Ice Hockey: Doug's Diary - 'My guys battled through adversity, I'm so proud'

EVERY point is critical at this stage of the season and the team need to be prepared to do what it takes to win.

Anybody who was at Murrayfield on Sunday will know that the guys put everything on the line to achieve a victory over Belfast.

The Giants are chasing the title and are undoubtedly one of the best teams in the league. They have two of the most potent forces in British ice hockey in Scottish forward Colin Shields and Canadian Jeff Szwez.

But on Sunday Colin was held to two assists and Szwez was pointless after an exciting 60 minutes of ice hockey.

The atmosphere in the rink was terrific and every one of the fans who were there will have been heartened by the commitment and effort shown by everybody who wore a Capitals uniform.

My guys battled through adversity without inspirational forward, Owen Fussey, who is a proven winner and has skated with Washington Capitals in the world's toughest league, the National Hockey League.

We were also missing Great Britain defenceman Kyle Horne.

I could not have been more proud of the team, particularly after Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Giants when they outshot us 32-22. What a turnaround as we outshot them 35-26 on Sunday.

The spirit in the camp is unbelievable at the moment and the dressing room is full of guys who are willing to work for each other. I'm proud to be their coach.

It was also great for our fans to see that we can turn things around with hard work and application and we can live with the best there is in the Elite League.

We've already scored a franchise record number of points this season and we, as a group, would love to be the first side from Murrayfield to make the trip to Nottingham for the final four.

Sunday's victory could not have come at a better time as my parents are in town and for them to witness it was special for me.

Why don't you be a witness, too. Come along and cheer us into the play-off semi-finals. You'll enjoy the experience, believe me.