Sheffield Steelers - Coach Aaron Fox on the Champions Hockey League
Sheffield Steelers' head coach Aaron Fox discusses his team's start to the Champions Hockey League and their upcoming games against Sparta Prague and Skelleftea.
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00:00Yeah, I mean we knew it was going to be, playing two teams like that, it was going to be a
00:11hard ask.
00:12We were going to need to be at our best and completely bought in for 60 minutes both nights
00:18and I thought we, you know, we played about as good as I've seen our group play since
00:23my time here.
00:25Both games were a little bit different but obviously Saturday for us to come out with
00:28the points and find a way to get the job done was pretty special, you know, but loved
00:35our game.
00:36I thought we probably could have got even a little bit more from the weekend than just
00:40the two points but that's, you know, we're pretty happy with the way things...
00:44Given the build-up you probably had compared to those other teams, I think you spoke before
00:48Ann about they probably needed to get together for a bit longer than you, maybe a lot longer
00:52than you, did that make what you were able to achieve in those two games all the more
00:56impressive for you in some ways?
00:59Yeah, a two-week training camp is tough to get through everything we want to get through.
01:02Special teams I think especially is something that we weren't able to focus on very much
01:06over the two-week period.
01:07I mean, it's Tuesday and we did some special team stuff today which is quite early in the
01:12week for us normally but I know that's something that we need to focus on a little bit this
01:17week.
01:18But, you know, guys came in in good shape which is always the starting point especially
01:23on a two-week camp.
01:24If you've got to get the guys into hockey shape during camp and not be able to focus
01:30on some of the system stuff that you need to as well in such a short camp, you're swimming
01:35uphill a little bit.
01:36But, you know, credit to our guys, they looked fit, they looked excited for the moment and
01:45to play as well as they played against those types of teams this early in the season says
01:49a lot.
01:50It's probably strange to talk about confidence with your group given that the majority of
01:54them are coming back this season as Grand Slam winners but given that win on Saturday,
01:58how much confidence does it give them as a group going into what's going to be another
02:02two tough games this weekend?
02:03Yeah, I think it's, you know, confidence is obviously a key word in hockey and I think
02:09that, you know, they'll look at the weekend as a whole and say that, man, we competed
02:14with these guys, went toe-to-toe with two really strong teams, you know, but I think
02:21more importantly you're going to look at how we did it and why, you know, some of the
02:24things that we've built into our group over the last, you know, couple of years here,
02:29some of those core concepts and, you know, a lot of those things have a lot to do with
02:34how well we played this weekend and I think that's great for some of the new guys to see
02:38and, you know, just how we do things around here and, you know, get them guys bought in
02:44too.
02:45It's not been a massive overhaul but you have made key changes, half a dozen new faces coming
02:49in here and there.
02:50Are you pleased with what you've seen so far in terms of the combinations that are developing
02:54in these first few weeks?
02:56It's, you know, like I said, it's early doors and sometimes first impressions make a difference
03:03and sometimes some guys need a little bit longer to find their role or, you know, how
03:09they can be a key contributor on a new team so, you know, I've liked what I've seen so
03:17far and we'll probably run the same lines that we ran on the weekend just with how well
03:23we played and, you know, we don't like to change winning teams and even if we, you know,
03:30as hard as we competed, you know, we'll keep running these out the same way right now.
03:34I suppose the win in Sweden does raise expectations among some people but I'm guessing you won't
03:41have any trouble keeping your players' feet on the ground knowing what's coming up in
03:45the next few days?
03:46Yeah, we know that the two teams we're playing, if you take a shift off, a moment off, they're
03:51going to make you pay and so you've got to be fully detailed and dialed in for 60 minutes
03:56and we, you know, I assume that the players will be ready for that challenge again this
04:03weekend and then it's from, you know, from this weekend, you know, then it's, you know,
04:09how do you get ready for that next weekend where, you know, the two Challenge Cup games
04:14where as a group you might feel like it's not as important but us as coaches know how
04:21important those games are and that's on us to find that same motivation and get the guys
04:26as up for the start of our season as, you know, as we've gotten for the Champions League.