For the Elite League’s bottom three teams, the pain just keeps getting worse.
The Fife Flyers, Dundee Stars, and Coventry Blaze all suffered defeats on Sunday [14 December], with the gap between the competition’s contenders and pretenders widening by the week.
Dundee suffered the night’s ugliest loss, hammered 6-1 by the Belfast Giants on home ice despite taking an early lead through Spencer Naas.
The Manchester Storm outlasted the Blaze to win their shootout in Coventry, with Kevin Moore cutting an increasingly frustrated figure behind the home bench.
Fife’s loss was least surprising: the Flyers were simply outgunned by Danny Stewart’s league-leading Nottingham Panthers.
Welcome to Around the Rinks: our daily summary of every team’s post-game media remarks.
Around the Rinks: Sunday, 14 December
Dundee Stars 1-6 Belfast Giants
Jake Gaudet, Belfast Giants (Image: Derek Black)
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants:
It’s obviously a tough building to come into. We’re aware that Dundee’s been going through a tough week and giving up the first goal meant it could’ve gone their way.
But there was no panic on the bench and I thought the guys got better and better as the game went on: they earned their way into the lead and I’m very proud of their effort.
It took everyone this weekend; we spoke about not being able to slip up in this third game [of the triple] and the guys delivered tonight.
Marc LeFebvre, Dundee Stars:
It’s pretty much a copy and paste interview from last night, except from the fact we had a nice start and scored the first goal. We were in the game right until the last minute of the second period, but that goal killed us. We then gave another one up at the start of the third, our heads went down, and we had our arses kicked again. We’re not helping our goalies out at all and there’s a lot of selfish play.
At the end of the day, I’m the coach and I’m the guy who put this team together. I’ve got to find some answers. We’re in the mud right now, we know that, but we’ve got to dig ourselves out. It’s on me [for] putting this team together and, right now, we can’t even find the back of the net. We’re giving up chances and goals through easy, sloppy play.
I’ve got to find a way to get it out of those guys and get back to playing simple hockey. It’s one thing to lose, but it’s about how we lost. We got our arses kicked at home and I don’t care who we’re playing. You’ve got to compete hard and it’s on me to find those answers. There’s going to be some soul-searching here.
Coventry Blaze 2-3 Manchester Storm (Shootout)
Grant Mismash, Coventry Blaze (Image: Scott Wiggins)
Cam Critchlow, Manchester Storm:
I’m pretty stressed right now. It was a good, back-and-forth game, and I thought we eased into it. I didn’t like our first ten minutes, but then we found our game. I’ve got to give credit to Coventry: they worked hard and pushed us right until the end. We’ll take that.
Kevin Moore, Coventry Blaze:
I thought, for stretches of the game, our compete was really good. We had a lot of scoring chances and I thought [Drew] DeRidder was great for the Storm. Certainly, we’re looking for results, we’re not just looking for silver-lining efforts, but we lack the timely plays that you need. There’s a lot to be happy with the shot attempts and some individual plays, but we just didn’t get that extra play we needed.
Nottingham Panthers 4-1 Fife Flyers
Chase Pearson, Nottingham Panthers (Image: Panthers Images)
Jamie Russell, Fife Flyers:
I thought we looked tired: we were slow to close gaps in the defensive zone and we made a lot of turnovers in the neutral zone. Credit to Nottingham: they had nine forwards dressed and they were terrific. Shane Owen was outstanding for us.
Linton Grant, Nottingham Panthers:
It was a good start: we knew that Fife were going to be a bit feisty today, so the start was key for us. Chase [Pearson] got us going and we kept rolling from there. Ultimately, it was a tale of us knowing what we needed to do while shortbenched. It was all of the little things that added up for us. Just up and down the roster, it was a good effort.
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