Braehead Clan Head Coach Ryan Finnerty says the next week is not make or break for his team – but has demanded urgency in getting victories from them.
Clan embark on a big week in the Elite League that sees them play four games in six days, starting at Belfast Giants on Tuesday.
Finnerty admitted it is a crucial time of year for all the teams and says there is pressure on his team to get wins.
He said: “We’ve got four big games coming up in the next week and there’s not going to be an awful lot of practice time coming up.
“It’s a crucial time of year and you either climb the ladder or stay where you are. There’s no doubting we have a tough schedule, but we want to be that team that’s competing.
“It’s not make or break though. Not this season and not by the way things have gone in general. It’s crazy to talk that way.
“That’s the sort of talk for three or four years ago when, if you dropped a couple of games, you were out of it, but that’s not the way it’s working this season.
“Everybody’s beating everybody, but there is some urgency to win and there’s pressure to win because it puts us in a better situation.
“We don’t want to have caught up and still be looking up the table and have points to make up and making sure we get points from every one of these games.”
After Belfast, Clan face Dundee Stars in Glasgow on New Years’ Eve before travelling to Fife Flyers on Saturday. They return to home ice on Sunday against Cardiff Devils.
Finnerty reflected on last weekend where his team beat Dundee on Saturday, before going down in overtime at home to Belfast on Sunday.
He confessed it may have been more of a point gained in the Giants game.
“We seem to be finding every which to lose when it comes to the extra period, but you have to take the positives at the end and it was a good comeback,” said Finnerty.
“It was probably a point gained more than a point lost, but it’s always tough.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about points and we’re in a situation where we’re dropping a point at home, but going to tough buildings and winning.
“It would be nice to find that consistency at home. We’re getting three out of four, but we want four – especially in front of the home fans and in a sell-out building.”
(Image permission: Al Goold Photo)
