Telford Tigers forward Rick Plant says it would be a “dream come true” to win the English Premier League play-offs with his home-town club.
Plant spent his formative years in the Tigers junior system before moving away in 1996, winning two play-off titles with Swindon and Guildford.
The 38-year-old will be a key part of the Telford squad that takes on Milton Keynes in the quarter-finals this weekend, with a place in next month’s finals tournament at stake.
And following last season’s double-winning campaign with the Tigers, Plant is determined to add the play-off crown to his list of titles in Telford.
He said: “Getting through this weekend and onto Coventry would be massive for me. Winning the league and cup last year was great, but the play-offs are the final thing left.
“Everyone seems to remember them, so to win the play-offs with my home-town club would be a dream come true. Nobody was happy with how we lost in the semi-finals last season.
“We came up against a well-organised Peterborough side in that game, and they put us under the cosh. That made it very hard for us to create any scoring chances.
“This year, we need to change whatever needs changing. Everyone needs to listen to the coaching staff, adapt to what’s needed on the day and do what’s required to win.”
The Tigers travel to Milton Keynes this evening for the first leg of the quarter-final, before tomorrow night’s winner-takes-all clash at Telford Ice Rink (6pm).
Plant added: “Play-off weekends are always tough and anything can happen in one-off games like these. I’ve won a couple of play-offs, but also been on the losing side plenty of times.
“It is a devastating feeling if you go out, so hopefully we’ll learn from what happened last season and know what we need to do to get through.
“Every player in this situation knows they have to push even harder and find that extra something. If we can do that, then hopefully this can be our year.”
The former GB under-20s star in one of the few Tigers players to have remained fit this season, following an injury-ravaged campaign for Shropshire men.
Coach Tom Watkins is likely to have a virtually fully-fit squad to choose from, with Jonathan Weaver and Jason Silverthorn having returned last weekend.
“The guys have been training hard this week, although some of us had an extra day off on Tuesday,” Plant said.
“Having that little bit of time off at this time of the year can be useful, as it tends to help those little bruises and knocks to die down a bit.
“The mood in the dressing room is really good. Hopefully this weekend we can start to play some good hockey and push through to Coventry.”
Saturday night’s away game against Milton Keynes Lightning starts at 7pm. On Sunday, the two teams face-off at 6pm, at Telford Ice Rink. For tickets to the home game on Sunday, go to www.tigershockeyuk.com.
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