Hi everyone,
Well, what a great weekend that was eh! I can’t speak highly enough of the work ethic and determination of the guys over the course of 6 tough periods of hockey.
Trust me, playing in Belfast is one of the toughest games any team will play in this league, they’re stacked again this year, so mix that in with a long travel day and night, I couldn’t be happier than I am with the result we got there.
The guys played extremely hard and played the full 60 minutes, committed defensively in blocking shots and overall, played with a determination to take those Challenge Cup points.
We are extremely pleased being on top of our Challenge Cup group, we talk continually about areas we want to improve as a Club and pushing as deep as we can in the CC is something I really want us to do this season.
On Sunday, with 3 players out injured, we found a way to play a solid game and get the points against a good Storm team.
We made it a little too exciting at the end for my liking, but I couldn’t fault the guys as they were absolutely shattered in that final 20, probably feeling the affects of a 5am return from Belfast, all truth be told, so for us to see the game out in regulation and take those 2 league points was very pleasing.
All injuries are unfortunate of course, but to go three D men down so early in the season was a major worry, so this weekends results showed me even more the true character of this Stars team that’s coming to the fore early doors into this season.
After the first 7 home games between pre-season and regulation, I am glad to see where we are as a club compared to this time last season especially.
Though as most people know, we always want more and we keep pushing daily for further & continued growth on and off the ice.
I have to say that it is great to see so many new faces in the building on match-nights so far this season, mixed in with our continued hardcore fans who are the lifeblood of our Club and also our biggest ambassadors in pushing the Stars brand in your places of work, to your families and friends, so a thank you from me and all of the Stars management for that support.
It has already been a roller coaster of a start to this season but that is the beauty about sports. Heroes one day, villains the next. Every team strives for consistency, we’re exactly the same and we will continue to work hard as a team to find that winning consistency.
You look around the league, even so early on in the season, and there are so many unpredictable results that have happened already.
I am convinced this will make the league even more interesting than ever which is great. Thinking back to when I first came to the UK, there were so many mis-matches it was crazy, but now, even though there is still the “have’s” and the “have not’s” to a certain extent, any team can beat the other on any given night and from a commercial stand-point of selling tickets for games, is only a good thing!!
As a club, we pride ourselves on providing great entertainment at the Dundee Ice Arena on match-nights but also being positive ambassadors for the City of Dundee and being representative of all.
With that in mind it was great to unveil our upcoming Pride jerseys this past week, we also started our various school programmes with players going in to speak with children on various subjects, we are also participating with the Dundee Stars Ice Hockey Juniors programme too and we were in attendance at the Overgate Student night last week too. Which had over 7000 students in attendance.
As people around the club are aware, this is only a small sample of what we are about to take on in the community of Dundee over the coming season. We have an ambitious target to work with over 3000 young people in and around Dundee, being active and positive male role models for the whole area.
The players this year are really motivated to make a difference and to embrace the growth not only of the Stars but of the City itself.
I’m honestly determined that this city will become a passionate hockey hotbed.
We will see everyone back at the Dundee Ice Arena at 7pm this coming Saturday as we take on the Guildford Flames.
Guildford have a very good side again this year with plenty of speed and skill in their line-up. They have been competitive in the last few years since entering the league.
We need to make sure we have another big and loud crowd to push the guys on.
So my request to all of you Stars fans is simple, go tell your friends, family members and co-workers to come along and enjoy the game this Saturday evening and have a great night out watching the fastest sport on the planet!!
Tickets are on sale now at the Dundee Ice Arena or online HERE!
Thanks
Pach
