Coventry Blaze Head Coach Chuck Weber hopes a more direct approach will help his team have some success against two of the leading goaltenders in the Elite League this weekend.

Blaze face Nottingham Panthers at the National Ice Centre on Saturday night and will come up against Miika Wiikman, who tops the goals against average and save percentage charts.

On Sunday, Braehead Clan – for whom Chris Holt has recorded back-to-back shut-outs against Blaze this season – visit the Skydome.

Weber said: “Nottingham have made a great start and they are a team which doesn’t lose much at home. It is a tough building to play in, it is a bigger ice surface and they have a big home crowd which always helps.

“We didn’t have a good start the last time we went there so a strong start is going to be huge for us. We need to play a more direct game and get traffic on Wiikman. He has the number one goals against average and save percentage, so we need to make life a little more difficult for him.

“Holt is the same as Wiikman, we have not done a very good job getting traffic on him. You need net-front traffic to get tips and rebounds to beat these guys.

“You are not going to score against him by skating down the wing and hitting a slapshot and that is why he has thrown up two goose eggs against us.

“We need to play with a bit more enthusiasm, pride and emotion. The work ethic is there, we have lacked consistency of execution.”

Please click on the video above to hear Blaze forward Neil Trimm’s interview after last weekend’s games.