By Kris Smith
Dundee return to Tayside today to face Braehead Clan with the hope of making it six home wins in a row and secure another victory over their Gardiner Conference rivals.
Stars pulled back three goals last night to claim a 4-3 victory down in Milton Keynes after a tight game, meanwhile Braehead were beaten 5-2 by Manchester Storm in Glasgow.
John Tripp has strengthened his side with the signing of Robert Lepine from the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the Southern Professional Hockey League. He is replacing the injured Tyler Shattock who is has been ruled out with a long-term injury. Former Dundee Star Cale Tanaka may feature against his old team but has been carried as an extra import by the Glasgow club.
The last meeting at the Dundee Ice Arena two weeks ago saw Stars claw back two goals in the third period to force the game into overtime then a shootout in which Riley Stadel and Travis Fullerton combined excellent performances to win the extra point for Stars.
Craig Peacock and Brendan Brooks put the away team in front before Gabriel Lévesque and Jimmy Jensen’s powerplay goal tied the game.
Former Braehead player, Cody Carlson, will dress in his first game against his old club and thinks it will be exciting facing his former employers and teammates.
He said: “The journey over was great, it was a bit of a struggle there with flight delays.
“Once I signed the contract it took me a couple days to get over but now I am getting settled in and am getting to know the guys and Pacha.
“I think they have done a great job so far and I am really happy to be here.
“I wasn’t happy with where I was at in the East Coast Hockey League and so I was looking for a job, Pacha gave me the opportunity here and I jumped on it right away.
“When I was in Braehead last year, we lost out to Dundee in the play-offs, so then I thought they are a play-off team, they have had bad luck this year but hopefully we can turn it around and get into a play-off spot and try to do the same thing.”
Talking about playing against Braehead, Cody added: “It will be exciting, I am sure the fans will be loud and to play against a couple old teammates will be fun.
“Braehead are a good team, they are well coached and they work hard every single night, we just have to stick to our systems and play to our strengths and that will be the key to beating the Clan.
When asked what kind of play Stars fans can expect from the 5’10 Canadian, he responded; “Consistent in the offensive and defensive zone and a good solid two-way game, I try to compete every single night, the bottom line is I will do anything to get the two points at the end of the night and that’s the only thing that matters to me.
“So what you can see out of me is working hard and playing a simple game in both ends.”
Tonight’s game starts at 6:30pm. Tickets are still available at the DIA box office and online.
