Sheffield Steelers toughen up with Brendan Connolly back on board

Connolly, whose career was put on a hold by a bad knee injury last November, has rehabilitated enough to persuade coach Aaron Fox he deserves a place in the 2022-23 lineup.

Sheffield have already acquired the services of Scott Allen and Adam Raska, players who like to mix it up on the ice.

And they have another player in their sights - or have possibly even signed - who brings a similar bite to the squad.

Connolly said Fox will have recruited players to add a more dominating style of hockey.

"Foxy maybe looked at the team and thought he could improve in some areas, grittiness being one of them

"I thought we were good enough to win the league last season but we ran out of steam, so he could make us a bit more physical and grittier and hopefully that transpires to the end-of-season games that are critical," said Connolly.

"Physicality and passion can help you win those games and he is trying to get guys to fill that void."

Connolly admits his knee is not yet completely healed.

"I have a little bit to go so I am not 100 percent but I am progressing very nicely.

"It is a long process, it takes a while to get strength back. We have been working on agility, getting that explosiveness back. Then it's about feeling confident on the ice.

"There is a way to go but it is trending in the right direction. (Strength and conditioning coach) Mike Mawer has been great, we have had a good partnership all summer long."

Connolly said there had been some dark times after he'd got injured.

"The older you are the more injuries can trip you up - is it a career ender, will it knock you out? There are a lot of questions but that is alleviated when you put in the work to get back to where you need to be."

Fox commented: "Conns is a core guy who knows what we expect here and is great for our group.

"Most importantly, he is coming in for the right reasons and has some unfinished business.

"He has really put the work in this summer and is in great shape and should be ready by the opening night.

"When healthy we know how effective he is and expect him to get into form right away" said the coach.

"He’s a heart and soul player who plays on the edge which we lacked down the stretch last year.

"It’s great to have him back and we are looking for him to be a leader."

Fox will be hoping to start off next season with a bang - he scored five points in the first two games and was top of the plus-minus statistics for the team after six matches.

The player, who will be 37 years old in September, injured his groin in October and missed a handful of games, but it was his ACL wound that finished his year, playing against Aalborg Pirates.