Sheffield Steelers: No corners will be cut this season believes Martin St Pierre

The 36-year-old veteran – who injured a toe in a training-ice collision on the boards with Jonathan Phillips recently – has been a part of teams all over north America, Europe and Russia and has a lifetime's experience of what players should and shouldn't do, on and off the ice.

And the one-time Montréal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks centre thinks the interaction between new and existing players at Sheffield is already bearing fruit.

St. Pierre, whose skate-boot toe cap broke during the hefty impact from his captain, worked with Steelers' coach Aaron Fox at Medvescak Zagreb five years ago.

He said of Fox: "He just demands hard work, honest players - not to cut corners.

"We can have fun off the ice; in the locker room we have great guys, guys love to joke around and stuff like that but when we get on the ice it is time to work.

"We have got to lead that effort into games."

The forward said that the Steelers' squad had made a lot of progress as they ready themselves for Nottingham Panthers, at the Arena on Saturday.

"Every game we got better" is how he saw the three pre-season wins over European sides.

"A lot of guys have very good chemistry so we are pretty happy with about our three games, our special teams and the goaltending and our systems.

"We do have an older team so guys are very mature, professional; we have been all round the world, different leagues different mentality different systems so I think it is easy to mash."

St. Pierre, who at least avoided a broken toe in the hit from his captain, will be mentoring some of the younger players.

"I want to perform and play well and obviously help the younger guys,” he said.

"I think my role on the team is a little bit different than 10 years ago; hopefully I can pass on my experience and my knowledge that I have learned from different leagues around the world."

He predicts a winning season for Steelers, as long as players buy into Fox's game plan.

His coach is expecting a huge contribution to the team from St. Pierre, but recognises also that it may take the import longer than most to get in the groove, considering he only played one of the three exhibition games and has been limping, off the ice.