Dutiaume pleased with wins against bottom club

ICE HOCKEY: Fife Flyers coach claims Capitals are not as bad as position suggests

Todd Dutiaume was happy to have collected maximum points from Fife Flyers’ double-header against bottom club Edinburgh Capitals at the weekend.

The experienced coach said Capitals were not as poor as their record suggests.

Fife earned four points from 6-2 and 5-1 scorelines and the points were secured despite Capitals pouncing on mistakes.

Head coach Dutiaume said that when his men play the right way and make the correct decisions with the puck then they can create opportunities.

Dutiaume said: “We made it tough on ourselves at times.

“Edinburgh took advantage of our mismanagement of the puck at times.

“If you make bad decisions and cut corners then teams can hurt us but these are not easy games to play in.

“However, both opened up for us and it was good to see the goals come across the lines.”

Fife are now seventh in the Elite League thanks to three wins in a row.

They have 24 points from 18 fixtures and they are only a point behind league newcomers Guildford Flames who have played two more games.

Manchester Storm and in-form league champions Cardiff Devils are on 27 points from the same number of games.

Third-placed Sheffield Steelers are also on 27 points but from 22 games.

So Dutiaume is not far off the top four with Belfast Giants in second spot on 29 points from 23 starts and Nottingham Panthers back on top with 31 points from 19 starts after their 3-0 win at Braehead Clan on Sunday.

At the other end of the table, it’s a different story. Edinburgh have six points from 21 games and Dundee have lost their last six games and are stuck on 13 points from 21 fixtures.

Coventry are also in freefall having lost their last seven fixtures and they are on 19 points from 21 starts, two points behind Milton Keynes Lightning, who visit Kirkcaldy at 6.30pm on Sunday, who have played 23 games, and Braehead who have competed in 20 fixtures.

Meanwhile, Omar Pacha hopes to have key players back in the line-up after injury for Dundee Stars’ weekend double-header. They travel to Milton Keynes Lightning on Saturday (7pm) and entertain former Elite League pacesetters Manchester Storm on Sunday (6.30pm).

The player/coach praised his depleted squad for digging deep at the weekend in two tough road games.

They lost 7-3 at Guildford Flames on Saturday and 3-2 at league champions Cardiff Devils 24-hours later.

Pacha believes the squad played well in five of the six periods of ice hockey.

The first session at Guildford was, however, a disappointment and the Scots went into the dressing-room 3-0 behind.

Stars rallied and were only 4-2 down after Jimmy Jensen netted with 1 minute 30 seconds left of the middle period.

Then they lost Emerson Hrynyk on an abuse of officials call and Flames capitalised.

In Wales, stars were only 2-1 behind after 18 minutes when Brian Hart netted and fought hard despite Joey Haddad’s goal after 33 minutes which put the home side 3-1 in front.

Joey de Concilys netted with less than four minutes left and Pacha said: “We knew it would be tough in Cardiff and it was but the boys battled.

“It’s frustrating as a coach as we have so many injuries and guys are playing out scenarios they were not designed to do.

“However, we have to put the weekend behind us, work hard in practice and go next weekend.”

Picture: Kim Cessford. Dundee Stars player/ coach Omar Pacha hopes to have key players back in time for their trip to Milton Keynes on Saturday.