Steelers coach Fox proud despite European exit

Sheffield Steelers head coach Aaron Fox praised his side's performance after they were knocked out of the Champions Hockey League by German champions Eisbaren Berlin 9-5 on aggregate.

The Steelers, who lost the first leg 5-3 at home last week, took the lead in the Uber Arena but eventually fell 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," he told 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 added: "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."

Defeat brings an end to a terrific campaign which saw the English side beat 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 side are third in the Elite League but with three games in hand on leaders Cardiff Devils, said he was "blown away" by how the team performed across 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."