Sheffield Steelers - Coach Aaron Fox on the Champions Hockey League - video Dailymotion

Yorkshire Post

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.

Sheffield Steelers - Coach Aaron Fox on the Champions Hockey League

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