Belfast Giants’ Jackson Whistle looking forward to an ‘awesome’ playoff experience

It will be their last chance to secure silverware and of course retain the playoff trophy.

Netminder Jackson Whistle said that they whole team are excited to get to finals in Nottingham.

When asked to explain what playoffs means to him, Whistle speaks of the “awesome” experience that makes up the weekend.

He explained: “It means a lot of make it to the playoff finals in Nottingham. The way the playoffs work in the UK compared to those in North America are very different, but it is a really cool experience when you get to go to Nottingham.

“It can be quite a surreal experience to be honest, getting to see all the fans from across the UK coming together for what is always a fantastic weekend.”

He added: “It is not easy to get to the finals, we have had years were we had good teams and they haven't made the finals.

“The Giants have made it to the playoff finals and lost, but when you win like we did last year to take the treble its an awesome feeling.

“It is great that the Giants have the opportunity to go over to Nottingham this weekend and we have every intention to get the job done.”

There is still very much a trophy up for grabs for the Giants this weekend and they will be focused on not letting it fall into the grasp of the Sheffield Steelers.

Whistle said: “All four teams who have made the finals deserve to be there and all four teams have a chance of winning the playoff trophy.

“At the moment, I am trying not to look to far beyond Cardiff in the second semi-final on Saturday, they are going to be a hard team to go up against.

“They have good line-up and coaching has been very good this season too, so we need to go into that game and shut them down from the very start.

“We want to get over to Nottingham as soon as we can, there is a lot of waiting around in the week leading up to the finals, we just want to get on with playing hockey.”

Whistle says he is sure that his parents would like to see both Jackson and brother Brandon in the final.

He said: “I have not preference to who we might meet in the final. I know that my parents would like to see both Brandon and myself in that game.

“The Whistle family group chat has been pretty busy this week, I was speaking to Brandon the other day and he was telling me just how pumped the Steelers are going into this weekend. But who knows what is going to happen!”

Whistle concluded by paying a warm tribute to his mentor Tyler Beskorowany.

He said: “Besko and I have a great relationship, both on and off ice. We have always supported each other over the last few years.

“We are also looking to get that extra in and wanting the best from each other.

Whistle concluded: “A lot of the trophies that we have won has been thanks to the contribution from Besko.

“He has played really well a key moments for the Giants when we needed him to.

“To be honest, he has been one of the better goalies in the league for sometime now, if not indeed the best goalie this league has had.”