POFW - Pressure is on who ? ......

[kingmo19.1]

Lets look at the 4 teams :-

1. Devils - Not a huge amount of pressure on us, maybe expectation with the team we've got but pressure? No. With the league and conference in the bag it would be great to win the playoffs, but must we win them - nope!

2. Fife - No pressure whatsoever, have done great to get there. If we don't win it then I'm backing Fife all the way.

3. Panthers - Underachieved all season, so no real pressure or dare I say expectation. Will be hard to beat, but apart from a nice departing gift for Corey/Clarkie not much pressure.

4. Steelers - MASSIVE, MASSIVE pressure on these guys to win it. Have done nothing all season and their Challenge Cup demolition by us will still be fresh in the memory. No excuses left for Thommo, this is his team, the players he signed. Huge Semi v Panthers to start with then a tough final should they go through. Having said that, if they do win it, then you'd have to tilt your hat to them!

Bring it on!

 

[Ocko]

I would say the pressure is most certainly on us. We are the league champions, that brings with it a great expectation, the play offs have been our nemesis for 19 years and Lord his teams have always struggled at the weekend. We've always got the play offs very wrong during the new ownership. Lord will know that, the players and fans too. We have the most pressure I think.

Sheffield have only a bit of pressure I think. Their fans think they're crap and the team seem to have little expectation in the way they play - they almost have nothing to lose. Their season was written off a long time ago. The only ones under pressure are Thompson and Simms. Nottingham also have a fair bit on them; they're at home and have grossly under achieved. But neither come close to the pressure on us IMO.

The only team it isn't on is Fife. No expectation, and a season already considered a success.

 

[solelace84]

I think winning at POFW will mean a lot to the devils organisation and fans because of coming so close last year, and it being the only one Lordo hasn't won! But it's more of a personal achievement thing for the guys/fans, as opposed to season defining like it will be for the panthers and steelers.

If we don't take the playoff trophy, and I really hope that we do, we have still had a hugely successful season - if the Panthers or Steelers don't win, they have underachieved all season challenging for nothing! Panthers will want to win for Corey, Thommo will want to win to save his reputation as a coach, and the guys in both teams will feel like they have to prove that they're not sh**e. Lord and the guys will want to win only because they are winners, they want to please the fan base and they want to add another trophy to the collection!

If I had to choose which "pressure" I'd rather play under, it would be the latter!

 

[Hedd Wyn John]

Of the 4 teams I’d say Fife are the only ones who aren’t under any pressure, they’re not one of the ‘Big four’, most don’t expect them to go on to win.

As league champs the Devils are definitely under pressure due to the expectation that beings. The Play-offs are the ‘monkey’ on the Devils back so there’s a big desire to break that.

Nottingham are on home ice so that brings pressure and fans don’t want to finish the season without a trophy - there’s definite pressure there.

Sheffield have had a disappointing season like Nottingham there’s definite pressure to emerge from the season with a trophy, plus Sheffield are the defending play-off champs so that’s a title to defend.

 

[Mazzoak]

Ok, let’s dispense with the self ego stroking and remove those tinted glasses for a moment.
The four teams today will all have pressure, they will all want to win. The Devils need to win it, just as much as the others. There is a lot of drivel written every year regarding these playoff’s, a fair few of those comments are made by fans still willing to watch an unimportant competition, go figure.
Winning the league ultimately depends on your competition, if you’ve bought a better team, financially backed it up, out classed the rest, you’ll win the league. In playoffs though, as we have seen this year, results can go either way on the day. If any team wants to fully stamp a place in history, endorse the Champions label, give creditably, all competition has to be won.
So let’s not be influenced by the silly comments of those fans of the loosing teams, the playoff title means everything.