OUR game in Milton Keynes on Saturday had no bearing on our third place in the league, but with the play-offs coming up, it was important to continue the run of good form we’ve enjoyed this year.

Despite the absence of Matt Selby, Declan Balmer and Tomas Karpov, the team came away with a well-deserved 3-1 win.

Fortunately, we have no extra injuries to worry about, so everyone is looking forward to our away and home games against Manchester this weekend.

We’re the defending play-off champions and already our match-up against Manchester is being described as the most exciting of the quarter-final pairings.

We beat them in last year’s final, in the season when they had already won the league. We’re really looking forward to 120 minutes of high-quality hockey, in front of sell-out crowds.

There’s going to be some tired fans after the weekend, with a trip up for a late face-off in Manchester on Saturday and then an hour’s less sleep as the clocks go forward!

But I’m sure they will make the ice rink on Sunday evening the most exciting and noisiest place in Basingstoke.

The mood in the locker room is really positive.

Our achievements are down to guts and grit, exactly the qualities needed in two hours of sudden-death hockey. Whatever setbacks we have had, the players have battled for each other. And we know we’ve got players on the ice who can step up at crucial moments.

On behalf of the guys and everyone associated with Planet Ice, we would like to thank everyone for the support we have had all season.

Like you, we don’t want our hockey season to end on Sunday. We want you to join us in Coventry the following week as we defend our title.

All the best, 

Doug