And that’s a wrap.
The Elite League’s regular-season reached its conclusion on Sunday [5 April], with 25 goals scored on an all-action night across the competition.
Welcome to Around the Rinks, our daily summary of every team’s post-game media remarks.
Around the Rinks: Sunday, 5 April:
Glasgow Clan 3-2 Sheffield Steelers (Overtime)
Mick Messner, Glasgow Clan (Image: Derek Black)
Mike Sirant, Glasgow Clan:
I’m super proud of our guys tonight. The response that they gave showed a tremendous amount of pride in themselves and this organisation. I thought their will to win was outstanding and it was pretty sweet to win it in overtime.
Aaron Fox, Sheffield Steelers:
I thought we started the game really well and were the better team by quite a bit in the first period. The second period got away from us a little bit, our puck management wasn’t great, and Glasgow went up by two early in the third.
I liked our pushback later in the period. We’ve been a little bit mentally weak lately and it would’ve been easy for us to pack up our things and think about next week. The boys showed some grit and character to tie the game up.
All in all, there are a tonne of positives to take from the weekend. We expected a bounce back and that’s what we got. There are some positive vibes for the week, going into a huge playoff weekend.
Nottingham Panthers 1-4 Cardiff Devils
Riley Brandt, Cardiff Devils (Image: Panthers Images)
Danny Stewart, Nottingham Panthers:
For me, it looked like two tired teams. If there’s one thing for certain, I don’t usually make excuses for our guys, but we looked knackered tonight. When you start the game a little bit short and you lose two more players to go down to nine [forwards] and five [defencemen], it’s tough.
Could we have been better? Possibly: our exits and passing execution was poor, but a lot of that comes down to movement off the puck and that’s hard when you’re tired. I’m not going to beat the guys up too much tonight.
We finished third: it’s a good season in that sense. We fell short of our goals, but our guys have played good hockey over a 54-game season. It’s a job well done, but we ran out of gas and steam tonight.
Paul Thompson, Cardiff Devils:
I’ve been pretty hard on them over the past month or so, but we were in control against a very good team tonight. I know the Panthers are missing some key guys, but I liked the way we played and how we finished the season: that’s seven wins out of eight.
There’s progression from last year. We’ve won in Sheffield, Belfast, and Nottingham and finished higher in the standings. We’ve taken a stride, but not a big enough one. We wanted to be where Belfast are, but now we need to focus on what’s ahead: Coventry in the playoffs.
Dundee Stars 1-2 Fife Flyers (Overtime)
Marc LeFebvre, Dundee Stars:
First off, both goalies were outstanding tonight: we had 53 shots and only one goal. That’s the story of our season: having plenty of chances but failing to capitalise. It was unfortunate to not win it in overtime, but it is what it is.
Mike Courts, Fife Flyers:
There’s a lot of heart and character in our room. Credit to both teams: I feel like either team could’ve taken the win and any team. I’m glad that it was us.
Coventry Blaze 4-5 Belfast Giants
Nicolas Guay, Belfast Giants (Image: Scott Wiggins)
Kevin Moore, Coventry Blaze:
It was a really sloppy game. I liked our pushback in the third period, but we were playing behind too much. The guys tried to push to score to give our fans a show at the end and it was awesome to see how many fans were here for the final home game. We’re really appreciative of them showing out for that and we’re disappointed that we couldn’t send it to overtime.
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants:
I thought our guys were great. It’s tough to come in here under the circumstances, winning the league five games ago. I think we’ve shown why we’re the league champions. We were missing a few guys tonight and the kids stepped in and did a great job. Especially in the third period, I thought we managed the situation very well. We wanted to finish the season with a win and doing it in that fashion was great.
Guildford Flames 2-1 Manchester Storm
Paul Dixon, Guildford Flames:
It was a tough first period for us tonight: Manchester started very strong. For us, it’s about momentum and winning hockey games. It’s a good way to end the regular-season: we’re delighted with four points this weekend.
Cam Critchlow, Manchester Storm:
It was a pretty evenly-matched game: both goalies were great. I thought we had a lot of Grade-A chances, but we just couldn’t put it behind the goalie. It felt like the last game of the year. With the regular-season done and dusted, now it’s time for the important hockey.
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