had to show great composure to deny a penalty shot, before TIm Gettinger’s strike made it 5-5 and ensured overtime.

A shoot-out was required, enabling Brine to come to the fore, turning away all six Storm attempts while Mitchell Balmas scored the decisive goal to seal a 6-5 win.

On his gameplan once he hit the ice in Manchester, Brine added: “I just didn’t want it to get out of control.

“I wanted to make a couple of nice, clean saves early and then build from there. That first save is always important because it takes some of the nerves away and gets you into a rhythm.

“It doesn’t really matter whether you kick a rebound into the corner or freeze the puck and slow everything down.

“You just want that first touch and then you can settle into the game.”

Fox was understandably impressed with his new goalie and his ability to backstop his team to a win which provides confidence going into Saturday’s opening game of the season proper when they welcome Coventry Blaze to the Utilita Arena in the Challenge Cup.

“I thought Briner did a great job,” said Fox. “Obviously everyone will talk about all the saves he made in the shootout, but he was really good during the game as well.

“He went in at a difficult time, reacted really well and made some important saves. He helped us stay in the game and contributed a lot to us finding a way to win.”