The previous evening, when his team had won handsomely at Hull, he'd been an unhappy man. The goals and points came his way but his players' work ethic was in question.
Fast forward 24 hours and their appetite was back - and Basingstoke were fortunate only to let in six.
"On Saturday we were cutting corners, rather than going through players; they were going round them, rather than hitting; they were swinging sticks. I don't know if lazy is the right word but the team as a group was disappointed.
"But against Basingstoke they were willing to pay the price. One game does not get us back though, we want a string of those types of games."
Steelers took just 17 minutes to rip Bison apart, a shot from Rod Sarich on the point on a Power Play inflicting the early damage at 4:16.
Determined to show special-team improvement, Sheffield scored short-handed eight minutes later, through Joey Talbot.
And the scoreboard showed 3-0, 57 seconds later, when Ryan Finnerty punished a lack of composure in Bison's rearguard.
It was all too much for the Hampshire side, whose temper snapped. Yet even the rough stuff didn't go their way.
Jeremy Cornish and Scott Basiuk exchanged a few blows in a duel that fizzled out, while at the same time Randy Dagenais was the clear winner in a battle with Curtiss Patrick.
When the ice chips had settled, Ashley Tait put the match beyond any doubt with a stunner - cutting in from the left wing to rifle the fourth goal.
There was more parity in the middle session, Bison's pluck saw them get on the scoresheet from Matthew Miller, sneaking the puck past Jody Lehman and Mark Thomas on the line, but by then Doug Sheppard had fired in another for the Arena side.
After another grappling bout between ex-Steeler Cornish and his replacement Andrew Sharp, Steelers romped 6-1 ahead, Nathan Gillies teeing up Finnerty for his second at 36.39.
Goalless-Gillies will have enjoyed his assists, if not his continued wretched luck in front of goal, he failed to bury a chance set up by Jonathan Phillips.
Steelers gave back-up netminder Dan Green the final 20 minutes in goal, he took a tripping minor and conceded a goal at 52:26 from Brad Cruikshank.
On Saturday, the result was never much in doubt after the first interval.
A comfortable three goal opening salvo set a high standard, and although that level was not maintained throughout, it was enough to secure a win at struggling Hull.
Jason Hewitt's powerplay strike was followed by further strikes from Sheppard and Phillips. Jason Kostadine pulled one back at 21:32 but Tait restored the three goal margin at 35:31.
A power-play fifth by Robert Dowd completed the formalities although Lee Esders fired home his first of the season.
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