The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Blaze hope to turn up the heat on struggling Stars
Pacha to make debut as Dundee aim to kickstart season against Coventry
Dundee Stars face Coventry Blaze for the first time this season as Omar Pacha takes his side down to the West Midlands today before returning home to face the Midlands side tomorrow night.
Danny Stewart’s Blaze sit fourth in the table with eight points from eight games and have lost their lost two.
Dundee have three points from six games and are ranked 11th in the league standings after losing their last four matches.
Brian Hart made his debut for the Stars last week and bagged a goal in his first home game and he will be after his first win and four-point weekend as the team look to get back to winning ways.
Dundee welcome back Anthony Mastrodicasa and Jordan Cownie, who return from injury. There will be debuts this weekend for Justin Fox and head coach Omar Pacha.
Pacha comes into the roster as injury cover, as Cam McGiffin joins Chris Lawrence on the injury list after sustaining an upper body injury in the 5-2 loss to Sheffield last Sunday.
Coventry’s Danick Paquette has been suspended for both of this weekend’s matches following a review by the department of player safety.
However, Coventry will still be able to call upon their leading points scorer, Marc-Olivier Vallerand. The Canadian has already posted 15 points in 12 games with nine goals and six assists in all competitions.
Ryan Dingle will also be a key player in the English team’s line-up as he was lured south during the summer after two successful seasons in Fife.
Dingle has two goals and five assists in 12 games and is a danger man on every shift.
Dingle’s former team-mate Justin Fox will line up against him in his Dundee debut.
During their time in Fife Fox was the top points scorer in their first season at Flyers with 51, beating Dingle by just two points.
Set to make his debut in a Stars jersey this weekend, head coach Omar Pacha said: “I am looking forward to see our new changes in the line-up.
“It’s a big weekend as it’s two big league games that we need to win to get back on track.
“I want us to focus on our performance, I want to see our team improve week by week and it will be important to have a big start and to have a high compete level throughout the weekend.”