Cardiff Devils are intent on lifting the trophy they have failed to win in two decades – and that is the focus of their attention over the next two weeks.
Elite League champions Devils have powered into the PredictorBet play-off quarter-finals and play Coventry Blaze over two legs.
The last time Devils were play-off champions was in 1999 when Paul Heavey was coach – and now Andrew Lord is focused on regaining the championship.
Player-coach Lord, who was man of the match during the 7-3 home win against Milton Keynes Lightning on Sunday, says: “Every year we have battles against Blaze.
“I like that team. They play extremely hard and have a bunch of guys who are committed on offence and defence.
“They have rugged D-men who will make it hard on our guys. Blaze have a solid netminder (Kevin Nastiuk), are well coached, play with a lot of intensity.
“We need to be ready for that. It’s a big, big, traditional rivalry and it will be a great quarter-final.”
Tickets for the play-off quarter-final home leg against Blaze can be purchased by CLICKING HERE or by ringing 0800 0842 666.
The full PredictorBet play-offs quarter-final line-up is: Cardiff Devils v Coventry Blaze, Manchester Storm v Fife Flyers, Sheffield Steelers Guildford Flames, Nottingham Panthers v Belfast Giants (Overtime and penalties will be used after the second leg if needed).
Play-offs: 1st v 8th, 2nd v 7th, 3rd v 6th, 4th v 5th.
Play-off finals weekend takes place at the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham over the weekend of Saturday, April 7 and Sunday, April 8.
The semi-finals are played on Saturday and the Grand Final on the Sunday.
Seedings for the semi-final and final will be determined by the original quarter-final rankings. The highest-placed team left in the play-offs will be ranked as the highest seed.
The top seed will play the lowest seed in the first last four with the remaining seeds playing in the second semi-final.
Sebastien Sylvestre’s hat-trick made sure Belfast Giants signed off the regular season in style with an 8-5 success over Dundee Stars on Sunday.
The result confirmed a fifth-placed finish for Adam Keefe’s men, who now play Nottingham Panthers in next week’s PredictorBet Play-Off quarter finals.
Stars coach Omar Pacha benched netminder Travis Fullerton for their final outing of the season with Craig Douglas given the ice time.
ELITE LEAGUE FINAL STANDINGS
Regular 2017/18 Final Table
| Rk | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | WPCT | Pts |
| 1 | Cardiff Devils | 56 | 41 | 12 | 1 | 2 | .759 | 85 |
| 2 | Manchester Storm | 56 | 35 | 16 | 3 | 2 | .670 | 75 |
| 3 | Sheffield Steelers | 56 | 34 | 19 | 2 | 1 | .634 | 71 |
| 4 | Nottingham Panthers | 56 | 33 | 18 | 2 | 3 | .634 | 71 |
| 5 | Belfast Giants | 56 | 34 | 20 | 2 | 0 | .625 | 70 |
| 6 | Guildford Flames | 56 | 30 | 17 | 5 | 4 | .616 | 69 |
| 7 | Fife Flyers | 56 | 33 | 21 | 1 | 1 | .607 | 68 |
| 8 | Coventry Blaze | 56 | 25 | 26 | 4 | 1 | .491 | 55 |
| 9 | Braehead Clan | 56 | 24 | 26 | 5 | 1 | .482 | 54 |
| 10 | Dundee Stars | 56 | 22 | 30 | 3 | 1 | .429 | 48 |
| 11 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 56 | 20 | 34 | 1 | 1 | .375 | 42 |
| 12 | Edinburgh Capitals | 56 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 1 | .098 | 11 |