For the first time since October 2024, the Elite League has a new bottom-ranked side.
The Fife Flyers and Dundee Stars swapped places in the basement, with Fife inflicting a 6-3 loss on their Scottish rivals to vault over them in the standings.
Marc LeFebvre cut a miserable figure in the aftermath.
“There was very little pride in the details of our game,” said the Stars’ head coach.
“If you look at the goals against tonight, they were very sloppy, easy plays. We’re barely connecting on five-foot passes and we’re not putting away empty nets.
“It all adds up to big things and you’ve got to take pride in your game. They scored easy goals tonight and the details just aren’t there for us.”
Welcome to Around the Rinks: our daily summary of every team’s post-game media remarks.
Around the Rinks: Tuesday, 30 December
Belfast Giants 4-3 Glasgow Clan (Overtime)
Ryan Smith, Belfast Giants (Image: William Cherry)
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants:
I thought we were pretty good tonight. We made some little mistakes that made it a hockey game: if we’d taken care of those things, we’d have gotten out of here a little easier. But it was a 61-minute game and ultimately the guys came good. Ultimately, two points is two points. We just need to clean up a few areas to make sure that we’re not giving up three goals.
Corey Neilson, Glasgow Clan:
I thought Belfast were great: they had incredible speed in the first period and looked like they were shot out of a cannon. We weathered the storm and had great goaltending in that first period. My players worked their asses off and competed so hard. We’re not at full strength, but we competed all the way to the end to take a really valuable point in a tough building. Overall, it was an entertaining game. I wouldn’t say it was a point lost: that was a point won for us.
Guildford Flames 1-0 Cardiff Devils
Taz Burman, Guildford Flames (Image: John Uwins)
Paul Dixon, Guildford Flames:
It was a great game from our standpoint. We’re playing the number one team in the league, they’re there for a reason, and I thought we were absolutely fantastic all over the ice tonight.
It’s a one-nil game and it just goes to show how good both goalies were. Taz [Burman] deserves a huge credit for that because he went in a couple of games back against Manchester and delivers that performance tonight.
Collectively, I thought the whole team was excellent in every department. I’m really happy with our play tonight. It’s nice to see everyone in the line-up competing and playing a big role in this game.
Paul Thompson, Cardiff Devils:
I think we got what we deserved: nothing. I don’t take anything away from Guildford, I thought they played a good game. We were the team with four lines, they had three, and it looked like it was the other way around. We were outbattled and outworked too many times. Today, we just weren’t at the races and it’s disappointing.
Dundee Stars 3-6 Fife Flyers
Christian Purboo, Fife Flyers (Image: Derek Black)
Marc LeFebvre, Dundee Stars:
There was very little pride in the details of our game. If you look at the goals against tonight, they were very sloppy, easy plays. We’re barely connecting on five-foot passes and we’re not putting away empty nets. It all adds up to big things and you’ve got to take pride in your game. They scored easy goals tonight and the details just aren’t there for us.
It’s a pride thing. And the pride just isn’t there for us. When we get chances at the offensive end, you’ve got to take them and we’re just not doing that right now. We had two more periods tonight where we had chances to put pucks away and we didn’t.
The only positive is that we’re against these guys tomorrow night, it’s a quick turnaround, and the game starts 0-0. We can’t be giving up three powerplays in the first ten minutes and expect to crawl out of it. We also had plenty of chances to score and didn’t.
We leaving [Jarret Fiske] out there to dry. He’s doing his best, but we’re not helping him at all. It’s a whole team thing: we need to take pride in our game. We make hard plays for no reason and it ends up in the back of our net.
Pretty much the whole of this regulation season, we’re not blocking shots and doing the little things that make you successful. Again, we walk away with no points.
Jamie Russell, Fife Flyers:
I thought David Booth and his line was outstanding: they led the way for us offensively. It was a thorough performance; we didn’t give up much on the rush and were able to capitalise on our powerplays to get us going.
Sheffield Steelers 3-5 Manchester Storm
Matthew Greenfield, Sheffield Steelers (Image: Mark Ferriss)
Sheffield Steelers, Aaron Fox:
There was a ten-minute spell in the second period that just killed us. There’s no excuse for switching off for that amount of time and those mistakes killed us. It’s a bunch of small details that are costing us at the minute, it was the same in Nottingham the other night. That kind of stuff is going to frustrate you as a coach.
I liked our pushback in the third, but we missed an empty net at 4-3 to tie the game, and it’s just not good enough. If this group doesn’t work out a way to play 60 minutes every game, any team in this league can beat you.
Cam Critchlow, Manchester Storm:
It was a great win by our guys and I’m really proud of our effort. As a staff, we put together a game plan for this game and the boys executed it very well. Credit to Sheffield: they made a big push in the third. We had everyone going tonight and that’s what we need going forward.
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