Southern Storm coach Mark Stafford negotiates his way around the question before attacking it from a different angle.
It has been four years since the Storm last won a game in the National Hockey League and there are no great expectations the team will break the drought this season.
As for making the top four, well, even the most upbeat appraisal would have to acknowledge the odds are just too long.
You only need a quick glance at the team list to see why. The Storm is team without stars and the only side in the NHL without a member of the national squad.
Hockey New Zealand leaned on an old cliche in assessing Southern's prospects, describing this year's team as "an exciting blend of youth and experience". We all know that is code for a sprinkling of journeymen and some erratic tenderfeet.
Stafford, of course, put it differently.
"The girls have not won a game for a few years, so just winning a game would be a start and we can build from that," he said.
"We had a trial against Canterbury a couple of weeks ago and went down 3-0. But there was a lot of promise in it and since then we've been working on a few deficiencies. Hopefully, things will work out for us this weekend."
Southern opens its campaign against Canterbury in Dunedin on Saturday and will back up the following day against Central.
Canterbury is aiming for a top-four finish and Central will be looking to send Caryn Paewai into retirement as a champion.
Both sides can call on considerable more talent than the home team.
The Storm has really struggled to compete since entering the league in 2004. It has finished last in six of its seven campaigns and last tasted victory when it beat Auckland 2-1 in 2007.
Part of the problem, Stafford believes, is the hockey playing population in the South tends to be a transient community, lured south to study at the region's academic institutions.
Players come and go and Southern remains stuck in the rebuilding phase year after year. The timing of the University holidays also makes a proper pre-season difficult, he added.
Essentially, the Storm limps into the tournament each year having played the odd warm-up game against Canterbury, if it is lucky. It is a recipe for failure and one which rarely fails.
Retaining players and building up a stock of experienced and proven performers is an ongoing problem and one which needs an innovative solution, Stafford said.
"There isn't a quick fix," he said.
"There is a lot of quality in the under-18 Otago girls team which will move up in the next year or so. But we've got to keep them in Otago once they leave school."
Stafford believes Southland, Otago, South Otago and North Otago need to pool resources and present a more consolidated front.
"What we've got to do is get out there and upskill at the under-15 and under-18 level so we are competitive, and then those kids will follow through."
The southern regions have less players to select representative teams from but the men's team has shown Southern teams can be competitive in the NHL.
The arrival of Australians Tamsin Lee and Fiona Johnson later this week will bolster the midfield and junior Black Sticks Liz Gifford, Anita Chandler, Pip Symes and Jenny Storey are exciting prospects.
"The whole side is good, but I don't think we've got that brilliant player, which I don't mind," Stafford said.
"I prefer players who play for the whole team, and even the Australian girls - I brought them in because they are team people and play as a team.
"If we are the best we can be on any given day then we match the other teams. We're not that far behind and we are going to be competitive this year."
