Thompson chasing cup success

Coach Paul Thompson says Genting Casino Coventry Blaze will be going all out to win the Challenge Cup.

Blaze, who along with Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers are the most successful teams in the Elite League era with eight trophies, have not lifted any silverware for two years.

That was when they won their fourth Elite League while they have also been victorious in the Challenge Cup on two occasions in 2004/05 and 2006/07, with a losing final to Cardiff Devils sandwiched in between.

Blaze take on Braehead Clan in the first leg of their quarter-final at the Skydome tomorrow night (7.30pm face-off).

Thompson said: “We will be giving the Challenge Cup our full attention. We are all focused on getting through to the next round.

“We feel we have a good chance of progressing and winning a trophy and I am sure Braehead will be thinking the same.

“We are looking forward to the two games and we will be going out to try and take a lead with us when we go up there.

“We have worked hard on parts of our game this week and we know we need to start scoring more goals.

“Guys have to start getting into the dirty areas and we need to start putting more pucks on net. Guys have been overplaying it in recent games.

“It is also important to stay disciplined. With our reputation and style we are going to get targeted but we just need to be a little bit smarter. We will keep on playing hard but we need to play more even-handed hockey rather than killing penalties.”

Blaze take on Braehead Clan at the Skydome in the Challenge Cup quarter-final first legon Wednesday January 23 (7.30pm face-off). Tickets can be purchased by ringing the Box Office on 02476 630693 (option 0).