HAVING been one of the major reasons behind Sheffield Steelers’ 2023-24 grand slam campaign, it was no surprise netminder Matt Greenfield then had a number of options in front of him while he considered his future in the summer.

One factor which he kept returning to, though, was the challenge of playing in the Champions Hockey League, a competition offering the opportunity to test himself against the best Europe has to offer.

After Wednesday night saw the Steelers secure progression to the last 16 knockout phase of the CHL with a 3-2 victory after a shootout against Czechia ExtraLiga champions Dynamo Pardubice, Greenfield certainly has no regrets about his decision to return for a third season in South Yorkshire.

A tantalising two-legged tie against German DEL champions Eisbaren Berlin – featuring former Steelers’ forward Liam Kirk – now awaits next month, adding further allure to a competition Greenfield and his Steelers’ team-mates have wholly embraced.

THE WALL: Sheffield Steelers' netminder Matt Greenfield, stops another shot on his goal during Wednesday night's win over Dynamo Pardubice. Picture: Steelers Media.

placeholder image — THE WALL: Sheffield Steelers' netminder Matt Greenfield, stops another shot on his goal during Wednesday night's win over Dynamo Pardubice. Picture: Steelers Media.

Last season, Greenfield topped all the goaltender stats, posting a goals against average of just 1.92 with a save average of 92.96 per cent. Not surprisingly he was named the league’s MVP.

The Steelers knew coming into a CHL ‘regular season’ pitting them against teams from Sweden, Czechia and Switzerland, that they would need their No 1 goalie to be on his game from the off. He has not disappointed.

In six games, Greenfield has recorded a GAA of 2.08, while boasting a save percentage of 93.66, the third highest on goalies to have played four games or more and 10th overall.

The challenge of taking on and staring down the best players in Europe was what brought Greenfield back and he is no mood for that challenge to end next month.

DELIGHTED: Sheffield Steelers' netminder Matt Greenfield (right). Picture: Dean Woolley/Steelers Media.

“I felt like this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take on and play against some of the top teams (in Europe),” said Greenfield. “I just wanted to be a part of that with this group and so it was easy for me to come back.

“We’re like brothers in that room and we had a lot of returning guys and it was exciting for us to come back and see what we could do compared to the rest of Europe.”

Like many people, when the CHL draw was made back in May, Greenfield didn’t have any great expectations in the run up to the competition.

But once they ran Switzerland’s Fribourg-Gotteron close in a 4-3 defeat in the opening game, the self-belief among Greenfield and his Steelers’ team-mates was almost instant.

It has not wavered since.

“It’s not too often in Sheffield that you get to be an underdog, so we kind of embraced that mindset from the beginning,” added the 29-year-old American.

“Then, after that first game in Fribourg, it was like: ‘Oh my goodness, we can play with these guys’ and that we weren’t an underdog anymore and we felt that we belonged in the competition.

“We wanted to prove to people that we’d got real good hockey players in that dressing room and that we could play with anyone.”

The Steelers have played fearless hockey in all six of their ‘regular season’ CHL games, an approach which has yielded four wins. That will continue against Berlin.

“That is where the belief comes from, we’ve seen some of the best teams in Europe and we’ve taken their punches and responded back and answered,” added Greenfield.

“So there is no fear. Nobody expected us to be at this point, so we’re just going to go and see how long we can keep dancing.”