Finals in their sights

Game faces on: Daniel Van Sickle, centre, is flanked by Max Macharg, left, and Lachlan Frear during last weekend's clash with Dunedin Thunder. PICTURE: KEA PHOTOS

The SkyCity Stampede will be playing for a place in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League grand finals when they face off against West Auckland Admirals in Queenstown this weekend.

Sitting top of the table by seven points, a single Stampede victory in the upcoming double-header will be enough to fast-track them to the finals.

Goalie Aston Brookes predicts the clash against the Admirals, the last of the Stampede’s regular season games, could very well be a preview of the grand finals.

‘‘We’ve obviously won one and lost one against Auckland and they were both very close games so I envision it’s going to be much the same this weekend.

‘‘If we do secure first, we don’t have to play the semis … and then at this stage it’s looking very much like it’d be Christchurch and the Admirals battling it out for that second place spot.’’

While the Stampede has historically dominated the league, losing only two games in the previous three seasons, their campaign to take home the Birgel Cup this year has been hotly contested.

‘‘We’ve struggled to really create good opportunities for ourselves,’’ Brookes says.

‘‘We’re a very good defensive team so we’re sort of relying on that — we still have guys that can score goals but it’s just been harder this year.’’

The struggle was on display last weekend when a ‘‘flat’’ Stampede failed to score early in two games against the Dunedin Thunder, who came out firing.

However a strong defence and a surge in dominance in the third periods meant Stampede ‘‘clawed ahead’’ to win 5-3 on Friday and 5-4 in overtime on Saturday.

Brookes says although they’ve “just chugged’’ their way through a few games now, the team is fortunate to have supportive management, and players are finding the silver lining of a tighter season.

‘‘I think we’ve got a pretty good mentality of not giving up … and it’s exciting.

‘‘It’s definitely been a lot more of a challenge than in the past few seasons so a lot of the guys, including myself, are relishing that.

‘‘We know there’s a very good chance we might not win every game so we really have to pull finger and put it out there if we want to win.’’

And should the Stampede finish up top of the table, they’ll also have secured the massive advantage of a home final.

‘‘Everyone knows coming into our rink that that’s definitely where we play strongest, so we love playing in Queenstown, other teams love playing in Queenstown, so it seems fitting and our home crowd is pretty unreal.’’

Stampede play the Admirals tonight and tomorrow at the Queenstown Ice Arena, puck drop’s 6.45pm both nights.

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