Slava praises great achievement by Peterborough Phantoms ahead of Finals Weekend in Coventry

The city side came through a tough play-off qualifying group to reach the prestigious Finals Weekend in Coventry. Phantoms secured their place in Coventry this weekend after a tense win at league champions Leeds Knights on Sunday. Fourth-placed finishers Hull Seahawks and a dangerous Telford Tigers team completed the group.

It’s now a third Finals Weekend in four years for Phantoms which in itself is a fine achievement. Now they want to repeat last year’s success when they pipped Leeds on penalty shots in the Grand Final.

The city skaters are up against it again as the top three in the regular season standings are in action alongside Phantoms who finished fifth. Phantoms tackle third-placed finishers Swindon Wildcats in a Saturday semi-final (1.30pm face-off) for the right to take on either MK Lightning or Leeds in Sunday’s final (4pm).

“It was a tough group as all four teams were well prepared & battling hard for qualification,” Koulikov told the Phantoms media team. “But we know that on our day, with the right plan and compete level, we can compete with anyone in this league and thankfully we got over the line.

“The boys knew what we needed to do in every game. They raised their individual game, competed hard and we’re all really happy to finish in top two and make the final four.

"Play-offs are the most exciting part of the season. To be in Coventry in three of the last four seasons is a great achievement for the club and the players deserve a lot of credit for that. Now the time comes to defend our trophy on the big stage and we are all looking forward to the challenge.”

FInals Weekend is expected to attract a capacity crowd to the Coventry Skydome.