Dundee Stars Head Coach Marc LeFebvre says he and the club have felt redemption this season.
LeFebvre was sacked by Coventry Blaze last season before what was effectively his team won the play-offs, while the Stars suffered in a poor season that saw them miss out on the end-of-season showdown.
But after a season where he insists their targets have been met, the Canadian fancies his chances against Cardiff Devils in their play-off quarter-final tie this weekend.
He said: “I had a difficult year after leaving Coventry before they went on that great run, while Dundee were in the bottom two places and had a very poor campaign.
“I feel we’ve both kind of redeemed ourselves this season and I’m back on board for next season – we’re in the middle of a process.
“We’ve met our targets this year, so why not end it with an appearance in the play-off finals in Nottingham?
“Cardiff are a big test for us and I’ve already spent a couple of days looking back on previous games and doing some work on them ahead of these games.
“They lost the league and Challenge Cup and have suffered a slump in form, so I think this is perhaps a good time to play them.”
Stars will be heavy underdogs against a team who seemed to do everything right in the Elite League campaign, until it unravelled in the final weeks.
The view in Wales is the play-offs are their last chance to show something for a season that promised so much.
But LeFebvre, who was announced on the shortlist for EIHL Coach of the Year earlier this week, is pleased at the form his team have shown and has an idea of what he wants to achieve in Cardiff in Saturday’s first leg.
He added: “I was pleased with the way we ended the season and I felt we could have won by four or five rather than the 2-1 scoreline we ended with.
“We wanted to end the season on a positive and I pleased we managed to do that, especially coming into two tough tests against the Devils.
“Our gameplan is to go down there on Saturday and while we want to win, I would like to at the very least come back two goals down to give us a chance on Sunday.
“Cardiff will be aiming to win and take the advantage early on so we have to do our best to prevent that from happening.
“They’ve had an emotional rollercoaster the way the season has gone for them. It’s a great test and anything can happen with this format. Coventry proved that last year of course.
“It would be huge to get Dundee to the finals and it’s something the club have never done.”
(Image permission: Adrian Rapps)
