Retaining the Birgel Cup’s no longer looking like a sure thing for SkyCity Stampede, pipped at the post by a single point in their bid to finish top of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) regular season table.
The Queenstown team’s fate was left up to the result of a clash between the West Auckland Admirals and Canterbury Red Devils last weekend.
Prior to those games, Stampede led the league, five points ahead of the Admirals and eight points ahead of the Devils.
To keep their lead, Stampede needed the Devils to take a single win against the Admirals.
It wasn’t to be.
West Auckland dished out two dominating performances, a 5-0 thumping and a tighter 3-2 victory, toppling the Stampede from the first-place perch and securing themselves a home grand final series.
That leaves the Stampede to battle it out with the Devils in the semi-finals in Queenstown tomorrow and Saturday, in what’s promising to be a set of tense and spirited ice hockey matches.
While the final standings of the regular season aren’t quite what the Queenstown team had envisioned at the start of the season, Stampede
captain Mitchell Frear believes the team’s got what it takes to secure a place in the grand finals.
‘‘After a hard-fought finish to the season, the team are eager to get back on the ice and play the style of hockey we know we are capable of.
‘‘We know the Red Devils are a good team and our focus is solely on the games at hand this weekend,’’ he says.
hile Stampede’s got the better of the Devils in three of their past four games, the Devils left with a 4-3 win after the sides’ last encounter.
Frear says helping the team’s determination has been the staunch support of their fans throughout the rocky season.
‘‘We hope to showcase our best hockey to round out our final home games this season.’’
Stampede play Canterbury tonight and tomorrow at the Queenstown Ice Arena — puck drop’s 6.45pm both nights.
