Nelson ready to lead Sheffield Steelers fleet into battle

The free-scoring winger will hope to be among the goals when Steelers face Coventry Blaze this weekend, in Play Off quarter final action.

An aggregate win will see them through to Nottingham for the finals weekend.

“At the end of the day as long as we win hockey games, that’s all that matters” said Nelson. “We will do whatever we can to make the team win. Obviously it is a great opportunity to win a couple of championships here.”

The club will depend on “guys who can step up and do our job” in the Play Offs, he said.

Nelson’s personal situation at the club has yet to be finalised.

The club has re-signed several players for 2016-7 but has yet to cement a deal with their second-top scorer overall (24 goals & 31 assists; 68 points, 62 games) - his tally coming ahead of Mathieu Roy.

“Obviously there have been a little bit of talks, it is all up to them, if they make an offer” he said. He said he “absolutely” wants to stay at the Aerna next season.

“Me and my family like it here. It is a first-class organisation, they have done everything we have asked of them. They take care of us here.

“It is the top organisation in the League, in Britain.

“So why wouldn’t I want to be here? said the 27-year-old Canadian, who has played in Italy and Germany.

James Pease, Director of Hockey at Blaze says he was “super-pleased” for his friend and Steelers coach Paul Thompson for him to have won the Elite League title.

But he warned in previous contests this season “head to head, so far, it has gone our way” and that Coventry had actually hoped for Sheffield would be their opponents in the quarter finals. He admitted that Thompson being a former Blaze legend still brought an “extra edge” to the game.