It's now a day before the Champions Hockey League Group Stage Draw, and every team eagerly anticipates which opponents they will face. The Sheffield Steelers are no different. Read general manager and head coach Paul Thompson explain how his team is preparing to be more competitive against Europe's best.
by Kris Watkins
The EIHL champion Sheffield Steelers will fly the flag for British ice hockey in the 2016–17 Champions League, and head coach and general manager Paul Thompson has wasted no time in making it known that the British champions are not only excited to be taking part in Europe's premium cup tournament, but do not intend to just to make up the numbers.
The Steelers will have representatives at Tuesday's Group Stage Draw in Zurich, in which the two opponents they will play both home and away will be decided.
“Exciting times,” Thompson was recently quoted on the club website. “There is no such thing as an easy draw. Every team in the competition are champions in their own right. The way the first round of the Draw takes place will ensure that two great clubs will play against us in late August, early September.”
CHL qualification from the British Elite League (EIHL) is different from the rest of Europe in that, due to British sporting tradition and a very short playoff format, the emphasis lays heavily on the regular season, meaning that the team that finishes top of the league is crowned as the British Champions.
In a fascinating and pulsating end to the league season, the Steelers stole the title from under the noses of their long-term rivals the Cardiff Devils, and in doing so, managed to defend their league title and secure a spot in the 2016–17 Champions Hockey League. It really was an unpredictable, turbulent title race, with first the Braehead Clan, and then the Devils having destiny in their own hands, before the Steelers held their nerve to secure a record fifth Elite League title since it's induction in the 2003–04 season. The title race was in fact so close that any one of five teams had a chance of winning it with just four weeks remaining!
The Steelers enjoyed their experience in last season's Champions League, and feel that they can compete and have a chance to move on to the knock-out Round of 32 if the Draw is kind to them. It's no secret within European hockey circles that any team who qualify from the UK will face a huge task in progressing from the group stage. Opposing teams are generally from far superior leagues, carry much larger budgets, and will regularly run with four lines.
“We all have a feel for the CHL now. We all enjoyed our experience last year in Sweden and Finland and that was a lot of the drive that carried us to a league title this year. We wanted more.”
One of the Steelers' group stage opponents last season were the eventual CHL winners Frolunda Gothenburg and, despite a tough 9–1 defeat in Sweden, Thompson’s squad put up a great performance against them back in Sheffield, holding the game at one apiece until the powerhouse from western Sweden finally tallied a few late goals to remain unbeaten.
“It's very important to us, the Champions Hockey League,” Thompson said in an audio interview where he explained how the club is preparing for the upcoming season. “By winning the league, that's what gets you entry into the premier cup competition in Europe and we want to be part of that. We were last year and I thought we did a great job. Hopefully we'll have a little bit more preparation time as a group this year and we'll know a little bit more about it.”
In order to be better prepared, the Steelers have arranged two pre-season games against the Aalborg Pirates from Denmark. Aalborg finished 8th in the Danish Ligaen this year before being eliminated by three-time defending champions SonderjyskE Vojens in the quarter-finals.
On the choice of opponents, Thompson explained, “We play each other a lot in [the EIHL] and our fans want to see new teams. It is imperative that prior to the Champions League we get some European opposition. They play a little bit different style and Aalborg – my old club – have great people there. The general manager there, Ronny Larsen, was my assistant coach when I was there [as head coach in the 2014–15 season].”
To back up their promise of taking the CHL very seriously, the Steelers moved quickly to add well-renowned Swedish coach Jerry Andersson to their coaching staff. Andersson will serve as an assistant to Thompson, and brings with him decades of experience as a coach and general manager at the top level of Swedish hockey. He also managed Sweden’s U18 team at six separate international tournaments, including the U18 World Championships.
Andersson already had links to the Steelers – he was the G.M. who took Great Britain star Robert Dowd for Troja Lundby in 2011, and he was also the man who hired Thompson as head coach for the same club for the 2013–14 season.
He plans to arrive early in the summer to prepare the club well for the CHL openers in August – the team’s pre-season training camp starts on 8 August.
“I look at the teams in the Draw and it excites me that we will be lining up against them. We will go to Zurich […] as Britain’s representatives once again. We conducted ourselves with pride last year and will do so again this time around.”