The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Pacha sees positives, but room to improve
ICE HOCKEY: Dundee Stars in really good position, says coach
After a weekend of mixed results, Dundee Stars head coach Omar Pacha is hoping to lead his side to a historic first place finish in the league cup.
Following a home win and away defeat against Guildford Flames last weekend, the Stars boss has said there were plenty of positives as he moves his side on to the next set of games.
“On Saturday night, I thought we played a really, really effective and great 60 minutes of hockey,” he said.
“There were only positives, mainly I thought the powerplay looked good and defensively we were strong.
“On Sunday it was just such a long trip and it was unfortunate because we were planning to arrive a lot sooner to the rink and we basically arrived last minute because of the traffic.
“There are no excuses for that but you could just tell the guys weren’t focused right from the start, so it was one of those starts that was uncharacteristic of the team.
“In the second period we were better but in the third we were pushing to open up the game and they were more opportunistic and were the better team.
“Rather than just forget it we have to learn from it, because that is a great learning curve for the future.
“Guildford is a long trip but it is not the only long trip we have to make. We have to get used to that and make sure we are more prepared, obviously logistically to get there a bit earlier.”
The Canadian coach discussed how happy he has been with the start his side have made to the season but there are still parts of the game that need to be worked on.
Pacha added: “You look back on the last 10 games and we are 5-4-1 (wins-losses-overtime/shoot-out losses), so there are positives but there are still areas we want to clean up.
“You can see that from the games we lost to Nottingham, Sheffield, Guildford, Manchester and Fife. Apart from the Fife and Manchester games, we have conceded too much and special teams have cost us, too.
“On Sunday, if our special teams were more clinical it would have been a different story but, overall, I am happy with where we are after the first 10 games. There are definitely areas we need to improve.”
Now with their final two Challenge Cup group stage games up next, Pacha is preparing his side to make history.
Dundee welcome Belfast Giants on Saturday before visiting Fife Flyers on Sunday.
“We have put ourselves in a really good position now, being in first place – so our main focus is finishing top of the group,” said Pacha.
“We have a great game against Belfast coming up on Saturday and I am hoping to get a great crowd along for that because that is our first chance in probably the existence of the Challenge Cup to finish first in the group.”