Aaron Fox, the coach of the Sheffield Steelers, discusses the Champions Hockey League and how it can affect recruiting.

The Steelers won their first Elite League regular season title since 2016 as part of an incredible 2023–24 grand slam campaign that also saw them add the Challenge Cup and play-off trophies to their collection of hardware, ensuring they would be a part of what some consider to be Europe’s premier club competition in the game.

The Steelers have been placed in Pot D and will find out on May 22 during the IIHF World Championships in Prague who their six opponents will be in the CHL "regular season."

The head coach of the Steelers, Fox, will be at the draw and stated that several players on his grand slam-winning team are excited about the chance to play against some of the best teams in Europe.

Regarding the potential impact of the CHL's engagement on recruitment for the upcoming season, Fox stated: "This organization does an unbelievable job of taking care of its guys, both at the rink and outside of it." Therefore, it's a really favorable scenario for players to enter.

"It goes without saying that some of the guys who will be returning are excited about us playing in the Champions Hockey League next year."

"I simply don't know if it will be a selling point to some guys when I'm recruiting over the summer; I'll find out when I'm having those kinds of conversations in the coming weeks and months," the recruiter said.

The Steelers, led by head coach Paul Thompson, have participated in the CHL twice before, in 2015–16 and 2016–17.

They have only triumphed once in eight games, defeating Red Bull Salzburg 5-2. Robert Dowd, the team's current captain, leads the competition in goals scored with four.

Although Fox hasn't coached in the CHL before, he did work as a coach in the league from 2013 to 2018 while at Medvescak Zagreb in Croatia.

"It will undoubtedly be an extremely challenging task," Fox continued. "I am excited for the draw that will take place in a few weeks. I will travel to Prague to see it, and it will be an incredible experience to learn about the teams we will be playing against.

"It will be exciting for our fans to travel to Europe as well as for us to aim higher for ourselves in the upcoming season."

The Belfast Giants learned this after winning the grand slam in 2022–23 and finishing empty-handed a year later. Fox is conscious of the task he will face in repeating last season's domestic triumph, even though the CHL will provide a fresh challenge for the Steelers in 2024–25.

"We'll lose some pieces from that team, and they lost quite a few," Fox continued. However, they have been a very strong team in this league for the previous three years, and I have no doubt that they will regroup this summer and return prepared to challenge us once more.

"Nottingham has just brought in Danny Stewart, who is extremely knowledgeable about this league and will motivate his players to play hard every night. They are a team you have to always keep an eye on, but Cardiff is going to replenish.

"We know we can't take anything for granted, so nothing will be easy."