Sheffield, U.K. – The Sheffield Steelers were today celebrating after being announced as 2010/11 Elite League Champions. The title run in came down to the wire, between the Steelers and fierce rivals the Cardiff Devils. Both were even on 87 points from 54 games, but Sheffield winning one more game in regulation than their counterparts was the determining factor.
Sheffield’s final two games were against the Braehead Clan who were playing in their inaugural season in the Elite League. 
The South Yorkshire side travelled north of the border on Saturday (19th March) to face the Clan at the Braehead Arena in the penultimate league game. Sheffield strolled to a 5-1 victory in a game where they didn’t even get out of second gear, preserving energy for tomorrow’s eagerly awaited rematch.
Only one goal separated the teams in the first period, coming courtesy of Steelers Captain Jonathan Phillips at 19:02 after some good work from linemate Rob Globke. A second period blitz from Sheffield which saw them hit four unanswered goals pretty much wrapped up the game and sealed them the two valuable points.
Jeff Legue was first on target at 25:52 with his 39th goal of the season to give his team a 2-0 lead. Frustrations began to get the better of the hosts and their agitator Kyle Bruce finished a late hit on Steve Munn who took exception to the hit, and the pair dropped the gloves with Munn claiming the honours in a good bout.
The fight seemed to spur the Steelers on further as they fired home three more goals in the following four minutes, to put the game out of reach. Firstly, Joey Talbot netted Steelers third of the night on the powerplay at 35:05 to give the visitors some more breathing room.
Neil Clark then slotted home another powerplay marker at 38:14 after a neat pass from Rob Globke again to make it 4-0. Great Britain international Ashley Tait then rounded off the second period scoring at 39:54 with his 25th of the season and Sheffield’s fifth of the night.
A Bobby Chaumont consolation effort in the third period for the Clan wasn’t enough to prevent Sheffield from claiming the all-important two points in their quest to land the League title.
The winning team with the backroom staff%2C and their families (Picture courtesy of Sheffield Steelers)
The same two teams battled it out once again twenty-four hours later at the Sheffield Motorpoint Arena in front of a bumper 7000+ crowd.
Sheffield cruised to a 7-2 victory to ensure they were crowned 2010/11 Elite League Champions for the first time since the 2008/09 double-winning side.
Rod Sarich was the first on the scoresheet at 6:47 after he blasted home on the powerplay to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Jeff Legue doubled the Steelers lead at 13:52 with his 40th goal of the season after a sublime pass from linemate Joey Talbot finding Legue backdoor all alone who made no mistake in slotting the puck home.
No further scoring followed in the first period, in which Sheffield heavily outshot their opponents 13-3. An unlikely source in Jerramie Domish netted the Steelers third goal at 22:52 after some good work from Derek Campbell to find Domish in space, to make it 3-0.
Neil Clark added further misery to the Clan just 39 seconds later, when he netted his 37th goal of the season to give Steelers a 4-0 lead. Steelers piled on further pressure and they got their just desserts when Rod Sarich netted his second of the game shorthanded at 26:12 to make it 5-0 to the South Yorkshire side.
Sheffield Steelers lynchpin defenceman Steve Munn netted a rare goal on the powerplay at 27:48 to round off the second period scoring in which the hosts outshot the visitors 18-5.
A resurgent Braehead Clan started the third period the brighter of the two teams, and former Manchester Phoenix Captain Adam Walker broke the visitors duck at 41:43 to give his side a glimmer of hope.
Jordan Krestanovich netted the visitors second goal of the night on the powerplay at 55:53 to give the excellent travelling support of the Clan something to cheer about.
Their celebrations were short lived when Steve Munn fired home his second of the night at 56:46 to make it 7-2. The bumper crowd were buoyant for the final three minutes signalling the start of the celebrations at the final buzzer for a well-deserved Elite League Title for the Steelers once again.
Sheffield now face the Dundee Stars who are also in their inaugural season in the Elite League, firstly with the home leg on Tuesday night (22nd March) before travelling up to Scotland for the final away leg on Saturday (26th March).
Sheffield will be looking to replicate the double winning success of the 2008/09 season by adding the Playoff trophy to their already burgeoning trophy cabinet, which would be nothing more than what they deserve after the adversity that they had to overcome from the summer and earlier on in the season.
Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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