Sheffield Steelers netminder Matt Greenfield says the UK champions are “not done yet” after making history in the Champions Hockey League.
The American starred as the Elite Ice Hockey champions beat, and eliminated, Czech side Dynamo Pardubice from the competition in a penalty shootout on Wednesday and have now reached the last 16 for the first time.
Steelers learned they had already qualified for the knockout stages 10 minutes before puck drop when results from elsewhere came in.
They will now face German giants Berlin Eisbaren over two legs next month, which means facing Liam Kirk, a Steeler product who became the first British-born and -trained player to be drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL).
Steelers were given little chance of making it into the top 16 of the league phase of a competition which has been dominated by Scandinavian sides since its inception 10 years ago.
When they drew six top sides in their group, those hopes seemed even more distant, but they pulled off surprise wins over Swedish teams Skelleftea AIK and Vaxjo Lakers plus Czech aces Sparta Prague.
Steelers head coach Aaron Fox said that the 10th-place finish was a major achievement for a club that had only won one game in their two previous European campaigns but won four out of six this time.
“It’s how we’ve done it, too, that sets the tone a little bit,” he told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“It’s not like we’ve beaten some challenger teams or lower-level opponents here.
