Sheffield Steelers: Why Champions Hockey League is welcome bonus with EIHL title for coach Aaron Fox

He could get his wish as early as next season should he lead his team to regular season Elite League success, which offers the additonal lure of a place in the Champions Hockey League.

In order to do that – a triumph that would bring the EIHL championship back to South Yorkshire for the first time since 2016 – the Steelers are going to have to overhaul current leaders Belfast Giants, who sit four points ahead after last night’s 4-2 defeat at home to Nottingham Panthers and having played two games more.

Of the 10 games the Steelers have remaining, three are against Belfast, so their destiny remains very much in their own hands.

But they cannot afford too many slip-ups elsewhere, with tonight presenting one of their toughest challenges remaining outside of their triple bout against the Giants.

A long road trip to South Wales to take on the Cardiff Devils is rarely a comfortable mission and as long as Jarrod Skalde’s team remain mathematically involved in the league title race – they sit third, eight points off Belfast with seven games remaining – they are unlikely to make life easy for the Steelers.

For Fox, winning the regular season trophy is the ultimate prize, particularly after seeing his team surrender their Challenge Cup crown in poor fashion when beaten 5-0 by Cardiff in the semi-final in Sheffield last month.

“Until you are mathematically eliminated, in this league you’re always going to have a chance,” said Fox.

“Cardiff have played us very well this year and they are probably the only team in the league that we have a losing record against right now. We also still have a bit of a bad taste in our mouths from the way things went down in that Challenge Cup semi-final a few weeks back.

“We know every point matters right now and we’ve got to take care of our own business so that those three games against Belfast make a difference.”

Should Steelers end their six-year wait for the top prize in UK hockey, Fox will relish the opportunity of taking on the best in Europe, knowing he will have the full backing of owner Tony Smith having committed himself to the team until at last 2025.

“You’re always looking to challenge your group and yourself and it would be awesome to play in the CHL,” he added.

“From day one, the reason I took this job was because I knew I would be given the tools by Tony to compete for trophies year-in, year-out and that hasn’t changed at all.”