MK Lightning will this week host Basingstoke Bison at the Thunderdome for their only fixture of the weekend, and debutant Tuomas Tikkanen will be aiming to make a good early impression on Lightning supporters. (Saturday 28 January, Planet Ice Arena Milton Keynes, 7pm
Tikkanen signed for the Lightning to fill the gap left by Juraj Gracik, who was released from his contract last weekend, and player coach Nick Poole knows it's imperative that the Finn finds his feet quickly. "Although we've beaten the Bison every time we've played them this season, it's never an easy two points to get - so we'll need all the offensive threat we can get, and I'm sure Tuomas can help us with that. We had some very good references on him, and his stats in the Finnish second division speak for themselves.
The Lightning have beaten Steve Moria's men in all four of their meetings so far this season, with two shut-outs and an aggregate eleven goals bagged, compared with the Bison's three. The two sides met last Sunday in Basingstoke, when the Lightning successfully shrugged off a defeat to Sheffield 24 hours earlier, to take a morale-boosting 0-2 shutout against Steve Moria's side - who had won seven of their precious ten games. "Obviously what we're aiming for is to win the whole series - we've won four of our six games against them so it'd be great to shut them out completely", said Nick Poole.
"The top end of the whole league is so tight that goal difference and number of wins could be a deciding factor come the end of the season, which was the major factor in signing Tuomas - we needed someone to be scoring regularly with Leigh (Jamieson) and Blaz (Emersic). It's a big game to be making his first appearance with - Bison will be out to show they won't be walked over. But it'll be a big game for Tuomas, too - because he'll be out to make his mark!
"Changing players mid-season isn't something we went into lightly - infact it was one of the most difficult decisions we've ever made for the Lightning. Our supporters have always been fantastic in welcoming new players into the roster whatever the circumstances, and I know it'll be no different this time.
"I'm sure the Bison guys will be interested in his abilities - but I'm also sure he'll be letting them know straight away that just because he’s new to this league, he’s no pushover - it's definitely going to be an interesting encounter!"
Face off is at 7pm this Saturday, 28 January. Discounted advance tickets are available from the Planet Ice ticket office during any public skating session this week until the end of Friday.