The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Pacha staying positive despite winless streak
ICE HOCKEY: Stars boss confident ‘tide will turn’ after three straight defeats
Dundee Stars head coach Omar Pacha remains positive over his team’s Elite League chances despite hurting after three successive defeats.
He insists his side have figured strongly in every game and is looking for the team, which is joint bottom after eight games, to continue fighting for the full 60 minutes.
Dundee were beaten 3-2 by Cardiff Devils in overtime last Wednesday before losing 6-5 away to Guildford Flames with the treble blow completed when they went down 4-2 to the Flames again on Sunday.
Pacha said: “It was disappointing not to get anything but I think it all added up – the travel schedule, the injuries, the fatigue of playing so many games in so many days and you can just see we were a step behind.
“We were working hard and giving our all but the physical aspect of the game just seemed to hurt us and not having the normal jump that we have.”
Stars played eight games in 15 days and won just one game but picked up six points from a possible 16.
In six of their seven losses they were only beaten by a single goal and talking about the positives of Stars’ performances, Pacha added: “We are in every single game and that is a huge positive.
“Guildford are going to be a title contender, so that is a positive thing and I think we were in both games and we defended well even if we had one of our better defenceman out.
“We were able, for the most part, not to give them chances but most importantly, it was a lot of special teams.
“Some guys played both and you could tell they were tired at times when we went on the powerplay or the penalty kill.
“We are losing one goal games, it was an empty net and the puck hit the referee’s skate but the game is all about bounces and it seems we are not getting the bounces.
“When you are always this close, eventually the tide will turn and the goal or extra bounce will go your way.”
Dundee have five days off before their next game and the rest was needed according to the Stars boss.
He said: “When your team is hot, guys are healthy and the team is rolling you want to get as many games as possible in a row because you are playing good hockey, but as of now it was needed.
“It has been a grind with all the travel in the past few weeks.
“There are no excuses because the guys worked hard but should have probably got rewarded only on their work ethic throughout the few games they played against Guildford.
“However, Guildford played well, they always seemed to have a step in front of us and when you look back on the games, especially the Sunday one it was just a sloppy game from both sides.”
Stars travel to Cardiff this Saturday for their second clash with the reigning Elite League champions in less than two weeks.
Dundee then have back-to-back games against Scottish rivals Glasgow Clan – on Sunday at home in the league before travelling to Glasgow next Tuesday for the final Challenge Cup Group B game.