Sheffield Steelers netminder Matt Greenfield confident of salvaging Elite League season
MATT GREENFIELD admits Sheffield Steelers’ 2025-26 season has not panned out the way it was perhaps planned back in August - but he insists there is still time to salvage something from it.
First, the Steelers need to negotiate their way past Manchester Storm in Saturday night’s Elite League play-off semi-final before getting the better of either Cardiff Devils or Glasgow Clan Sunday’s final.
It is by no means a simple task, something the 31-year-old treble-winning netminder acknowledges.
“It’s not a secret, we didn’t have the season we were hoping to have coming into it,” said Greenfield. “But we can put ourselves into a position now where we can go and salvage a trophy and take one away this year.
“It would mean the world to me. It’s been a long year, it’s been a hard year. I just know the guys in that room want to win. We want to win for this city, we want to win for the fans and we want to bring one home
“It’s been a bit here since we’ve won one and it would be nice to create some more special memories by getting our hands on that trophy.”
Although the Steelers enjoyed more wins than Manchester in terms of the regular season league and cup head-to-head encounters between the two, Cam Critchlow's team will be desperate to make a good impression in their first-ever time at the finals weekend at the National Ice Centre.
“They’ve had a great year,” explained Greenwood. “They came in here and gave us the business a couple of times, so we know they are a really good team and we have full respect for them.
“We know it’s going to be an absolute battle on Saturday, so we’ll be prepared, we’ll be ready to go and it’s a massive opportunity for us - a massive test for us - but we’ll be ready.”
Having missing out the most-coveted title of league champions for a second year running, together with a semi-final exit in the Challenge Cup, Greenfield insists there is plenty of pride at stake for Steelers’players going into the final weekend of the 2025-26 campaign.
“It’s frustrating and I know we all have a lot of pride in being Steelers and a lot of pride in playing here,” he added. “So when you’re not performing the way you expect to, it is a tough thing to manage - especially when you know how good you can be.
“When we’re playing our best hockey, I do think we’re the best team in the league. It's just a matter of us finding a way to do that consistently.
“Fortunately, we did it against Glasgow at home and again last weekend against Guildford and now we have an opportunity to do it again when it matters the most.
“And I have full confidence in the guys in that room and full confidence we can go out there and take care of business.”