Sheffield Steeldogs v Swindon Wildcats - Dogs out to prove doubters wrong and retain NIHL National play-off crown

Some have already ruled out Greg Wood’s team from retaining the title they won at Coventry’s SkyDome Arena just under 11 months ago, adding a second piece of silverware to the National Cup they had won earlier in the season.

It doesn’t upset Wood and his players, it doesn’t surprise them. They just have the inner-belief that they have what it takes to succeed come the post-season.

Friday night sees them welcome Swindon Wildcats to Ice Sheffield (face-off 6pm) for the first leg of their quarter-final before the two lock horns again on Saturday at the Link Centre.

It promises to be a fierce battle between two teams that finished just one place apart in the regular season, the Steeldogs ending the campaign in fourth, eight points better off than Aaron Nell’s team.

To buy tickets for Friday night’s quarter-final first leg between Sheffield Steeldogs and Swindon Wildcats go HERE

In the six-game head-to-head series between the two, though, the Wildcats prevailed with four wins to two, although that will count for nothing over the next 48 hours.

“We’re super-determined to win it again,” said head coach Wood. “As a group we don’t feel hard done to, but a lot of things have gone against us this year and I think we’re a better club than what our record suggests over the 56-game regular season.

“We want to prove people wrong. As a group we’ve seen people writing us off already - that’s one thing you should never do with this group of players.

“There are some serial winners on our team and they are desperate to put things right.”

Forwards Charlie Thompson and James Spurr have been back in training for the past two-three weeks and will both return for tonight’s first leg, with Alex Graham also on the Steeldogs’ bench for the weekend while parent club contest their own play-off quarter-final in the Elite League against Manchester Storm.

“It’s the final trophy of the season, it’s what a lot of people see as the best one to win, because if you win this, you go into the summer break as a champion,” added Wood.

“And I’ve been on both sides of it, I’ve lost play-offs, I’ve won play-offs and it is a fantastic way to finish the season.”

“I think what a lot of people don’t see is the commitment and time and effort that the guys put in from late August to this point - to finish with a win at the play-off final, there really is no better feeling.”

When his players jumped on the ice to celebrate their 4-1 win over Milton Keynes Lightning in May last year, Wood made sure to savour the moment and believes his players are deserving of another such moment this time around.

“I’m very appreciative of what everyone does at this club and I don’t think a lot of people see the commitment the guys put into this,” he added.

“Even that weekend, after winning the play-offs, people were back at work the next day at 6am. There’s the long road journeys back from Basingstoke and London in the early hours of the morning and then being up with kids first thing before going off to the day job.

“There’s a hell of a lot of sacrifice and commitment that goes into this level of hockey, so to see everybody enjoying the fruits of what we do - it’s always a special moment.”

To buy tickets for Friday night’s quarter-final first leg between Sheffield Steeldogs and Swindon Wildcats go HERE