Sheffield Steelers v Guildford Flames - 'Nothing is done yet' insists Steelers' Kevin Tansey ahead of Challenge Cup Final

Despite Saturday night’s setback in the 5-2 home loss to Belfast Giants, the Steelers still emerged from the weekend on a positive note, hitting back instantly with a 6-1 win over the defending Elite League champions less than 24 hours later.

It leaves the Steelers still very much in pole position, 11 points clear of second-placed Cardiff Devils with 10 games remaining and primed to land their first regular season crown since 2016.

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Over the last two years, the Steelers have been well-placed before in the league only to see their title hopes quickly fade away. This year seems different.

But all talk of the league will be put to one side over the next couple of days as Aaron Fox’s team turn their attention to more pressing matters.

Wednesday night offers Steelers’ head coach Fox the chance to regain the one title he has won during his five years in charge, the Challenge Cup.

It was the only trophy settled in 2019-20 before the pandemic brought an early conclusion to the campaign in early March of that year, the Steelers beating Cardiff 4-3 in their Vindico Arena home just a week ahead of everything in the UK closing down.

Since then, in the two completed seasons that have taken place, Fox has gone into the summer with ‘what could have beens’ and hard luck stories.

The team he has assembled for the 2023-24 campaign is a team that goes into the showpiece against Guildford Flames at the Utilita Arena as understandable favourites.

Veteran defenceman Tansey is an integral part of the success that the Steelers have enjoyed on the ice this season and is hoping this week will see his team chalk up the first piece of silverware on the road to what they hope will prove a memorable campaign.

“This year, we have a very veteran team,” said Tansey.

“There are a lot of older guys who have played around and been on winning teams – it’s a really good mix of players who understand what it takes to win.

“Winning a treble like we have a chance to do is always something that drives you as a player. When you start the season, you see that there are three trophies to win and you don’t want to say ‘I only want to win one’ – as professional athletes we are always striving to win so from the beginning of the year, our goal has been three trophies – and that will be every team’s goal.

“But, that being said, because we have such a veteran presence on the team, we do a great job of just living in the moment and realising that we can’t win all three trophies at once.

“We have to chip away and chip away and chip away and the good things happen when you make sure you keep working hard and stick to the process.

“And that’s sort of what we’ve been doing, that’s the path we’ve been taking.

"Hopefully that leads to three trophies. I think we’re on the right path towards doing it, we’ve just got to stick to that path.”

And while the treble remains a realistic possibility, Tansey is quick to point out the hard work that still lies ahead, in order to win just one trophy, never mind two or three.

“It’s definitely satisfying to know that we are still in the running for all three trophies this season,” he added. “But we haven’t won anything yet.

“We’ve set ourselves up to do well for all three trophies. But nothing is done – it’s about getting over the line.”