Bob Westerdale: After Covid subsides, let's win the title for Tron

Except you can do one, but not really the other in ice hockey, right now.

While Sheffield Steelers have been in exciting form for most of the EIHL season, they cannot guarantee it will continue.

That isn't a sporting decision, it's a public health one.

Indoor activities are vulnerable to lockdown because of the very nature of them taking place under a roof.

So 70,000 people can cram into Old Trafford for an open-air football match - and scream their lungs out - but the Government focus could likely hurt minority sports like ice hockey, boxing, and basketball, much more.

Tony Smith, the Steelers' owner, and League chairman knows what it's like to see a season go up in smoke. Covid prematurely ended the 2019-20 term.

He and the other EIHL board members insist they are covering all bases to keep hockey as safe as possible into 2022.

In the wider community, corona-views are frequently polar opposites, of course.

One member of the city's medical fraternity was concerned the Boxing Day game at Sheffield Arena, against Nottingham Panthers, could have turned out to be a "super-spreader."

Smith recognises that medical and commercial concerns don't always sync.

But he says: "My opinion is that everybody coming into that Arena should be double or triple jabbed. That's the first priority.

"If you haven't had three jabs then go and get your head looked at!

"There is no reason why you can't have three jabs and wear masks.

"At the end of the day we don't make anybody come to Steelers, it's optional. People have the right to do what they think is right.

"If 9,200 people wanted to watch us on Boxing Day, and those 9,200 had had the triple jabs and were wearing a mask - even if people say you should stay away - well, they had the choice."

It's a debate unlikely to be resolved until the soaring transmission rate is subdued.

So that's the immediate future summed up - it's one giant question mark.

The season we've witnessed so far is easier to fathom. There have been a lot more pluses and minuses.

STEELER PLUS: A big squad has shown it can absorb injuries and illnesses to stay on top. They've won eight out of their last nine.

Marco Vallerand and Rok Stojanovic top the League's stats in their own sectors.

Daine Todd has been a hugely successful addition to the blue line as has Martin Latal at the opposite end. Virtually all new faces have had little problem adapting. Justin Hodgman plays with a smile on his face.

Versatilty has been key - with players like Evan Mosey and Jonathan Phillips doing whatever is needed to help the cause.

STEELER MINUS: Travis Oleksuk disappeared after eight games. Anthony DeLuca went back to Canada after failing a drugs test. There were nasty injuries to Brendan Connolly and Adrian Saxrud-Danielsen. The Continental Cup ended badly because of injuries. Covid is currently flowing through the camp.

Yet the one devastating knock the club and its supporters endured was the untimely death of Marek Troncinsky, in May.

The affable Czech should be playing in orange, right now.

But how can anybody complain about what this team is achieving without their much-missed compatriot?

Steelers are number one in the League - all we have to do now is pray they have a League they can remain top of.

And win it - win it for Tron.