It's now or never for Knights and Robins

13 April 2012

London Knights netminder Trevor Robins is hoping his recent outstanding form will continue this weekend and lead to a dream summer move to North America's National Hockey League - the world's best league.

Robins has been almost unbeatable between the pipes this season and his form has played a major part in helping the Evening Standard-sponsored Knights, the defending champions, reach this weekend's Sekonda Superleague play-off finals in Nottingham.

The 29-year-old Canadian, who has won four man-of-the-match awards in the Knights' six play-off group games, feels that it's now or never if he is to play in the NHL. "If I'm going to get any kind of opportunity then it'll be this year. I'm hoping for something to come along out-side of Europe. I've had a few offers and I'm pretty positive something will come up," he said.

It is no surprise that Robins has proved to be the top netminder in Superleague. Anyone who has seen him psyching himself up before a game will know of his dedication to his profession.

He starts by throwing an out-of-shape rubber ball against a wall, testing his reflexes with the unpredictable bounce. He then cuts himself off from his teammates by going into a trance-like state in the build-up to the game.

"I try and get as mentally focused as I possibly can. If I can get in a state of mind where I'm totally focused, the game then seems to flow a lot more smoothly and you are ready for the task in hand," Robins said.

"I'm pretty passionate about my sport and I take a lot of pride in the way that I play. I like to win as much as anybody and take defeat pretty hard because I am so hard on myself.

"I'm the first guy to look at myself in the mirror when there's a defeat and look at what more I could have done or what I did wrong."

Robins has totalled seven shut-outs this season - setting a Superleague record along the way. He also topped the goal-tending averages in the play-offs and is one of six players nominated for the Sekonda Player of the Year award.

"Any time you can be the top goalie in the league then you're giving your team the best chance to win," he said.

Robins, along with defenceman Neal Martin and assistant coach Paul Rushforth - who scored a hat-trick in last year's 7-3 final defeat of Newcastle - are the three survivors from that win.

With Nottingham being his home for the three seasons before that, Robins has many friends there. "I get on super with the Nottingham fans. I still hear more cheers than boos, so I guess that's good."

Robins is looking forward to this weekend's challenge. "We're very positive. We won our first four play-off games before dropping our last two where the guys took their foot off the gas a little. We've got everybody back healthy and we've had a good week of training," he said.

London face the Ayr Scottish Eagles in Saturday's first play-off semi-final in Nottingham. "Ayr's going to be tough," Robins said. "We're going to have to play a solid defensive game. We'll get our chances against them as they are strictly offence and don't take care of their defensive zone as well as we do."

If Knights do retain their title they will deprive this year's treble-winners Sheffield Steelers of a grand slam.

Sheffield have already won the Super-league title, the Challenge Cup and the Benson & Hedges Cup this season and face Bracknell Bees in the second semi-final, also on Saturday. The final is on Sunday at 6.30pm.

"We're very positive. I think every-body's realising how big a tournament this is and how big a weekend. We've had a good year but we haven't picked up any hardware. The guys know this is the last weekend of hockey for the season so we've got nothing to save it for."

Robins also knows that another two good performances this weekend could lead to more than just a play-off champions medal on Sunday night.

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