Blades trying not to think about winning Cup heading into tonight - Naples Daily News

Game 4: Blades edge closer to Cup

Florida tops Vegas 3-1

ESTERO â€" Despite being on the verge of winning the Kelly Cup for the first time in the team’s 14-year history, Florida Everblades players and coaches are towing the company line heading into tonight’s Game 5 against the Las Vegas Wranglers.

“Right now we just want to stick to the fundamentals,” Florida coach Greg Poss said. “We don’t want to get caught up in that and think about what could happen, we want to stay in the moment and stay focused.”

The moment that is at hand is an opportunity to win a league championship, something the Everblades have never done. The three games the team has won this year are also the same amount the team won its two previous finals appearances (2004, ’05) combined.

If Florida can’t find a way to win tonight at Germain Arena, the team is faced with a long travel day on Thursday, followed by back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday in Las Vegas.

Despite local TV stations broadcasting live from Germain all day and fans already planning their postgame celebrations, Florida players are working hard to stay even-keel.

“We know we have an opportunity to win this championship,” Florida forward Justin Shugg said. “We can’t be too loose but we can’t be too tight either. We just have to find that happy medium as a hockey club.”

With a sellout crowd expected, Shugg said he and his teammates are hoping for an electric atmosphere inside Germain Arena tonight.

“It would be great for us to have a championship celebration together,” Shugg said. “But we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. It’d be great to win it on home ice, but if not we have to be ready to go try to win one in Las Vegas.”