The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Disappointed by Flyers’ Challenge Cup displays
ICE HOCKEY: Dutiaume talks of Fife’s contrasting form in Elite League and cup
Todd Dutiaume has admitted to being disappointed with Fife Flyers’ form in the Challenge Cup.
But the Kirkcaldy club’s head coach added: “Our status in the league just gets stronger and stronger.”
Fife are third in Challenge Cup Group B table with five points from six fixtures following Friday’s 2-1 defeat at Glasgow Clan.
Belfast Giants lead the qualification race with eight points from five games and Dundee Stars are second with six points from five league games.
However, it is a different story in the league as Fife are third in the table following four straight wins.
Dutiaume’s men have nine points from five starts and trail play-off champions Cardiff Devils by a point but have a game in hand.
Early season pace-setters Nottingham Panthers have 14 points from 10 games.
The playcaller said: “The Challenge Cup has not gone as we planned and that is disappointing but we still have an outside chance of qualifying. Our league form has been excellent and our performances get stronger and stronger.”
Dutiaume sidesteps talk of a league title challenge, claiming it is too early in a long season.
But the Canadian admitted that his men have proved they can compete at a high level providing they are fully engaged.
And the head coach is now preparing his squad for back-to-back games against Guildford Flames who are fourth in the table.
The first meeting is at the Fife Ice Arena on Saturday (face-off 7.15pm) and the return at Guildford on Sunday (6pm).
Guildford come into the games on a high after beating Dundee twice last weekend, home and away, taking them to eight points from six starts.
Meanwhile 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, who are 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 beaten by a single goal and talking about the upside 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. “