Belfast Giants: In form Blaze will bring their best game to Belfast says Ben Lake
The Belfast Giants welcome the Coventry Blaze to the SSE for the first time this season on Saturday.
Already the Blaze, under new coach Kevin Moore, have made quite an impression in both the league and cup, taking a couple of notable scalps.
They come into Belfast this weekend on a high after their demolition of the Glasgow Clan 0-6 on the road earlier this week.
Giants' alternate captain Ben Lake is expecting the Blaze will be travelling over to Belfast looking to cause more upsets.
He said: “To be honest, I don't know much about them, but it looks like they've started well.
“They have a new coach, so obviously, they are going to be a very different team this year.
“They look a young and hungry team who will be looking to compete come Saturday night.”
If the upsets which the Cardiff Devils, the Sheffield Steelers, and the Giants have suffered so far this season are anything to go by, he anticipates a very interesting league campaign this year.
He said: “You have seen an improvement every season. Every year, better players are coming over to this league and playing.
“The league is getting more respect throughout Europe. Sheffield are having a good year in the CHL so far, and we also did pretty well in Europe too.”
Lake admits that the league over the last number of season has been improving steadily competitively.
On Sunday the Giants travel to Nottingham for their first clash with the Panthers.
Lake said: “There arena is a bit like ours. It can be a little notoriously. The Panthers have been very good at home, so we're going to be at our best to get a result that night.
“There is no doubt that it looks like it could be a tough weekend, but we're excited for it. And we believe we can the job done on both nights.”