BLAZE goaltender Brian Stewart has set his sights on participating in the Elite League play-off finals weekend.
Blaze clinched a top-eight place following a come-from-behind 3-2 shoot-out win over Hull Stingrays at the Skydome on Sunday night.
The two teams clashed again at Hull Arena on Wednesday night before meeting for the third time in a week at the Skydome this Sunday, with Chuck Weber’s side also visiting Belfast Giants on Friday.
“We are definitely happy to make the play-offs, that was our main goal in these last few weeks,” said Stewart.
“We have been playing some pretty good hockey although this weekend we did not play how we have been but we still managed to get two points.
“It does not matter who we play in the play-offs, we just need to keep playing our game and there will be a few teams who will be worried about playing us.
“But my biggest goal now is to make the Final Four weekend. I have heard a lot of good things about it and how big an event it is to play in.”
It has been a week to remember for Steward after he was also shortlisted for the Netminder of the Year award by the Elite League.
The 30-year-old is up against Ben Bowns of Cardiff Devils and Braehead Clan’s Kyle Jones.
The annual awards are voted for by the coaches and general managers of all ten Elite League clubs and will be handed out during play-off finals weekend.
Steward added: “I was very honoured about that but Jones and Bowns are also very good goalies.
“We have had some tough times this season, especially in October and November when we were struggling. But I would rather be sitting in first place with 40 wins.”
