SHEFFIELD STEELERS’ head coach Aaron Fox is already looking forward to the “fun” Champions Hockey League knockout clash his team have been handed against Germany’s Eisbaren Berlin.

The Steelers’ progression from the CHL ‘regular season’ was confirmed before they even took to the ice at the Utilita Arena on Wednesday night to face Czechia’s Dynamo Pardubice, results elsewhere meaning they were guaranteed a spot in the last 16.

Sheffield Steelers ease into Champions Hockey League last 16 and date with Liam ...

The subsequent 3-2 win over the Extraliga regular season champions after a shootout was their fourth victory out of six games and saw the Steelers finish 10th overall.

That has earned them a mouthwatering clash against a Berlin team who have won the DEL championship three out of the last four years.

But as well as the challenge of taking on another of Europe’s top teams, there are plenty of sub-plots, not least the fact the tie will bring them up against former Steelers’ forward, Liam Kirk.

Maltby-born Kirk, of course, was an apprentice at the Steelers between 2016-18 before going on to make history as the first English-born player to be drafted in the NHL, a seventh-round pick for the Arizona Coyotes in 2018.

He may not have gone on to play in the NHL - yet - but has played in some of the major leagues around the world since, including the American Hockey League, Finland’s Liiga with Jukerit and the Czech Extraliga with HC Litvínov, who lost to Pardubice in the domestic play-off semi-finals last season.

BRING IT ON: Sheffield Steelers' head coach, Aaron Fox, is looking forward to his team's CHL last 16 clash against Eisbaren Berlin. Picture: Dean Woolley/Steelers Media.

placeholder image — BRING IT ON: Sheffield Steelers' head coach, Aaron Fox, is looking forward to his team's CHL last 16 clash against Eisbaren Berlin. Picture: Dean Woolley/Steelers Media.

On top of Kirk’s eagerly-anticipated return to South Yorkshire - scheduled for sometime in mid-November - the last 16 CHL tie will also bring Steelers’ current strength and conditioning coach Mike Mawer up against his predecessor, younger brother Danny, who switched to Berlin in the summer of 2021 after six years with the Steelers.

“We’d have liked to come out with three points on Wednesday night and finished even further up the standings, but we’ve drawn a really good hockey club in Eisbaren Berlin,” said Fox after his team’s win over Pardubice.

“That will make things quite interesting with Kirky coming back into town and Danny and Mike having a family affair there, as well, which is fun.

“What a match up and what a team we’ll be facing. I think they have won the DEL three out of the last four years and they are a team that is extremely well-run, well-coached, with great import players and some of the best German players in the country.

“So we know that is going to be a very difficult match-up and task for us, but I feel like we’ll be ready to go and excited for that challenge.”