EIHL Play Off Weekend - Day 1

It was a reasonably early start as we had to pop over to the pub for our breakfast as the Premier Inn that we were staying in had no catering facilities. This wasn't a problem though as the breakfast was lovely.

Suitably stocked up on food we stuck on our hockey battle gear and headed into town on the bus to the National Ice Centre.

Toni, Gemima and I headed off to our seats while mum and Sam went off to theirs.

I did manage to get a photo of mum and Sam although it was a little blurry as it was on 48x digital zoom!

We were right on the back row which is a great view although a little short on air!

Which brought us nicely onto the matches:

SEMI FINAL 1: Nottingham Panthers 6 Cardiff Devils 3

The teams came out to two flag bearers.

Next up was a ceremonial puck drop:

National anthems followed with both teams lined up on the ice:

This was pretty good match. Things started badly with the Devils getting the first goal and I had started to fear the worst. Thankfully the tide slowly turned for the Panthers and they came out victors with a 6 - 3 win.

SEMI FINAL 2: Belfast Giants 5 Coventry Blaze 1

The teams came out to two flag bearers.

National anthem followed with both teams lined up on the ice:

This match was a bit of a shocker. Coventry Blaze were very poor and Belfast completely dominated. It was very clear that this was going to be a forgone conclusion with the Giants coming out with a very easy 5 - 1 win.

It was a good start to the Play Off Weekend and Panthers v Giants in the final is going to be a really good game. It was so nice to be back at a live ice hockey match, I've missed it!