Video: Sheffield Steelers' goalie was motivated by Belfast Giants' fans' boos

Whistle and team-mate Ryan Martinelli were on the receiving end of boos and cat-calls from a section of the visiting Belfast Giants support, last weekend.

In Sunday's game, Whistle back-stopped Sheffield to a convincing 4-2 win and said the hostility directed towards him had only served to make him perform better. He made 26 saves.

"You can hear the fans chanting and it kind of makes you almost more excited to go out there and do really well" said the GB netminder.

"I was pretty pumped to get that win. They were chanting my name and Marty's name, a fan came up at the end of the game and was chirping me.

"It is part of the game but it just gets us excited to play against them and do well."

Whistle said he'd been excited at the prospect of playing his old club.

"I thought the game went well, I thought the team played amazing" he commented.

He pointed out that professional athletes are "supposed to say" that it doesn't make a difference facing a former team, but he admitted it did.

"Belfast is obviously a great club, having a fantastic year; they are a really good organisation - the chance to come here was an opportunity I decided to take."

The goalie said the team's form was "night and day" compared to before Tom Barrasso had taken over the reins.

"There is a huge will to never quit, even if you are down," he said.

Steelers play at Glasgow Clan on Wednesday, where Whistle is expecting another hard test.