DOUG CHRISTIANSEN has a high regard for current Elite League champions Coventry Blaze and also his former netminder, JF Perras, who moved south in a close-season transfer.
But Christiansen's Capitals are especially determined to put one over their old goalie.
The clubs match-up at Murrayfield tomorrow (6pm) with six points and five places separating them. Blaze are riding high in third place in the Elite League with
Capitals lagging six points behind them.
After Coventry, Capitals travel to Newcastle Vipers on Sunday night, but Christiansen's first concern is repairing the damage from last weekend's two league defeats at home to Nottingham Panthers.
The Midlands club are joint top of the table alongside early pace-setters Belfast Giants with 16 points, and Capitals undoubtedly showed improved form on Sunday. However, Christiansen conceded he needs fresh blood to help his cause.
Crocked Great Britain defenceman Kyle Horne and youth internationalist Iain Bowie will be missing from the Capitals line-up this weekend, again putting strain on the club's remaining players.
And Christiansen was a dejected man as he sat outside the team dressing-room on Sunday after the second defeat. His facial expression spoke volumes.
The giant American admitted: "It was a tough weekend and the toughest part for me is that we gave up 12 goals in two games.
"We have a short squad and I was very proud of the effort. The guys deserve credit and some guys stepped up and did a great job. It's also hard to be mad when everybody laid it on the line for the last 40 minutes of Sunday's game.
"And both teams deserved to share the points (from Sunday's game) and it would have been good to have settled the issue in extra time."
Christiansen has a point. Capitals somehow battled back from 4-0 down to level at 4-4 - and how the fans responded. If he can spark the side into showing that commitment and effort for the entire 60 minutes then there could be a lot more to cheer around the currently disappointingly-empty terraces at Murrayfield.
It is patently obvious that this currently short-handed team has character, but Christiansen added: "Its tough when you put yourselves behind the eight ball and, in all sincerity, in the first period on Sunday, it was men against boys.
"We were down 3-0 and if it wasn't for (Michel) Robinson then it could have been 10-0. He (Robinson) gave us a chance to win and the guys dug deep. We had momentum there and when you work that hard and give so much it is hard when you don't take anything out of the game.
"Every team in this league will be short at some point in time and it is crucial to get some points when you are."
It was impossible not to have been impressed by Nottingham's play at the weekend. They moved the puck from front to back with authority, had speed and skill and yet Capitals pushed them all the way on Sunday. Saturday was a different story.
Christiansen acknowledged the quality of the Panthers. He said: "Make no mistake, this team can play and I would put my money on them.
"Their three forward lines are as good as any team's first line. They have so much speed and so much skill. They are very well organised and Corey Neilson had done a great job there. He has put a team on the ice that they (Nottingham's fans and management) should be happy with."
That's exactly what Christiansen is attempting to do in Edinburgh. This weekend is another huge test. And the American, now in his second season at the Riversdale rink, knows exactly what he has to do.
Tomorrow's clash with Coventry is arguably the most critical fixture as it is a league game, and Christiansen is determined to improve on last season when he guided the club to the end-of-season play-offs for the first time.
Blaze were the side that ended Capitals' play-off challenge at the first hurdle last season.
But the club's long-suffering fans can take heart as Capitals have enjoyed success against the Midlands outfit previously and, in fact, shocked the champions last season both home and away.
Sunday's Tyneside test is in the Challenge Cup, Group A, with Edinburgh propping up the five-strong table with no points from two games. However, they travel in the knowledge that they beat Vipers 6-3 at Murrayfield last month after being 1-0 down going into the final period.
The full article contains 772 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
