Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
New man all for the Stars
AFTER the disappointment of last weekend, Dundee Stars are looking to pick themselves up as they prepare to face two in-form teams in their next two matches.
Tomorrow they travel to Altrincham to face Manchester Storm and follow that with a home fixture against Sheffield Steelers on Sunday (6.30pm).
Coach Omar Pacha said showings against Edinburgh Capitals, where Dundee lost 7-2 and 2-1, were totally unacceptable and things needed to improve.
The coach acted swiftly to add more firepower to his roster with the signing this week of Justin Fox. That coupled with the arrival of Brian Hart, will certainly add more quality to the team although Fox won’t arrive in time to play this weekend.
Manchester come into the game as league leaders, three points ahead of second-placed Sheffield.
They had a 6-0 win over Milton Keynes Lightning in their last match.
Storm are coached by former Braehead Clan head coach, Ryan Finnerty, who has assembled a very experienced and skilful roster that includes former Star, Paul Swindlehurst and former Fife forward, Chris Auger.
Forward Luke Moffat is in scoring form, having grabbed four against Lightning last weekend in that 6-0 win.
Steelers, who beat Dundee 8-2 a few weeks ago on home ice, had two 3-2 wins last weekend against Nottingham Panthers and Braehead Clan.
They have a strong squad, put together by former Coventry coach, Paul Thomson.
In Robert Dowd they have one of the best home-produced players in the league.
Omar Pacha commented: “This weekend is going to be tough against the two top teams in the league.
“However, we need to go out with a positive attitude, play hard for 60 minutes and stick to our game plan.
“That’s something we didn’t do last weekend but we have been working hard in practice and I have put it over to the guys that we need to eradicate the mistakes we have been making.
‘I am delighted to have Brian Hart in for the games.
“He is an excellent player, and has experience at a very high level so he will add grit and experience, along with skill, to the team.
“Unfortunately, Justin Fox won’t be here in time to play but we are hopeful