By Kris Smith
Both Inglis and Garrigan have been around the club for a number of years, with Kris coming through the youth ranks and earning his first Elite League experience during Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre’s first stint in charge and Craig is now in his fifth season with the club.
Talking about how training camp has gone so far, defenseman Inglis began: “I am feeling good, I had a good summer of training and everything is starting to come together now after the first week of training.
“As a team, we are feeling confident and it is great to have Marc back here, so it is a familiar face and all the boys are a great bunch of lads.
“We are all gelling really well and looking forward to kicking off our campaign in both the league and the cup.
“The guys are starting to play with a bit of chemistry and figure out our systems a bit more each day, so everything is going in the right direction.”
Reflecting on the first two preseason performances, the 25-year-old added: “Marc said it well, we are not going to get too high or too low over those results, obviously it is nice to get a win over rivals but it also never fun to lose against them.
“So, there is are a lot of things we can take from that, both good and bad, and learn from that then carry them forward into this weekend’s games and make sure we are firing on all cylinders for Belfast.”
Discussing the opportunity to test themselves against two different European opponents in MSC Corona Brasov and Tilburg Trappers, Inglis said; “It is always good to play different opposition and teams that have different styles of play.
“There is no one team in this league that is the same, so just challenging ourselves to play different teams and different styles of hockey is never a bad thing and we are looking forward to the challenge.”
Forward, Garrigan then gave his take on the first two weeks of being back on the ice during training camp and he said: “I felt like it was a good week for the boys to get together and to get familiar with each other on the ice.
“In our first game against Fife I thought we made a really solid start to the game and in the first half we were really good but in the second game, well we know it is preseason but we also know it is not good enough to be shutout at home, but that is why we have these preseason games.
With two more games left to test out new systems and try some new ideas, Craig, 25, also shared how excited the team are for such a special weekend, adding: “The boys are really excited for the upcoming weekend against the European teams.
“The two games will be a good test and for some of the guys who are retuning this year and most of the new guys, it will be their first time playing against European opposition, so it will be different but also exciting for the fans, as well as the players, so we are looking forward to it.”
He continued: “There is a good feeling around the team right now, all the guys are kind of eager to get into those first Challenge Cup games against Belfast, who look like a great team.
“Ever since we got started on day one of camp, we have been excited to get things started.”
Do not miss your chance to see Kris, Craig and the rest of the Stars against MSC Corona Brasov and Tilburg Trappers this weekend, secure your tickets HERE!
