ZSC Zurich Lions v Sheffield Steelers: Great expectations met as Steelers continue to raise their CHL game

Any team coming into a new season on the back of winning a grand slam is going to be full of confidence.

A handful of changes were made to the roster by head coach Aaron Fox, but they were tweaks here and there, as opposed to an overhaul as had been the case in previous years.

As has always been the case with Elite League teams in the CHL, expectations were not high, the Nottingham Panthers being the only British team to make it through to the knockout phase with the competition now in its 11th season.

Belfast Giants were one point off emulating the Panthers last season, while the Steelers, with two games remaining, sit eighth. In all, 16 teams progressing to the knockout phase.

In their way, stand two of Europe’s most successful teams, Swiss league and play-off champions, ZSC Lions Zurich - who they visit tonight - and Dynamo Pardubice, the current Czech Extraliga regular season title holders and who visit the Utilita Arena next Wednesday.

So far, the Steelers have beaten Swedish elite teams Växjö Lakers and Skellefteå AIK, as well as Czechia giants, Sparta Prague. In their opening game, they were edged out 4-3 by Fribourg-Gottéron, runners-up in Switzerland’s National League.

Yet, even as late as yesterday afternoon, the question marks remained over the Steelers’ CHL credentials.

‘Who would’ve thought there would be only 1 point separating @steelershockey and @zsclions heading into tomorrow’s game in’ asked the official CHL Twitter, sorry, Elon, ‘X’ feed.

It’s nothing new to the Steelers organisation, including their players who, from day one of their return to pre-season training camp back in August, were resolute in their determination to compete with the best Europe has to offer.

Among that group is 29-year-old Canadian Mark Simpson, one of last season’s most consistent performers as the Steelers marched to the treble and one of the first names on Fox’s ‘return’ list.

“Going into it, a lot of teams probably saw us as underdogs,” said Simpson, scorer of the second-period winning goal against Skellefteå at the Utilita Arena on September 15. “But I didn’t see it that way, I felt that with the group we had coming back and the guys that we had recruited, that we were going to push for a spot in the top 16.

“And I believe we’ve put ourselves in a good position to try and move to the next round. It helped scoring two early goals in that first game and guys started to realise that we could play with teams of that calibre and our confidence has just grown with each game.”

It has been just over three weeks between CHL games for the Steelers, but they have been able to maintain their European form on a domestic level, extending their winning streak in all competitions on Sunday to nine games with a 6-2 win at Dundee Stars.

Part of the challenge for Simpson has been pitting himself against some of the world’s top players, something he believes has raised the game even further of all his team-mates.

“Playing top teams, you see where you’re at as a player and you can raise your game to that level which obviously benefits you,” he added. “I love playing these teams, I think it’s a good test for us, both as a group and on a personal level.

“I felt that we had such a great team last year and we’ve had such a good group of players coming in that I haven’t been surprised at us being able to compete in these games.

“The goal for us all going into this was making it through to the knockout stages. It’s been a long time since a team from the Elite league has done that and we want to be the team to do it.”