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The Sheffield Steelers returned to the champions hockey league this season as the EIHL's only reprehensive in the competition. The Steelers would be drawn in group P against Swedish side HV71 Jonkoping and the Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg. 18th of August and game 1 away at HV71, with 16 minutes left in the 3rd period the Steelers would be on level terms with the Swedes at 3-3 however 2 more goals for HV71 meant the Steelers would leave Sweden with a 5-3 loss. A day traveling to Austria followed by our game against Red Bull Salzburg proved too much for the Steelers players as they were completely exhausted by the end of the game which unfortunately showed on the scoreboard with a 8-1 defeat. 1 week later we welcomed HV71 to the Sheffield arena, the Swedes had come in good numbers and fine voice with HV71 picking up a 5-2 victory (all 5 of HV71's goals came on the power play) and qualification to the knockout stages. It would be a 2 week wait for our final group game with HV71 and Salzburg playing each other twice The Steelers would need HV71 to win both game to give the Steelers even the smallest chance of going through, sadly it wasn't to be as HV71 would win 4-2 in Austria and Salzburg would get the point they needed with a 2-1 win in Sweden meaning the Steelers would be playing for pride in the final group game against Red Bull Salzburg. A 2-1 1st period lead for the visitors however Salzburg's busy schedule caught up to them just as it have caught up to us and our away game as the Steelers would score 2 goals in each of the remaining periods to send the fans in attendance into delirium with a historic 5-2 victory, our first ever CHL victory and the Steelers 2016/17 CHL campaign came to an emotional end as the fans got to say thank you to one of the clubs finest servants in Rod Sarich. 12 years and 11 seasons Rod gave everything for the club (including half of 1 of his kidneys) winning 4 league championships, 2 playoff championships and a British knockout cup. Now focus returns to the elite league as we look to make history as the first team to win 3 British league championships in a row