Sheffield Steelkings make it season to remember after win over Cardiff Huskies sees them crowned British Para Ice Hockey Play-off Champions

The triumph came courtesy of a 3-1 win over Cardiff Huskies at the Vindico Arena, Gary Farmer the hero for Sheffield as his memorable hat-trick saw the Steelkings overcome the 2023 British Para Ice Hockey league champions and defending play-off winners to claim the title for the second time in their history.

“I want to say how proud I am of everyone,” said Oakley afterwards. “We’ve come really far in the last year, everyone at the club has worked very hard to get to this point and when it came to it everyone played their hearts out and really delivered, they left it all out there on the ice.

“I’d like to praise the 'Stings too, making the playoffs was a remarkable achievement and they played well in both games. They’re put in just as much effort and as a club we have two competitive teams.”

It was Oakley who almost opened the scoring early on when he had an effort cannon off the post before Farmer broke the deadlock with a skilful solo effort.

The Huskies tied the game through a spectacular goal from Tyler Christopher late in the period when, despite being laid on the ice, he managed to scoop the puck up and over Matt Davis into the Steelkings net.

Early in the second period, Farmer restored the Steelkings’ lead with a long-range shot from the blueline that evaded traffic in front of the Huskies net before creeping into the bottom near corner. He added his third soon after with a trademark weaving solo run and powerful finish into the roof of the net.

Davis then made a crucial save, denying the Huskies what would have been a valuable lifeline with just three seconds to go in the period. The Steelkings were then able to close the game out in a scoreless third, with Rachel Paget coming closest to scoring when she had an effort cleared off the line.

The Steelkings made it through to Sunday’s final after they beat Peterborough Phantoms 8-2 in Sthe previous day’s semi-final, while the club’s development team – Sheffield SteelStings – also qualified for the playoff finals, unfortunately losing 5-1 to the Huskies in their semi-final before going down 3-0 to Peterborough in Sunday’s 3rd-4th place play-off, Karl Nicholson bagging a hat-trick.