With the collapse of Flybe and the outbreak of Coronavirus it seems the hockey hating gods are doing what they can to postpone Nottingham Panthers trip to Northern Ireland this weekend but with little over 24 hours until Friday night face off we look good for all things going ahead as Tim Wallace’s men take on Belfast Giant in a double header weekend.

Having had a fortnight off since crushing Cardiff to conceding late against Coventry eventually ending in a shootout loss, Nottingham are fresh to go against a Giants team fourth in the table but just four points off leaders Cardiff all be it with the Devils having two games in hand.

Two points behind Belfast, Nottingham, like Cardiff also have games in hand on those around them but the Panthers have slipped down to fifth since last playing and would hope for a winning return to ice to close the gap on those above them in the Elite League standings.

With just eight games remaining until the playoffs start teams are jostling for position and whilst topping the Elite League might be realistically outside the Panthers reach now finishing a highest place second is a real possibility for the side as they look to end the regular season with a strongest finish as possible.

Ahead of the game American Forward Jake Hansen stated “we have to go there and take care of business. It’ll be a tough environment they are a good team but we’ll be going there looking to get two wins which we know will be a tough ask in hand but we are ready for it”

Hansen who’s yet to play in Northern Ireland suggesting “I haven’t played their yet but have heard good things” said “they’re a very well coached team with good systems and have got some good players. We had some good success against them last time but we expect them to be as good as they can be at home especially with everything that’s on the line for the standings”

In preparation for the weekend Nottingham played a behind closed doors internal match with Gui Lepine’s Canadian team beating Sam Herr’s Rest of the World team 5-2 on the practice rink for an inter-team scrimmage.

The Panthers can now focus on trying to take points back from Northern Ireland as they start proceedings tomorrow night at 7pm with the following days game at the same time on Saturday night.

*Main image @PanthersAudioX Jake Hansen looking forward to his first trip to Northern Ireland.