Slava Koulikov staying grounded while Sheffield Steeldogs build winning momentum
SLAVA KOULIKOV is allowing himself to be pleased with the run of form being produced by his Sheffield Steeldogs but, equally, he is determined not to get too carried away.
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to the head coach’s former club, Peterborough Phantoms, the Steeldogs have risen sharply to third in the NIHL National standings, knowing that a win in Cambridgeshire could see them leapfrog Leeds Knights - not playing until tomorrow at home to Basingstoke Bison - into second.
Were they to then extend their winning run to eight games at Hull Seahawks on Sunday, that would see the Koulikov’s team remain ahead of their West Yorkshire rivals.
Most impressive more recently has been the Steeldogs’ form on the road, winning their last three at Leeds, Telford Tigers - who were previously unbeaten at home - and Milton Keynes Lighting, which required a shootout last Sunday.
“When you win, everybody is happy, including the coach,” said Koulikov. “But I think we need to keep our feet on the ground as there is still a lot of work to do.
“But in the last seven or eight games we have played really good hockey and we just need to continue to do the basics in order to keep growing as a team.
“From a coaching point of view, we had five tough games in nine days, three tough games on the road - Leeds, Telford - who hadn’t lost at home previously - and then MK to finish it off.
“Two of those games were National Cup games, so to pick up four points has put it into our own hands for the last two games, which is also very pleasing.”
While lots of eyes will be on Sunday’s Yorkshire derby on the east coast, Koulikov is not looking that far ahead, instead focusing solely on his former team, who took three points from their weekend double-header with the Seahawks last time out.
“We’ve already seen that every team can beat anyone in this league,” added Koulikov, who will be missing defenceman Liam Steele and forward Kyle Watson for today’s road trip, due to them being on international duty, although they could be nack in time to face Hull.
“Hull play really good hockey at home, they push every team hard and it will be a tough task.
“But we don’t think about that game until after Peterborough. They are above Hull at the moment and took three points from them last weekend.
"We know both games are going to be tough.”