Clansman Keith talks tough to make it third time lucky...
MATT KEITH has urged Braehead Clan to push through the mental pain barrier when they again dip their toe in play-off waters this weekend.
The quarter-final stage of the campaign has not been Clan’s happy place in recent seasons. With the goal of being one of the last four teams to make it to the play-off finals weekend in Nottingham, they have narrowly missed out in the last two seasons having only ever made it once.
The most excruciating of those near misses was thrust upon them 12 months ago by archrivals Fife Flyers. After losing the first leg in Kirkcaldy 2-1 with a late, late blow, the knock out punch was delivered in overtime by TJ Caig as the Fifers ran out 4-3 winners on aggregate.
It was a defeat hard to stomach as they band of away supporters celebrated wildly at the Braehead Arena a year ago yesterday. The passing of time has not faded that pain for Clan captain Keith.
However, as his men now stand on the verge of another last eight two-legged knockout – this time against the Dundee Stars – he is hoping to use that heartache as motivation this time around. He said: “The guys who have been here the last two years it’s fresh on our mind, it does bother you and you’d hate for it to happen again.
“For me, you definitely look back on it and you realise how close we were the last two years.
“We want to get over that hump. I’ve been in the game for years but for it was hard to take.
“You just have to use it as motivation. There’s not much room for error.” Clan cruised to becoming Gardiner Conference champions last month but the gap between that silver success and this point has been far from smooth. A resurgent last few months have seen Braehead pick their game up and Keith is pragmatic about a recent dip over their final handful of games.
HE SAID: “We are pretty healthy and at this time of year everyone is playing through bumps and bruises.
“Overall, we feel confident. We are going up against a good team that we’ve had good games against. They have a lot of firepower. We need to prepare well and make sure we are ready to go in Dundee on Saturday.”
It remains to be seen if this is Keith’s last act in purple.
The Canadian has been in Scotland battling for Braehead over the last three years and has undoubtedly become one of the biggest – if not the biggest – fans’ favourite of Ryan Finnerty’s era. is current deal is up in the summer and negotiations about a new contract have yet to take place. But the 33-year-old from Edmonton insists the first chat will be with his wife Chelsea before deciding on his intentions.
He said. “This is my 14th year professional so I’ve been away for a while! It’s a privilege to play hockey and pull this jersey on.
career “There waiting.is obviouslyYou do another miss things when you are gone. I’m very proud of being captain here. Over three years we have met so many good people.
“As far as next season goes, we will just wait and see how things go at the end of the season.”