Sheffield Steelers

The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. The club was formed in 1991 and plays its home games at the Sheffield Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League.
==History==
Ice Hockey existed in amateur form in Sheffield, but the sport began its return to an era of arenas and stadium size crowds with the opening of the Sheffield Arena in 1991 and the creation of the Sheffield Steelers — the ice hockey team that was to occupy the new arena. The Sheffield Arena was built as part of the city's facilities for the staging of the World Student Games, and is a sizeable stadium originally seating 8,500 and located close to the city centre. Ronnie Wood and David Gardener-Brown were at the helm as the Marketing Director at the club and set about promoting ice hockey to a city raised on the footballing success of Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. Wood had a specific target, seeking to attract children and families to the city's new sporting Arena. They also began taking players to local football matches and together with mascots in an attempt to pull in football fans too. The Steelers' announcer David Simms gave certain players nicknames in the 1991–92 season to help the crowd associate with the players such as 'Rocket Ron Shudra, 'Stormin' Steve Nemeth and 'Magic' Mark Mackie. 
The Steelers were named in honour of Sheffield's industrial past, much like the American football team of the same name based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the sharing of nicknames is merely a coincidence. The American football team actually predates Sheffield's team by 58 years and was already popular worldwide due to their dominance in the National Football League in the 1970s. Sheffield and Pittsburgh are considered sister cities.
The Steelers have continued to fill the capacity of the Arena nearly every season since, including over 9,000 vs Nottingham on Boxing Day 2021. Sheffield began breaking several British ice hockey attendance records, and in March 1996 added an extra 1,200 seats to the Arena to meet the growing demand. The Manchester v Sheffield game in 1997 saw a UK record 17,245, such was the passion for the game at that time.
On Sunday 3 December 2006, the Steelers played in their 1000th ever game. The game was against the Basingstoke Bison at the Hallam FM Arena, for which special orange jerseys had been made for the match. The Steelers lost the game 3–2 and the jerseys were all auctioned off at the game.
===2000–present===
In the 2000–01 campaign the Steelers completed a Grand Slam, becoming only the second club to win the Autumn Cup, League, Challenge Cup and Playoff Titles in the same season. They retained the Play-off title the following season, the first team to achieve this in the Superleague era, beating Manchester Storm on penalties in the Play-Off final, held at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham in front of a full house.
David Matsos was appointed as coach for the 2006–07 season. He led the Steelers to a fourth-place finish in the league and a place in the Challenge Cup Finals.
In 2007 team Owner Bob Phillips and his wife sold their other Elite League club the Cardiff Devils in order to concentrate on building the Steelers. The club won that season's Elite League Playoff Championship after beating the Coventry Blaze 2–0 in the final with goals from Johnathan Phillips and Dan Tessier. The Steelers were knocked out of the following season's Knockout Cup and Challenge Cup early, but finished first in a league campaign that saw them lose just three times in regulation. They made this a double by beating Nottingham Panthers 2–0 in the Play-Off final. The Steelers season ended in the Quarter Finals of the Play-offs after being knocked out by the Cardiff Devils.
The 2010–11 season was preceded by a "walk-out" of Steelers management and office staff, after a vote of no confidence in Owner Bob Phillips. Phillips put the club up for sale, and in December 2010 Paul Ragan, the CEO and owner of the Cardiff Devils, finalised acquiring the rights to the Sheffield Steelers. The Steelers were at the top of the league for the majority of the season, battling it out with the Cardiff Devils, .and won the league after back-to-back victories against the Braehead Clan. The Steelers were tied on points with Cardiff but won the league having more regulation time wins. After several rounds of negotiations, Simon decided not to renew his contract, and Ryan Finnerty was installed as player/coach after. During that season Sheffield Steelers became the first EIHL team to win a medal in Europe after their appearance in the Continental Cup superfinal.
Tony Smith took over as sole owner in August 2011 after buying out Paul Ragan. The Steelers won the 2013–14 Play-Off final 3–2 against Belfast Giants.
From 2014 onwards any time that the Sheffield Steelers win a game the player dubbed Man of the Match does a fast lap around the ice with a pre-planned celebration at the end of their fast lap. This tradition was then called "the Eddy" named after the player who originated this tradition Cullen Eddy. Some sources say that this was originally a prank devised by players at the time Mark Thomas and Jason Hewitt who skated over to Eddy and told him that it was a 20 year tradition at the club to do a fast lap around the perimeter of the ice. The prank paid off and after that the Steelers incorporated this in their match night celebrations
At the end of season 2014–15 they beat the Cardiff Devils to clinch the Elite League title with 74 points. On 20 April 2015, they parted company with coach Gerad Adams. They soon brought in Paul Thompson, former GB coach, as head coach and general manager. At the end of season 2015–16 they became only the second club in the history of ice hockey to become back to back champions when they defeated the Fife Flyers on the final day of the season to take the title.
Paul Thompson left the Sheffield Steelers on 1 October 2018, citing personal reasons. He was replaced as head coach by Tom Barrasso. On 16 April 2019 the club announced that Aaron Fox had been appointed as head coach and general manager of the club.
On 8 March 2020, the Steelers won the 2019–20 Challenge Cup beating Cardiff Devils 4–3 – their first Challenge Cup title for 17 years.
On 28 October 2023, during a game against the Sheffield Steelers at Utilita Arena, Adam Johnson of the Nottingham Panthers sustained a fatal injury. The injury occurred when Johnson's neck came into contact with the skate of Steelers player Matt Petgrave. The game was halted immediately, and medical personnel from both teams, as well as medically trained spectators, rushed to assist. Players from both teams gathered around Johnson during the emergency response efforts. South Yorkshire Police are conducting an investigation into the incident and have urged the public to avoid speculation while inquiries continue.
On 13 March 2024, the Sheffield Steelers brought an end to their four year trophy drought by winning the Challenge Cup at home against the Guildford Flames 3–1, their second Challenge Cup title in the Elite League era. On 24 March 2024, the Sheffield Steelers would clinch the Elite League title for the first time since the 2015–16 EIHL season qualifying them for the 2024–25 Champions Hockey League season.
==Honours and awards==
League Championships
*1994–95, 1995–96, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2023–24
Play Off Championships
*1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2023–24
Autumn Cups
*1995–96, 2000–01
Challenge Cups
*1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2019–20, 2023–24
20–20 Hockeyfest Tournament
*2009–10
Other
*Yorkshire Cup: 2 (1993/94, 1994/95)
*Benson & Hedges Cup: 2 (1995/95, 2000/01)
*Knockout Cup: 1 (2005/06)
*Charity Shield: 1 (2009/10)
==Season-by-season record==
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Season 	League 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	Pts 	GF 	GA 	Final League Position
1991–92	English League Division 1 	32 	27 	4 	1 	0 	55 	378	163	2nd
1992–93	British League Division 1 	32 	22 	6 	4 	0 	48 	300	186	2nd
1993–94	British League Premier Division	44 	28 	12 	4 	0 	55† 	313	198	3rd†
1994–95	British League Premier Division	44 	35 	5 	4 	0 	74 	334	183	1st
1995–96	British League Premier Division	36 	27 	4 	5 	0 	59 	268	122	1st
1996–97	Ice Hockey Superleague 	44 	27 	11 	4 	2 	60 	168	127	2nd
1997–98	Ice Hockey Superleague 	44 	20 	18 	3 	3 	50 	169	163	6th
1998–99	Ice Hockey Superleague 	42 	17 	19 	4 	2 	40 	135	141	6th
1999–00	Ice Hockey Superleague 	42 	24 	14 	2 	2 	52 	188	155	2nd
2000–01	Ice Hockey Superleague 	48 	35 	9 	0 	4 	104‡	162	115	1st
2001–02	Ice Hockey Superleague 	48 	18 	18 	12 	0 	48 	138	144	3rd
2002–03	Ice Hockey Superleague 	32 	18 	8 	5 	1 	42 	162	115	1st††
2003–04	Elite Ice Hockey League 	56 	44 	8 	3 	1 	92 	214	106	1st
2004–05	Elite Ice Hockey League 	50 	25 	17 	5 	3 	58 	118	110	5th
2005–06	Elite Ice Hockey League 	42 	15 	19 	6 	2 	38 	105	135	6th
2006–07	Elite Ice Hockey League 	54 	30 	16 	– 	8 	68 	163	154	3rd
2007–08	Elite Ice Hockey League 	54 	38 	14 	– 	2 	78 	190	129	2nd
2008–09	Elite Ice Hockey League 	54 	41 	6 	– 	7 	89 	201	115	1st
2009–10	Elite Ice Hockey League 	56 	24 	26 	– 	6 	54 	194	196	5th
2010–11	Elite Ice Hockey League 	54 	43 	10 	– 	1 	87 	265	132	1st
2011–12	Elite Ice Hockey League 	54 	41 	11 	– 	2 	84 	209	130	2nd
2012–13	Elite Ice Hockey League 	52 	35 	14 	– 	3 	73 	184	133	3rd
2013–14	Elite Ice Hockey League 	52 	31 	17 	– 	4 	66 	172	141	2nd
2014–15	Elite Ice Hockey League 	52 	35 	13 	– 	4 	74 	193	134	1st
2015–16	Elite Ice Hockey League 	52 	34 	14 	– 	4 	72 	190	161	1st
2016–17	Elite Ice Hockey League 	52 	35 	14 	– 	3 	73 	196	136	3rd
2017–18	Elite Ice Hockey League 	56 	34 	19 	– 	3 	71 	217	140	3rd
2018–19	Elite Ice Hockey League 	60 	30 	26 	– 	4 	64 	183	203	7th
2019–20	Elite Ice Hockey League 	49 	31 	17 	– 	1 	63 	211	154	2nd†††
2020–21	Elite Ice Hockey League 	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	N/A 	N/A	N/A	N/A††††
2021–22	Elite Ice Hockey League 	54 	37 	10 	– 	7 	81 	202	138	2nd
2022–23	Elite Ice Hockey League 	54 	36 	13 	– 	5 	77 	190	129	3rd
2023–24	Elite Ice Hockey League 	54 	45 	8 	– 	1 	91 	228	113	1st
:†Finished second with 60 points. However, five points were deducted for breaking the wage cap
:‡Three points were awarded for a win in the 2000–01 season
:††Five team league
:†††The 2019–20 season was cancelled in March 2020, with Sheffield having played 49 games, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The above stats reflect the Steelers' position at the time of the cancellation.
:††††The 2020–21 Elite League season – originally scheduled for a revised start date of 5 December – was suspended on 15 September 2020, because of ongoing coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The EIHL board determined that the season was non-viable without supporters being permitted to attend matches and unanimously agreed to a suspension. The season was cancelled completely in February 2021. Sheffield were later announced as one of four Elite League teams taking part in the 'Elite Series' between April–May 2021, a total of 24 games culminating in a best-of-three play-off final series.
==References==
==External links==
*Sheffield Steelers
*Elite Ice Hockey League
Category:Ice hockey teams in England
Category:Elite Ice Hockey League teams