Sheffield Steelers locker room ignores negativity about EIHL title challenge

The 25-year-old Great Britain player missed Steelers' last two defeats with a lower-body injury.

He has found watching the team from the stands to be a frustrating experience but has no time for any lingering negativity from those outside the locker room.

Whistle also defended top-nine players that have found it difficult to find the net recently and believes future games against Belfast Giants, Guildford Flames, and Cardiff Devils will give Sheffield the opportunity to climb the rankings.

The skater, asked how confident fans could be that his team can turn results around, replied: "We want to play play-off hockey; it is nice to be able to play these guys six times at the end of the year and those are the games it will come down to and really matter.

"I don't think it matters what other people believe that are outside of the group, it is just what we believe inside."

As for some of the goal-shy senior pros, he said "There is nothing wrong with anybody right now, sometimes it doesn't go in, sometimes guys are gripping their stick a little too hard, myself included."

But he said once that period was over the "floodgates would open for every guy on the team."

Whistle's injury recovery rate is a day-by-day situation, he said, confirming that he was hurt in a recent game at Fife Flyers.

The sport was "frustrating to watch in the stands, I'm just hoping to get back out there pretty soon."

Recent losses "definitely don't help" Sheffield's hopes of winning the EIHL title, he admitted.

The plan, now, was to try and win every single game and hopefully the team could "bring one home."

But is the team capable of winning all remaining games?

"Yeah, I think so" he answered.

"We have gone on a couple of runs earlier in the year...we believe we can and so that's what we got to do.

"It's a tough stretch of hockey that we are going through right now," he said but was confident the dressing room could "figure it out."