Dunedin Thunder has only had one win in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League this season and faces the double header against the table-topping Southern Stampede, from Queenstown.
It has had eight wins, one draw and one loss in its 10 games.
The Stampede (17 points) is followed by the Red Devils (Christchurch) 14, Botany Swarm 8, West Auckland Admirals 7 and Thunder 2.
Vlok (19), a science student at the University of Otago, is in his first year of the league.
"Yeah, they are a tough opponent and are on top of the league," he said yesterday.
"But we are on our own ice and anything can happen.
"But we are a young team and have a lot to build on. Most of our guys will be back next year. "There is a great group of guys in our team and we have a lot of passion as a team."
Vlok has been impressed by the standard of ice hockey in the league.
"It is a better quality of ice hockey than I have ever played in before," he said.
"The league shows that the skill level of the sport in New Zealand is high."
Vlok had his first taste of ice sports when his family lived in Canada.
"There was a ditch filled with water outside our home and it froze over in winter," he said.
That was the start and he continued with ice skating when the family shifted to New Zealand.
He started ice hockey in his home town of Christchurch 10 years ago and was a member of the New Zealand under-18 team that finished fourth in the 2006 third division world championships in Romania.
His long-term goal is to keep up his high level of fitness and make the Ice Blacks squad.
The Dunedin Thunder plays the Southern Stampede at the Dunedin Ice Stadium at 7pm tonight and 4pm tomorrow.
