Sheffield Steelers head coach Aaron Fox has said his side can still pull off a shock win in their last-16 Champions Hockey League tie against Eisbaren Berlin, despite losing the first leg 5-3 at home.
The Steelers, the current UK Grand Slam champions, fought back from 3-1 down to level the match before the German side pulled away again once more.
Fox says his side can take heart from their showing.
“It’s not an optimal result by any stretch of the imagination but it’s far from over,” he told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“We’ve shown we can create offense against this team and they call two goals the worst lead in hockey so we’ll use that as a talking point.
“The beauty of it being a two-legged affair is we’re only down two goals and we’ve seen we can come back from that against this team, they were up 3-1 and we made it 3-3.”
The Steelers claimed surprise victories over Swedish teams Skelleftea AIK and Vaxjo Lakers, as well as Czech side Sparta Prague to reach this stage of the Europe’s premier ice hockey competition.
Fox admitted his side would need to be “near-perfect” to record a famous victory next Tuesday.
“They’re an extremely well structured, big, physical, fast hockey team and they will make you pay if you are not on your game and dialled into the details. When we weren’t tonight that is what happens,” he added.
“You’ve got to play almost near-perfect when you’re the underdog.
“We’ll watch some tape and hopefully learn from some things and give ourselves a chance next week.”
Swiss
