Thomas glad to see Cornish on his side

The defenceman has carefully avoided any fisticuffs with the big enforcer in the past - and always found him more than a handful to tie down.

"I know Corney from when we played together in London and we stayed friends after we went our separate ways" says Thomas. "He was always on my case when we played against each other"

"Thankfully, I never found myself in a fight with him, nobody would want that, after all he is a southpaw and has made a mess of a few people," said defenceman Thomas.

"It was great when I heard he was coming to Sheffield.

"He knows his role, doesn't expect to be on the power play or first line, but is a solid third line player who will protect his team-mates and intimidate the other side."

Thomas expects Steelers to be a lot quicker this season.

"The main difference will be that we have a lot of fast players and skill in more guys than we had last year when we had to rely on two forwards in particular, Shaun Sutter and Dan Tessier.

"New players Jeff Legue and Joe Talbot will be speedy and skilled and they will blend in well with the others."

And of goaltender Jody Lehman he said: "He is a great character who knows when it's big-game time. We couldn't have anybody better."