The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Stars are loving home comforts
Pacha says players are very much at home at Ice Arena
Dundee Stars have been impressive when welcoming tough opposition to Tayside in 2018 as their good home form continues.
A 5-4 win over Gardiner Conference rivals Edinburgh Capitals saw Stars extend their record to eight wins in nine games at the Dundee Ice Arena since the beginning of the new year.
Defeating all their Scottish rivals at least once at home in January helped Omar Pacha’s men narrow the gap between his side and the last play-off place.
Stars had also won four away games in a row before losing their fifth road game of 2018 in Nottingham on Sunday when they suffered a 3-0 defeat to the Panthers.
Reflecting on the weekend match-ups and his team’s run of strong displays at home, head coach Pacha believes that they have to “keep building” from each performance if they are to secure their place in the post-season.
He said: “I think we have been playing really well at home and in front of our fans over the last few weeks.
“We won eight out of our last nine games at home and it just shows when our fans are loud and proud it makes a huge difference. The guys love playing at home and they feel like they have that edge.
“As a team, we look really comfortable when we play at home and you see that in our record as since mid-December we have only lost one home game.
“Every point we can win is really crucial,” he added. “We have had a good run on the road as well, as we won four road games before losing to Nottingham at the weekend, but we have to keep building on our home record and be at our best.
“So, we have to make sure we take the points and play a solid home game to keep building our play-off push.
Looking at the tough home games Stars face in February, with visits from Braehead, Fife and Nottingham, Pacha said the key to continuing their good form was to maintain their fast pace in games.
He added: “I think it’s to keep using our speed at home, we are a really fast team and you saw that against Edinburgh.
“We had a bad start in the first two periods but once we got our feet moving we were a lot better and that is what we have to keep doing at home.
“We have to start off the game really well and get that first goal and that is a massive thing when you get that first goal, because you get the crowd really involved and they become that extra man out there.
“We want to get our fans involved nice and early in the game, its our place to play and it makes it tough on opposition teams when they come here,
“The fans are the huge difference maker. Every guy loves playing at home and it gives us a huge advantage and we have to keep building on it.”
Stars’ next home game is this Sunday when they face Braehead Clan, with an earlier face-off time of 5pm.