Mysterious Marco keeps Sheffield Steelers' fans guessing

When Marco Vallerand motors down the Sheffield Arena ice, nobody in the stands or on the bench is entirely certain what he is going to do with the puck.

Keeping opponents guessing is one of the tools of the trade which the 34-year-old Canadian has successfully deployed for years in ice hockey.

Off the pad, he can't help bamboozling people on line, either.

Earlier this week, Vallerand thoroughly confused Steeler web users when he posted this cryptic clue: "Steelers/olimpija. —> 23/24" - which seemed to indicate he was leaving Sheffield Steelers to HK Olimpija Ljubljana, from whence he came last season.

Steelers haven't announced what is happening with the winger, who has played 127 times for Sheffield.

But don't underestimate prankster Vallerand's love of making waves.

He loves to write mysterious posts.

There is clearly a lot of affection in the South Yorkshire camp for him - and it's not just from the fans, one of whom tweeted: "Nooooooo, please come back to us. You can't leave again! We miss you too much!"

Sheffield coach Aaron Fox remains a staunch supporter of Vallerand, whatever his employment position is.

He regards him as a 'franchise' player, even if his goal tally in 2022-23 (five goals in 20 games) was hampered by injury and illness.

"He came in mid-season into a team that was kind of set at that point in time and he led our team in 'expected goals' " Fox told The Star, recently.

"From a scoring-chance ratio, he led our team.

"Vally didn't have much puck-luck; we tried to find the right combinations and he kind of got moved around.

"But the thing with Vally he is such a responsible player.

"You might sense some frustration in his game because he is a high competitor and wants to score goals - but he doesn't cheat the game.

"We have had players in the past that couldn't score a goal so would cheat the game, but Vally is always going to be a very impactful player.

"He's an explosive skater, his style is different to (Brett) Neumann, but once he gets to top speed he is a truck!"

If Vallerand does re-sign, Steelers could be looking for anything in the order of 25-35 goals from him...and don't be surprised to see a player of that calibre on the top line.