The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Redemption-seeking Stars intend to shine
Dundee side are ready for Glasgow Clan after overtime defeat
Dundee Stars travel to Glasgow Clan tonight hoping for redemption after an overtime defeat at the hands of their Scottish rivals on Sunday.
The 4-3 loss came on the back of a similar scoreline at the hands of MK Lightning, with both results hindering Omar Pacha’s side’s chances of an Elite League play-off spot.
However, the injured François Bouchard has been watching from the bench and he has been impressed with what he has seen from his team-mates during an injury crisis.
He said: “I think they have been playing well since I got injured and we have also been a couple of guys down for some games.
“I think the young players have taken over really well and are playing some good hockey while the veterans are chipping in with a good job as well.”
The Stars are deep into their play-off push and Dundee are treating every game as a must-win, according to Bouchard.
He added: “We are treating every game like it’s a play-off game and you can see that the standings are really tight, so every game is a must win.
“I think the weekend was disappointing, obviously having to take overtime and shoot-out losses, but we also got two big points. I think today is a good chance to redeem ourselves.”
With only seven weeks left of the regular season, the games are coming thick and fast – but Stars’ camp is confident of securing a place in the postseason tournament.
Bouchard said: “It is a tough league as everyone can beat anybody, and I have been saying that since the beginning of the year. It is disappointing when you don’t get the two points but I think you have to go game-bygame, focus on your next match and that is what Pacha and the guys are doing.
“I think everybody is still confident and you obviously want to win every game but I think it is going to go until the end.
“It will be a tight battle with only 15 games left but that will go really quick and hopefully we can get in the play-offs because that would be awesome.”
Meanwhile, Todd Dutiaume yesterday branded the post-game fracas after Fife Flyers’ home clash with Manchester Storm as “embarrassing”.
And the Fife head coach said that the incident was a throwback to the league of 20 years ago. The Canadian, who said he was restricted by the Elite League rules as regards speaking out about Sunday’s incident, branded the flare-up as frustrating.
He said: “It was embarrassing and frustrating that we have guys who know video cameras are on them but go around randomly sucker-punching people in this day and age. It shows no respect for other players and was dangerous.”
Dutiaume said that the first 10 minutes of hockey was the best he had seen from his men. He said the form shown at Braehead against Glasgow Clan had carried over but what he called “distractions” caused his men to lose focus and drop their tempo.