Sheffield Steelers Coach Aaron Fox Praises Team After Champions Hockey League Exit

Sheffield Steelers head coach Aaron Fox lauded his team’s display after their elimination from the Champions Hockey League by German champions Eisbaren Berlin, with an aggregate score of 9-5. This followed a 4-2 loss in the recent match. The Steelers, having previously lost the initial leg 5-3 on home ice last week, established an early lead at the Uber Arena before ultimately succumbing to a 4-2 defeat. “I thought we were really, really good. I thought we were electric in the first 20 minutes and they didn’t have an answer for us,” Fox stated in an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield. “We were going out living or dying by the sword tonight, whether we lost by five goals or one goal it would still be a loss. We were going for it.” He further remarked: “We planned on punching first and making this a hockey game and I think anyone who watches hockey would say we were absolutely on in that first 20. I didn’t think they handled our pressure very well.” “They’re aggressive and physical and I felt there were certain things that if we could do we could take advantage of. We just didn’t finish on some of those chances.” This defeat concludes a commendable campaign for the English squad, which saw them overcome Swedish teams Skelleftea AIK and Vaxjo Lakers, as well as Czech side Sparta Prague, to reach this stage of Europe’s premier ice hockey competition. Fox, whose team currently sits third in the Elite League with three games in hand on the leading Cardiff Devils, conveyed that he was “blown away” by the team’s overall performance throughout the tournament. “I’m extremely proud. I’m blown away by the effort we’ve got from the group, game-in and game-out,” he added. “The group we had was definitely the hardest in the competition for our pool of teams, so for us to be able to get to this position and then compete as hard as we did… I couldn’t be prouder.”