Friday: Steelers with history on their side against Czech opponents

Photo: Albin Welander

Sheffield Steelers return home after two impressive road performances in the Champions Hockey League with dreams of making the last 16 still very much alive.

A narrow defeat in Fribourg where the Steelers probably deserved at least an overtime point was followed by an historic win in Växjö - the Steelers' first on the road in the CHL, and the first by an Elite League team in Scandinavia in the competition.

"Sparta will be a fun test at home for us for our first game in the arena. They will play a puck possession game and will be one of our most demanding physical opponents. They are big and heavy and we’ll have to be ready to compete hard," said Steelers coach Aaron Fox. "Special teams will be very important in this one. I think the Czech Extraliga is a very strong league and they will be a Top four team there this season."

Their visitors on Friday night are Sparta Prague, one of the biggest names in Czech ice hockey. The team from the Czech capital had a shaky start to their CHL campaign in front of home crowds at the o2 arena, losing in a shootout to 2023 champions Tappara, before needing a final period 5-on-3 to get pst Fehérvár of the ICEHL.

'Hockey in the UK is on the rise, with many players with interesting history from overseas and European competitions playing for Sheffield. The Steelers play in a beautiful arena, we are looking forward to a new experience. I’m expecting a lot of tough and hard-hitting hockey” said coach Pavel Gross ahead of the trip.

While the Steelers will go into the game as underdogs, history is on their side as teams from the Czech Extraliga have struggled on their visits to the UK in the CHL. Although Liberec beat Cardiff in their first visit back in 2017, no Czech side has won a game in the UK since. Mountfield HK were beaten in Cardiff and Nottingham, Liberec in Belfast, and both Pardubice and Třinec fell to the Giants in recent seasons for a staggering statistic of just one Extraliga win on six visits to the UK.