Chris Frank emerged as an exhausted figure from the bowels of the Braehead Arena on Saturday night.

Yet the bags under his eyes and the worry lines on his brow go much deeper than the 60 minutes of gripping ice hockey he was at the heart of just moments earlier.

The Braehead Clan defenceman was part of an astonishing display which saw the Glasgow club progress through to the EIHL play-off finals - the first Scottish club ever to do so - in a 9-1 aggregate win over Nottingham Panthers.

But while his team-mates were recording a 4-0 first leg win on Thursday to tee up Saturday's showpiece victory, Frank was 288 miles away in the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, where his fiancé Gem gave birth to their first-born, Jax Samuel Frank.

The new arrival was welcomed into the world just hours before that vital victory - with the American parading the tot at Saturday night's 5-1 second-leg win - and the Clan ace admits the last week has been the most special of his life.

He said: "The last three or four days have been exhausting.

"It's been amazing, not a lot of sleep, but there is nothing else like it.

"This is our first baby so my mom flew over from Seattle, Gem's family came up so it's been awesome.

"I was actually still in the hospital when I saw the score from the first leg and it just made my day that bit better.

"And to win with such a great result on Saturday has put me on Cloud Nine. The baby was due on the previous Thursday but he was born at 8:43am this Thursday at 9lbs 4oz, so he's a big boy.

"I got a lot of good pictures with him in the sin bin on Saturday night, it's a spot I know well. If he ever plays he'll be the same."

While Frank went off to wet the baby's head on Saturday night, his Clan team-mates needed little excuse to celebrate.

In front of a full-house the home side blew away the early threat posed by the Panthers, countering their opener with five goals to put the tie beyond any doubt.

The feat of reaching the finals in Nottingham for the first time in their history confirms this as the finest season in their four-year history.

Under the stewardship of Ryan Finnerty, Clan have managed to recover from a dismal run to hit form at the right time.

With a large support expected to follow them down to the finals next week, the American Frank is proud to fly the Scottish flag high.

He said: "I had a taste of the play-off finals weekend when I was with Cardiff although unfortunately I got injured. It's even better that we are the first Scottish team to ever get there. That was in the back of our minds.

"Playing professionally in North America is a great experience but you don't get the fan bases like you do over here.

"They bring that football mentality to the game here, with things like chants and singing.

"Back home you just get the odd applause, but over here it's more of a wild atmosphere.

"I couldn't tell you what's going to happen next season with the family and everything.

"If I'm in the UK this is definitely the place that I want to play."