NEWS: Finnerty set for dangerous Capitals encounter

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Glasgow’s Braehead Clan head coach Ryan Finnerty believes writing off this weekend’s two games with Edinburgh Capitals is dangerous.

Both teams have their play-off destinies mapped out, in terms of qualification, but points and momentum are at stake when they meet over the weekend.

Finnerty admits he’s encouraged at the attitude of the players in preparation this week on the back of Sunday’s overtime win at Coventry Blaze.

“Going into the mindset of thinking these games are ‘dead rubbers’ is dangerous,” the coach said. “Whenever you develop that mentality, that’s when bad habits are formed and injuries can happen.

“We want to make sure we’re playing at our best and building for the play-offs. We hit a bit of a lull, but that win in Coventry has sparked the guys and reignited that winning feeling.

“When I think back to when we played Edinburgh in the last two games a year ago, it’ll definitely be much less stressful.

“It was exciting at the time and had to win out to take the Conference title. We’d been on a good run and ended up completing the job.

“I have a lot of confidence in this group and from day one, I’ve liked my dressing room and the guys in there. We have some characters and a group that wants to win.

“After winning the Conference, perhaps we’ve gone away from what makes us successful and dropped a couple of games.

“But the way we dug deep in Coventry, I enjoyed seeing the excitement in seeing their faces and the feeling on the bus ride home was encouraging for me.”

The play-offs are just a week away, but we’re no clearer in knowing who will provide the opposition as we head into this final regular season weekend.

Finnerty insists he and his team are fully focussed on the two games with Edinburgh before he entertains the notion of possible play-off oppoents.

He added: “Who we end up playing in the quarter finals is outwith our control. I think everyone will go back and check the standings and scoreboard watch and it’s changing all the time.

“It’s what makes this league exciting, with the way the structure and you get to this last weekend where there is still something on the line in the last two games.

“We’ve got three great teams battling it out and it’s going right down to the wire. By Sunday night, we’ll know what lies ahead, whether it’s Dundee, Coventry or Manchester.

“We’ll be ready to go, but we’re not putting a lot of stock in that. We’re just focussing on the two games and we’ve a lot of respect for Edinburgh. After that, we’ll focus on the play-offs.”