Huge weekend awaits Sheffield Steelers in League and Cup action
Sheffield Steelers take on Cardiff and Fife this weekend
Sheffield Steelers face one of their most important weekends of the season so far, with major implications in both the Challenge Cup and Elite League.
Aaron Fox’s side travel to Cardiff on Saturday knowing that victory against the Devils would secure their place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals, with one group game still remaining against Manchester Storm at the Utilita Arena on Wednesday.
The Steelers currently top Group A with 12 points from eight games, one point ahead of Nottingham Panthers.
Cardiff, though, remain firmly in the qualification race themselves and head into Saturday’s contest four points behind Sheffield but with two games in hand, making the game equally significant for the Devils.
Sheffield will travel without captain Robert Dowd, while there are also concerns over Mitchell Balmas, who left last Sunday’s game against Guildford early.
Despite those absences, Steelers defenceman Dominic Cormier says the focus is firmly on getting the job done in South Wales before thoughts turn to Sunday.
“It’s a huge weekend in both competitions, but we have to take it one game at a time,” said Cormier.
“We know progression to the Cup semi-finals is in our own hands, so right now we are all focused on Cardiff on Saturday.
“We’ll turn our attention to Fife on Sunday when we are sitting on the bus heading home on Saturday night.”
The second half of the weekend sees the Steelers return to the Utilita Arena to face a Fife Flyers side who have already frustrated Sheffield twice this season.
The Flyers defeated the Steelers 2-1 after overtime on consecutive nights earlier this month, first in Sheffield and then again in Kirkcaldy.
Those two results cost Sheffield valuable league points and Cormier admits the memories of that weekend still linger.
“The points we lost to them a couple of weeks ago still annoy us,” he said. “We just have to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Defeat on Sunday is simply not an option.”
Fife have been one of the surprise packages of the early season.
They currently sit second in their Challenge Cup group and have also made a solid start in league play, sitting sixth in the table on the same six points as Sheffield from five games.
For a Steelers side with ambitions of challenging for the league title, Sunday therefore already carries significant importance.
The standings remain tightly packed at this early stage, but Sheffield know that dropping more points at home against a direct rival would make their task more difficult.
That makes this a weekend of two very different challenges.
First comes the opportunity to secure Challenge Cup semi-final qualification in Cardiff. Then, less than 24 hours later, the Steelers return home looking for a measure of revenge against Fife and two important league points.
For Fox and his players, the message is simple: deal with Cardiff first, then turn attention to the Flyers.