Flyers boss tells his team to get hungry

ife Flyers head coach Todd Dutiaume has issued a stark warning to his squad after two weekend defeats.

The Kirkcaldy club lost 2-0 at Coventry Blaze in the Elite League on Saturday and 5-1 at home to Belfast Giants 24 hours later in the Premier Sports Challenge Cup.

Dutiaume praised goaltender Shane Owen, but did not mince his words when he said: “We are a young team and have only been together for a week and a half – we have a long way to go.”

“Let’s be honest here, it was clear in the first period that we were treading water.

“It looked like we were standing around and allowing them (Giants) to move around the zone at will.

“We discussed that between periods and we gave a hell of a better account of ourselves during the second period, but the scoreline did not reflect it.

“It was fortunate we had Shane Owen in the net or it could certainly have looked a lot worse.”

Dutiaume added: “One of the things we were saying to the young professionals on the bench was that every time we did not make a good, solid hockey play, that’s when the sustained pressure came.

“If you turn the puck over two or three times then the high probability is that it is going to end up in the back of your net.”

However, Dutiaume argued that if Fife had scored two of their quality opportunities they could have been looking at a different outcome.

He said: “We didn’t and that is going to be an issue for us.

“We need to bear down on these offensive opportunities and take them when we can get them.

“The hungry.

“Down deep, our D-men (defensive players) would be hard to be faulted for the majority of the night.

“When skating and they are playing tougher, we saw glimpses of what they can do, but we can get a lot better.”

On Saturday he claimed his men were “half a step off” after the long bus trip and Blaze looked like a team who had been playing together for “four or five games”.

The loss of the second goal, which he claimed was easy, meant it was always going to be a difficult road, but he praised the “amazing” fans who made the trip.

Dutiaume said: “We did not give them much to cheer about and we need to find a way to ignite our offense, specifically five-on-five.”