Capital teams eye NHL top four

IT’S crunch time for Capital’s National Hockey League teams.

Today marks the start of the tournament week in Whangarei, with both sides putting their topfour ambitions on the line as they play five games in the next six days.

The women head into tournament week in seventh (of eight) after losses to Central (3-2) and Canterbury (4-0) in the opening two rounds.

The Canterbury game was closer than it appeared, with Canterbury knocking in three late goals.

Capital captain and Black Stick Aniwaka Roberts said morale remained high but the team was desperate to win against Southern on Saturday.

‘‘We do [need to win], but they are not an easy team to play, we have always struggled with them in the past, so it will be about doing what we need to do and hopefully come out with the win to keep our top four hopes alive.

‘‘They’re not as strong as other teams in the competition, they haven’t got any Black Sticks, so they run an 11-man defence, they work really hard for the full game and never give up.’’

The Capital women will want to see more production from their penalty corner drag-flick specialists of Anita Punt and Sophie Devine, who have yet to find the net.

If they lose, then they would need to win their last four games to stand a chance of making the semifinals, including tough games against North Harbour (Sunday) and Auckland (Wednesday).

The men sit in the comparatively enviable position of fourth ahead of their first tournamentweek match, against Southern today.

But coach Hemant Lala said in such a tight league, getting early wins was crucial.

‘‘They’ve got two losses to their name, so they’ll be looking to get on the board but we’ve targeted this game because as the first game of the tournament phase it’s important to get off to a good start.’’

Lala expected a typically performance from Southern men.

‘‘They call themselves the Dogs and they really do play like a pack.

‘‘They’ve got a core group of very talented players who have come through the grades playing together.’’

Anything less than a top four finish at the end of the week for the Capital men would be seen as a failure, while it will be a huge success if the women can make the playoffs after finishing last in 2014. tenacious the