Thursday: Steelers make long-awaited return to CHL
Photo: Sheffield Steelers
Sheffield Steelers make their long-awaited return to the Champions Hockey League on Thursday night, eight years since they last took part.
The Steelers, who qualified for the CHL by winning the EIHL league title and then went on to secure a grand slam of domestic honours, are in Switzerland to face Fribourg-Gottéron - themselves Semi-Finalists in the competition back in 2017. In four of their five previous seasons in the CHL, the team from the west of Switzerland have made it past the first round of the competition.
“Sheffield are champions of the Elite League. They’re a club with qualities. This will be our first opponent at home so it will be important for us to start with a victory,” said Head Coach Patrick Emond ahead of the Steelers' visit to the BCF Arena.
The city of Fribourg, in the Canton of the same name, sits on the Saane with a population of just under 40,000 people. It is a city which is both French and German speaking.
Sheffield head into their first CHL campaign since 2016/17 having won everything there was to win in the EIHL last season. The Steelers went unbeaten through pre-season and will have both Robert Dowd and Cole Shudra back in their line-up after international duty.
"On the road to open our season will be a fun place to start," commented Head Coach Aaron Fox. "Fribourg-Gottéron had a very successful year last season and am sure they will want to start this campaign at home with a win so we will have to acclimate very quickly to the pace they will play with.”
The Steelers didn't get out of the group stage in either 2015/16 or 2016/17 and have just one CHL win to their name to date - beating Red Bull Salzburg in Sheffield. In both of their previous participations, the CHL format saw two teams qualify out of a group of three.
No EIHL team has ever beaten a Swiss side in Switzerland, although they have taken wins against teams from the National League in the UK - Cardiff Devils beat Davos in overtime, Nottingham Panthers famously beat Bern on their run to the Round of 16.
