“The league title matters enormously”
Evan Jasper says the Sheffield Steelers have quickly learned that life in the Elite League requires a different mentality to the one many players arrive with from North America and Europe.
In many leagues overseas, the playoffs are often regarded as the ultimate prize and the regular season can feel like the road that gets you there.
In Britain, Jasper says, it is different.
The league title matters enormously and that means every point dropped in October can become significant months later.
That lesson was brought home to Jasper early in his first season in Sheffield, when Matt Greenfield took time to explain just how important the league championship is.
“Greener pulled me aside one of our first days of camp and sort of gave me the lay of the land,” said Jasper.
“Obviously there are three trophies in this league, but that league championship is one of the biggest, if not the biggest one.
“You lose some points in October and it’s hard to make them up in April, so you try to drill that into the guys and make sure that they’re prepared every game.”
That message has particular relevance this weekend as the Steelers prepare to face Glasgow Clan at home on Saturday before travelling to Manchester on Sunday.
Sheffield have already beaten Glasgow 6-1 this season, but Jasper insists that result will count for very little when the two sides meet again.
“I think every team in this league can win on any night,” he said.
“We can’t take that 6-1 win and think we’re just going to walk all over them.
“It’s going to be a massive game for us. It’s early, it’s October, but it’s already gut-check time and you need that playoff mentality.
“If we don’t come out swinging on Saturday night, they’re going to surprise us.
“We need to come in guns blazing and put up a really good performance.”
Jasper believes the challenge for the Steelers is not a lack of understanding, but making sure the required level is there shift after shift.
“I think everyone has an understanding of it,” he said.
“We just need that buy-in every single period, every single shift.”
The Steelers go into the weekend looking to respond positively after two overtime defeats against Fife Flyers.
Those games have already been dissected, but Jasper admitted there was particular frustration surrounding Saturday night’s overtime winner in Sheffield.
The goal was allowed to stand after a lengthy review despite Steelers protests that Matt Greenfield had been interfered with and that the net had been dislodged.
“From the bench and from all the replay angles, I thought it was pretty clear that his stick had driven into Greener’s leg, which caused the post to come off its moorings,” said Jasper.
“To me, I feel like that is goalie interference.
“But the refs saw it a different way and you can’t change it, so you just have to move on.”
Jasper admitted the length of the review had given the Steelers an uneasy feeling before the decision was announced.
“Usually the longer it takes for them to look, it seems like they’re kind of changing their mind,” he said.
“You could see on the refs’ faces every time they were looking at the screen and you just had that gut feeling that maybe it wasn’t going to go our way.”