Losing not an option for Bracknell Bees coach Cox
James Walker-Roberts • Published 21 Mar 2013 16:00
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Action from Bracknell Bees and Slough Jets last weekend. Pick up a copy of the Bracknell News to see more pictures.
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BRACKNELL Bees head coach Gareth Cox insists his team will not be thinking about potential play-off opponents when they complete their regular season this weekend.
Bees' final two games are at English Premier Ice Hockey League basement boys Telford Tigers on Saturday (5.30pm f/o) and then at home to ninth-placed Sheffield Steeldogs the following evening (6pm f/o).
Neither side can alter their standing this weekend, unlike Bees, who could finish sixth or seventh.
That means they could face either Basingstoke Bison, Manchester Phoenix or Milton Keynes Lightning in the first round of the play-offs, depending on how other results go.
But Cox dismissed suggestions that Bees would do anything other than try to pick up four points in a bid to control who they meet.
"You can't look past these two games," he told the News. "We have to do the best we can do, you can't think about losing games or anything like that, we want to win.
"We have to do our best and see who we get in the play-offs. If we get MK, Manchester or Basingstoke then we take it from there."
Of the three potential opponents, Bees have fared far better against Bison this season than they have against the other two.
However, one only has to look back to last weekend when Telford thrashed Phoenix 8-2 and Sheffield won against Guildford Flames for evidence that any team is beatable.
And the most important thing for Cox right now is building confidence, rather than
looking past this weekend.
"Confidence and momentum has been a big part of our season and we want to build that heading into the play-offs," he said.
"Sheffield and Telford are still getting results, they want to finish the season well and will be trying to prove a point this weekend. It's going to be tough, we will get punished if we underestimate them so we have to be at our best."
This article appeared in Bracknell News 21 Mar 13
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