Sheffield Steelers v Nottingham Panthers - Robert Dowd targets fit and healthy festive season for points and bodies

Of course, points and wins on the board will always help soothe any aches and pains picked up and but, with eight games in 15 days, there is obviously more chance of suffering some sort of setback.

Having got the festive schedule off to a positive start with a 4-0 home win against Cardiff Devils on Saturday night, the Steelers will look to maintain that winning feeling in their traditional Christmas double-header against Nottingham Panthers.

It starts with today’s sold-out clash at the Utilita Arena before the teams reconvene at the Motorpoint Arena tomorrow.

With so much hockey still to come in 2024, titles aren’t necessarily won or lost at this time of year but, given so many points are on offer, it does represent perhaps the most crucial part of the year.

Like all athletes at this time of year, hockey players know they have to forego certain pleasures the rest of us will take for granted.

And after allowing himself his traditional Christmas dinner, Steelers’ captain Robert Dowd is more than happy to get back into the routine of preparing for game day, the same as he would any other time of the season.

“Playing so many games in such a short period of time with no real recovery time for your body, is a bit scary at times,” said Dowd.

“You just want to make sure you come through this period without injuries. It’s one of those where you’ve just got to concentrate on what is in front of you and not get too caught up in however many games that you might have coming up.

“This time of year, it is something we’re used to as players and we know what we need to do to keep ourselves in the right shape.”

The Steelers were clinical in their dismantling of second-placed Cardiff on Saturday, moving four points clear of their closest rivals ahead of the Boxing Day visit from the Panthers.

Defenceman Brien Diffley broke the deadlock with his first-ever Steelers goal, when he fired from 10 yarsd out after a set-up from Mikko Juusola with 12.17 on the board.

Head coach Aaron Fox was delighted with his team’s defensive record all night, the Steelers limiting the Devils to just 16 shots on goal.

That allowed them to enter the third period still just the one goal to the good, but they quickly doubled their advantage when Brett Neumann fired past Tyler Wall from the bottom of the right circle at 42.04.

Just over six minutes later, it was 3-0 when defenceman Dominic Cormier fired home from distance, with Mitchell Balmas shooting through traffic on the power play at 51.30 to complete another fine night’s work for the home team.