Aaron Fox: New faces, same old rivalry as Nottingham Panthers head to Sheffield Steelers
There’ll be no one at Sheffield Steelers who isn’t aware of the rivalry with Nottingham Panthers as the teams prepare to meet this weekend
Sheffield Steelers head coach Aaron Fox says his new-look side have already been made fully aware of what games against Nottingham Panthers mean ahead of Saturday night’s meeting at the Utilita Arena.
“I’ve been here long enough to know the importance of games against Nottingham to both the fans and everyone at the club,” said Fox.
“I’m also sure the message has reached the new players we’ve brought in that Steelers-Panthers games are always a little bit extra special.
“It will be new for a lot of the Panthers team as well. They’ve had a large overhaul of their roster this summer, so this will be a good chance for us to see each other for the first time.
“While many of the players on both sides will be new, I expect the same old atmosphere for one of these games and maybe a little more spice on the ice come Saturday night.”
The Steelers go into the contest after a positive opening weekend that brought a 6-0 home victory over Coventry Blaze followed by a dramatic 5-4 shootout win in Guildford.
Fox was delighted with the performance against Coventry.
“I thought we played very well from the opening puck drop,” he said.
“You can certainly see that we have a lot of skill in this team.
“The exciting part for me is that guys are still bedding in, we’re still working on combinations and there is a lot more to come.”
Sunday’s game in Guildford was very different, with the Steelers finding themselves 3-1 down after the opening period before fighting back.
Fox felt the scoreline at that stage did not reflect Sheffield’s performance.
“I thought we were actually outstanding for the first 40 minutes,” he said.
“They were very opportunistic and punished a couple of our mistakes, but we created a lot of offence and didn’t give them very much.
“To battle back and find a way to get the two points showed a ton of character in the group.”
Mitchell Balmas eventually tied the game late before the Steelers won the shootout, with Olivier Archambault and Balmas both converting and Matt Greenfield making the decisive stops.