It is do or die for the Southern Stampede as the team enters the final round of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League precariously second behind the Botany Swarm.
With the team's final two games this weekend against Dunedin Thunder, Stampede co-ordinator Niel Frear said the team was strong on the back of a four-game winning streak.
"The guys are playing good hockey and getting good results ... and are getting into form at the right time of the year."
Two outright wins would see the team through to a Botany final with the Swarm, but with the Canterbury Red Devils sitting on the same points - only trailing on a head-to-head basis - losses would mean the weekend's Canterbury Red Devils v Auckland Admirals match-ups in Christchurch would decide the second finalist.
Mr Frear said the team would take the matches on one at a time.
" It really doesn't matter what happens in Christchurch, we just have to win our games. We have known for the last four games that we had to beat the Devils twice and the Admirals twice and we need to keep on focusing game by game."
With Dunedin's "big ice surface", the team's imports such as Adnan Mlivic, of Sweden, would be important as well as the influence of captain Simon Glass, and the continuing form of goalie Aston Brookes.
After coming last in the league in 2010, Mr Frear said the team was in a "good mind space".
"We came last last year and so to re-establish our team and to be in the position to be in the running to make the finals has been a very positive step for us. A lot of them have been through this before and they know what they need to be focused on. They know what they need to do."
