Genting Casino Coventry Blaze coach Chuck Weber knows Sheffield Steelers will provide a good test for his side at the Skydome on Saturday night (7pm face-off).
The teams meet for the first time since Blaze prevailed in the Elite League play-off final at the National Ice Centre in April. 
It will be Blaze’s first Challenge Cup Group B tie – having advanced to the semi-finals last season – while finalists Steelers went down to holders Cardiff Devils in their opener.
Weber said: “When you look at the four teams from our conference and add in Manchester, who have made a good start, then you know it is going to be competitive to get out of our bracket.
“Every point is important. We had to wait a long time last season for Cardiff to beat Hull so we want to control our own destiny.
“You want to win as much hardware as possible but we need to make sure we get out of our bracket to give ourselves a chance.
“Sheffield have been playing three to four weeks longer than we have so it will be a good test for us. They are a deep team who work hard and play the right way.
“They have been playing against high-class competition [in the Champions League] and their budget has enabled them to have some sustained success over the years.
“We will need to play the right way, to our identity. We need to take care of our own end and we have now added some skill to create some offence.
“It is an exciting opportunity to see whether we can compete with an upper-echelons team. They are a team we are going to have to find a way to have some success against if we want to achieve our goals.”
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