AARON FOX believes Sheffield Steelers’ ‘A-game’ is good enough to beat every other team in the Motorpoint Elite League. But as for their ‘B-game’ …
The Steelers have produced some moments of real quality this season but their inconsistency is continuing to be a concern for their head coach.
Sunday’s 4-3 win after a shootout in the Challenge Cup group game at home to Guildford Flames, was the perfect example of Steelers’ hit and miss tendencies, a solid first period, followed by a poor second which saw the visitors emerge for the third period 2-0 to the good.
But some tough talk from Fox during the second intermission seemed to do the trick, his team coming out energized and capable of turning the game on its head before taking the extra point on offer in the shoot-out.
Fox believes he has recruited a team capable of ending the Steelers’ wait for a first trophy since their treble-winning campaign of 2023-24. They just need to produce it more often than they currently are.
“That second period was just nothing, no real positive play, no momentum,” said Fox. “So after the second we called them out and kind of asked what type of team they want to be - because, right now, when we don't have our A-game, our B game is very, very poor.
“That third period, we were very good. We came out, were moving our feet, making plays, being physical - and that’s just got to be the standard of our group here.
“If it isn't, we're not going to be very good, but if it is - I think this team can beat anybody.
“When we're on it and everyone's on it, we're very, very good when but everything we do is a five-man job.
“So if you only have three or four guys doing the job, it's not going to work as well as it needs to at the level that we expect it to.
“Our execution hasn't been great in certain areas of the ice and it's something that we continue to watch tape on.
“Plays are there to be made, we're just not making a lot of them right now when things aren't going well.
“Some of it is just intensity, 50-50s, those first touch races that you have to win if you want to execute into concept and structure.”