Braehead Clan head coach John Tripp is under no illusions as to the importance of his team’s final two games of the EIHL season but he is confident that they can produce the results they need to secure their spot in the play-offs.
Currently, Braehead are in eighth place in the EIHL and must remain there if they are to make the play-offs. Things are tight though, with Coventry Blaze only a single point behind the Glasgow side and so Braehead will almost certainly need to pick up something in their final two matches, with the first coming at home this evening against Nottingham Panthers before they travel to Guilford Flames tomorrow night.
But with Braehead having won five of their last six matches, Tripp is feeling optimistic about his team’s prospects.
“One hundred percent I believe we can make the play-offs,” he said.
“I believe in this team and I believe we can do it. We’ve gone through a lot of trials and tribulations this year so we definitely deserve it. It would be really nice to see the guys get the rewards for the effort they put in this season and it would be great to do it for the fans.
“It’ll be a fun weekend. It’s nice when the games mean something and it doesn’t get any bigger than this. But as long as we stay on the right path as we have in the last few games then we’ll give ourselves a good chance.
“That we’re on a good run is definitely important because confidence conquers all. So it’s nice to see us coming to the end of the year with a bit of consistency.
“There’s always the tactical side too and we’ve been working on that all year. Power-plays is something we’ve been working on and it’s getting there. And one of our strong points is a puck pursuit game.”
Braehead have not always shown the consistency they need when playing back-to-back matches but they must not let fatigue set in this weekend if they are to hold on to eighth place in the league.
Travelling 420 miles south to Guilford following their match tonight is clearly not ideal preparation for their final match of the season but Tripp is confident that his players will take that in their stride and tiredness will not affect them in the slightest.
“Playing back to back’s not an issue because we’re in good shape ,” he said.
“So first of all, we’re thinking about tonight’s game against Nottingham and then once that’s over, we’ll think about tomorrow.
“And we can’t worry about what’s happening with Coventry so it won’t be until after the game tonight that we’ll look and see how they did. If they lose and we win, we get our place in the play-offs but nothing comes for free."
There has been no greater pressure on the Glasgow side during the course of the season that there currently is but Tripp insists this is not affecting his players. And he is optimistic that despite knowing the importance of this brace of matches, his players are entirely unfazed by what is riding on the results.
“There’s no nerves – we’re all professionals and we’ve all played under pressure before," he said.
"If you can’t play under pressure then you probably shouldn’t be in high-level sport because that's what it's all about.
"It’s about embracing that pressure and using it. If you can’t do that, you won’t last.
"So far, we’ve handled the pressure and I hope it will be the same this weekend – whoever makes the fewest mistakes will win.”
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