Full sixty minutes needed to book cup final spot says David Goodwin

The push for the final few weeks of the season are crammed with opportunities to win trophies, not least the championship itself, and the playoffs and of course the Challenge Cup, which, should the Giants win their second leg against the Nottingham Panthers on Wednesday, will be held at the SSE Arena.

The Giants take the high from a massive four point weekend against Cardiff Devils into the second leg of the Challenge Cup semi on Wednesday night and add to that confidence their 3-0 lead against the Panthers.

There is still 60 minutes of hockey to be played and the Giants' focus will be fully on getting a win.

Goodwin said: “We are in a good spot right now, we are going into the second leg in Nottingham with the 3-0 advantage.

“Nonetheless we want to be fully prepared for a push back from the Panthers. I think that we will be ready for any push back if it comes.

“We will be viewing it like any other game and we will trust in our preparations ahead of the game. If we do that, we know that it will yield the result that we are looking for.”

Goodwin agrees that it is a game in which there is everything to play for, he explained that a focus on competing for the full sixty minutes is important.

He explained: “We don't want to take our focus on getting through to that cup final. We can't let our focus drop for one minute.

“Obviously Nottingham are a good team and it is of course a tough arena to play in.

“There is no doubt that they will give us their best in the game and so were need to be prepared for that.”

Goodwin says that he has been impressed with how rejuvenated the Panthers have been this season. They are a team who have upset the Giants earlier in the season and could cause another.

He said: “You have to give a lot of credit to Danny Stewart for the work that he has put in. He is obviously a great coach. He has brought in good players this season.

“The hockey world is quite small and everyone knows each other, you know who the good guys are.

“I have had a lot of friends who have played for Danny of the years and I have heard nothing but great reviews of him, so it's no surprise to see the players competing well for him this year.

“The ownership have also clearly have invested a lot in the team and have ambitions for the organisation and the club.

“It is no surprise to see Nottingham back up at the top of the standings and pushing the leaders too. I think it has also been really good for the league too.”

A huge motivation for the Giants will be the fact, should they progress through to the final that they will have home ice advantage.

It is something that Goodwin himself has experience off having won two Challenge Cup finals in Belfast since Covid.

Goodwin said: “There is nothing that playing for a championship in Belfast and in front of your home fans.

“The whole city rallies behind the team and organisation, and there is always a super buzz around town.

“That is what we want again this year, so if we take care of business on Wednesday in Nottingham, then the final will be hosted by Belfast as the highest seed.”