Sheffield Steelers rewarded for their patience after landing new import defenceman Kevin Tansey for 2023-24 Elite League campaign

That’s the approach that has worked for Sheffield Steelers’ head coach Aaron Fox in order to secure the signature of experienced defenceman Kevin Tansey at the second attempt for the 2023-24 Elite League season.

The 30-year-old Ontario-born blue liner was almost part of the fixtures and fittings at the Utilita Arena last season but instead opted to play in Denmark.

Now, after going deep in the play-offs with Herning Blue Fox, the well-travelled Tansey has switched his sights to a first-ever season at the UK’s top level and Fox - gunning for the prized regular season championship at the fourth attempt - couldn’t be happier.

The Steelers’ boss was helped in his pursuit by a couple of players well known to Steelers’ fans in the shape of forward Daniel Ciampini - last season’s joint-top points scorer - and former defenceman Adrian Saxrud Danielsen, who played under Fox during the 2021-22 campaign.

Both played alongside Tansey in the IceHL for Innsbruck in 2020-21.

“I thought we were pretty close with Kevin last year, then something else came up a little bit late and he ended up going to Denmark,” said Fox.

“So we’d had had several conversations last year about Sheffield last time around and I think he has kept in touch with Daniel Ciampini, who I assume had plenty of good things to say about our organisation.

“So we touched base at the end of the season just gone, he was then in the play-offs with Herning but once they were done we agreed to a deal pretty quickly.”

As well as his veteran defensive prowess, Fox is convinced Tansey will have a positive impact at both ends of the ice.

“He’s a big guy, plays a heavy, physical game, skates really well for his size and he will protect the net - he ticks a lot of boxes for us in that sense,” added Fox.

“He’ll also chip in offensively. He’s scored about 35 goals in the last three years, which is over an average of 10 goals per season so if we can find a way to get 10-12 goals out of him, combined with the physical side of the game that he is going to bring and the way that we know he can defend, he should be a great fit for us.”

Tansey will arrive in Sheffield with a wealth of experience in North America behind him, including 45 AHL appearances and over 180 games in the East Coast league.

He first came to Europe in 2019 when joining Czech-based team Orli Znojmo playing in what was then known as the EBEL.

Subsequent spells followed in Austria, Slovakia and again in Czechia before, after initial conversations with Fox about coming to Sheffield, he opted to make the move to Denmark for the 2022-23 season.

“Aaron is expecting me to be a leader on this team and I’m certainly prepared to do whatever it takes to help the team win,” said Tansey.

“I know it’s a fairly tight league and I know it’s a little more physical than most leagues, played with a high pace. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Sheffield, the fanbase and everyone involved with the organisation. I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”