Sheffield Steelers showing timely forward thinking ahead of Belfast Giants showdown
WHILE results may not have always gone the way he would have wanted occasionally this season, Aaron Fox kept faith in the way his Sheffield Steelers team was going about its business.
Forward Nick Seitz may have found himself heading out of the Utilita Arena to Elite League rivals Guildford Flames on Friday after only a handful of appearances - the addition two weeks ago of Mitchell Heard making him surplus to requirements - but the Steelers’ head coach has, overall, pleased with his summer acquisitions.
So much so, they head into a first clash of the season with defending regular season champions Belfast Giants at home on Saturday night enjoying their best run of form so far during 2025-26 with five straight wins in all competitions.
Their latest success came on the road on Wednesday at Guildford Flames, the 5-1 triumph at The Spectrum taking the Steelers top of the standings.
“Even if you look back at the losses we have had, I think we outplayed the majority of those teams - we just weren’t scoring goals,” said Fox.
“For example, we outshot Coventry 44-18 and lost 2-0, so it wasn’t like we played a bad game that night, it’s a case that some nights, pucks just aren’t going to go in and you’ve just got to stick with the systems and concepts that you play.
“I think our special teams have been outstanding – both the kill and the power play – and the goaltending has been good all year, so that’s never been an issue.
“So it was just about us finding a bit more confidence and finding the back of the net more. A couple of our key guys are starting to heat up a little bit and we are playing some pretty good, team-first hockey.”
Giving the quality of Saturday’s visitors – Belfast have won six of their last seven in all competitions – Fox is under no illusions on how difficult it will be for his players to extend their unbeaten run.
"They are a really good team,” he insisted. “We’ve watched some of their stuff from the Champions Hockey League and now we’ve dug into some of their games from more recently.
“They have an aggressive style, a really deep forward group. We know what to expect and we know they are a team that will be there in March, so we know how important this game is, even though it is only game seven.”
On the departure ot Seitz, who only arrived from Coventry in the summer, Fox added: “With the addition of Mitchell and Nick not playing a role that both sides had hoped for, and expected, this was right for both parties. Sometimes things just don’t work out.
"We still think Nick is a good player and wish him well. Guildford are thin with injuries at the moment and we were happy with the conditions to agree to move him there.”
In all, Seitz played seven league and cup games for the Steelers, posting one assist.