CAST your eye down the current list of leading point-scorers in the Elite League and you have to go some way until you find the first entry off the Sheffield Steelers roster.

In at No 20 (with a bullet, naturally) is Daniel Ciampini – played 16, Goals: 5, Assists: 12, Points: 17.

Next is Brett Neumann at 24th on 15 points (seven goals) then in 36th and 37th – both on 13 points – come Martin Latal and defenceman Matt Petgrave.

Compare that with Belfast Giants, the team the Steelers’ just split a double-header weekend with. Giants’ Scott Conway is top of the list with 28 points (including 12 goals), with line-mate David Goodwin third on 25 (seven goals). They also have Gabe Bast at eighth with 21 points.

Current leaders Guildford Flames have four players in the top 10, with Daniel Tedesco the most productive, keeping the two Giants’ forwards apart in second with 10 goals in his 25 points.

But the table that really matters, the one that everybody will be looking at come the end of March is the regular season league standings.

Cast your eye down that and you only get to second place before the Steelers’ name leaps out at you.

While they may not have yet discovered the kind of individual point producers to match the likes of Conway, Tedesco and Goodwin, head coach Aaron Fox is not unduly worried, confident his team has the necessary depth to take them all the way in the race for the league championship.

BALANCING ACT: Sheffield Steelers' head coach Aaron Fox wants his team to be in with a shout of the Elite League regular season title come March. Picture courtesy of Dean Woolley/EIHL.

The Steelers may be the lowest scorers among the current top five with 60 goals in 16 games, but the difference is minimal. More importantly, perhaps, they are the most miserly team in the league, conceding just 28 goals all season.

“We’re a very deep hockey team right now,” said Fox. “Top to bottom, we’re playing four lines and everyone is contributing.

“With the Ciampini, (Scott) Allen and Neumann line and the Latal, Danny Kristo and Robert Dowd line, I feel we legitimately have two first lines in this league.

“One of our most effective lines in the last couple of weeks has been the (Tomas) Pitule, (Brandon) McNally and (Adam) Raska line – they’ve been outstanding.

LEADING MAN: Daniel Ciampini is Sheffield Steelers' top points-producer in the regular season, sitting 20th overall in the entire Elite League with five goals and 12 assists in 16 games. Picture courtesy of Dean Woolley.

“You always need secondary scoring. Mason Mitchell when he was on our fourth line against Coventry the other week got two goals, so we’re getting guys to chip in throughout our line-up.”

Another key ingredient for the Steelers’ impressive early-season form, says Fox, has been the management of players’ ice time, the hope being that they will be fresher than their rivals when it really counts at the business end of the season.

“If you look at how our time on ice has been spread out throughout the year, we’ve got a bunch of guys playing 14-18 minutes and our defencemen around 20-24,” added Fox.

“But when you look at some of the other teams in the league, they are playing their defencemen close to 30 minutes and their top forward lines 24-25 minutes.

GOOD START: Brett Neumann has posted seven goals and eight assists in the Elite League regular season. Picture courtesy of Dean Woolley/EIHL/Steelers.

“I think that is going to make a difference – maybe not early in the year here but, at some point, I think we’re going to be the fresher team coming down the stretch.”

Why Sheffield Steelers boss Aaron Fox is happy with his lot in early stages of Elite League campaign