The Coors Belfast Giants are in Sheffield tonight to take on the Steelers in a near top of the table clash between two of the super powers in the Elite League.

I say near top of the table because we are still playing catch up on Sheffield who are gaining momentum every week and leading the pack in the challenge for the league title.

It’s pretty tight from first to fourth, with Coventry and Nottingham jammed in with ourselves all chasing the Steelers, so tonight isn’t just an important game for the Giants, we will have a couple other teams rooting for us as well.

We had a great week, winning at home last Saturday over Manchester and following that up with a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Devils in Cardiff on Sunday night, courtesy of a fantastic goal by Mark Morrison in the final 10 minutes. Add a victory on home ice against the Devils again on Thursday and we have a confident team flying over to Sheffield this morning.

However, the Steelers are the first place team and they embarrassed us in Sheffield last time 6-0 — hopefully that loss is still not sitting well with our guys and they understand what it will take to win tonight.

We still are a man down, with star forward Andrew Martin remaining on the injured list but making progress every day. We expect to have him back in the line-up sometime in the next week or two, but rushing him at this point makes no sense.

This week we have another three games and once again we are making history by bringing our first ever match to the Dundonald Ice Bowl on Tuesday Night.

Dundonald is our training rink and a place we know very well. The reason behind this game being scheduled there is because this was one of two extra games recently added to our already busy schedule. It is a knock-out cup quarter-final and had to be played in January and with us already playing six games at the Odyssey this month, we just didn’t have the ice available at the Big ‘O’. It’s a little more intimate, but the reaction from most of our season ticket holders has been very positive.

We entered all of the cup competitions that are on offer in the league with the intention of winning them all.

Any time you pack in 1000 plus people into a smaller building for a hockey game, the atmosphere is going to be electric and that is exactly what we are expecting on Tuesday night. Plus it’s the Coventry Blaze coming to town, so any way we can make them rattled always makes me a little happier.

The guys are really looking forward to the match, they have played in these kinds of rinks all of their lives and they expect it to be pretty loud on Tuesday in the Ice Bowl.

The “Battle At The Bowl” faces off at 7.30pm and tickets will be available on the night or from the Giants Office beforehand. It’s going to be packed in pretty tight, and believe me, it’s going to be fun!