We must not ease up, says Shields

Nov 14 2007 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

AFTER blowing the Elite League title race open, Colin Shields has warned the Vipers they cannot afford to ease up against Edinburgh Capitals this evening.

The Capitals clash is the first of three in half a week at Newcastle Arena. And while the bottom-of-the-table Caps are weaker on paper than title favourites Coventry Blaze or 2005-06 champions Belfast Giants, who are this weekend’s visitors, they are no less threatening.

For 24 hours after the Vipers inflicted a first defeat of the season on Coventry, Edinburgh engineered a second on Sunday. It underlined to Shields the importance of consistency as his side try to keep the pressure on the Blaze.

“It was a big two points for us at the weekend,” said the Scottish centreman. “It’s a really tight race this season, it seems like every team’s playing well at the moment so it could turn out to be a really important win.

“Edinburgh gave us a good game up there in the Challenge Cup so we know not to take them lightly. They are important points. They beat Coventry on Sunday, so it just shows any team can beat any other in this league.”

Although the Vipers’ last result was a 4-1 defeat at Sheffield Steelers, that it came in a dead rubber in the Challenge Cup means it has done nothing to deflate the Mobilx-sponsored side after Saturday’s victory.

“Coventry’s probably the toughest place to go in the league at the moment, so to come away with a victory was very satisfying,” said Shields.

“We were definitely happy to go in there and play a tight road game and not turn it into a 6-5, 7-6 game.

“They’ve been playing well right from the start of the season. They picked up Jonathan Weaver and Curtis Huppe in the summer, they’ve a lot of firepower up front and a good netminder.

“They’re definitely on a roll and hopefully we can try to pick up some points in the home game. They beat us at the Arena earlier in the season so it’s definitely going to be touch and go.

“The Sheffield game was a bit of a let-down after the big win on Saturday. We were still pretty much on a high after beating Coventry so we’re not looking too much into that result.”

The Vipers are expected to be without winger Jeff Hutchins and have a doubt over defenceman Pavel Gomenyuk. The pair sat out the Steelers defeat with groin trouble.

That they have performed so well without ever having been at full strength this term – Czech defenceman Petr Kratky missed the early part of the campaign with two broken fingers – makes their title-chasing form all the more impressive in Shields’ eyes.

“I don’t think we’ve even had a full roster this season,” said Shields. “Our netminder Ryan MacDonald’s been a huge part of our defensive game, which has been excellent this season.

“The guys on the fringes are playing really well this year. They’ve got good energy and good spirit. Those guys are all pretty young and they’ve got some great futures ahead of them in ice hockey.”

Tonight’s game faces off at 7.15pm. Victory for the hosts will put them top of the table, although their Midlands rivals will have two games in hand.

Coventry’s probably the toughest place to go in the league, so to come away with a victory was very satisfying