Fife Flyers boss Danny Stewart has told fans he remained excited about the future.
The renewed optimism follows Sunday’s 6-5 shoot-out victory against in-form Edinburgh Capitals, a win which came hard on the heels of the home humiliation by title-chasing Braehead Clan.
Associate player-coach Stewart, pictured, was glad to see the end of a seven-game losing streak in all competitions.
Now he and head coach Todd Dutiaume will address issues noted over the weekend ahead of Friday’s home joust with Cardiff Devils.
Stewart said: “The Braehead game was a combination of a tentative team going through some struggles and also every thing that could go wrong going wrong.
“We have put that game in the back of our memories and so should everyone else. We came out and responded about as well as a team could against an in-form Edinburgh team and in a tough building. I’m proud of the guys.
“Yes, we made it difficult for ourselves and yes, giving away four goals, including two in the final two minutes, is unacceptable.
“We will address that (in training) during the week. This group of guys needed to enjoy a win and, hopefully, that will help us get the belief back in our camp.”
The addition of Finnish defenceman Niko Suoraniemi has been a plus.
Stewart added: “Staying healthy and avoiding suspensions will be key to that so it is important we keep on top of those areas.
“It’s been a tough stretch but we feel it is more beneficial to focus on the fact that we played some good hockey (on Sunday) and did a lot of positive things rather than the negatives.”
In Dundee, Stars get back on the ice today ahead of their trip to Braehead on Saturday.
Player-coach Jeff Hutchins hopes to build on Sunday’s home win over Hull Stingrays when they visit Glasgow.
He has extended the trial for Finnish forward Timo Kuuluvainen until after Christmas, believing that the player has not had enough time to bed into the team and show his full potential.
Hutchins will look to his defence to keep things tight and said: “They did a really good job against Hull and kept kept them to the outside. They’ll need to do that again against Clan.”
Clan host Edinburgh Capitals tonight in the Elite League, with victory putting the Glasgow side back on top, a point ahead of Sheffield Steelers, who will have two games in hand.
Meanwhile, Dundee Tigers are away to Aberdeen Lynx in a Scottish National League clash on Saturday, then on Monday host Edinburgh Capitals in an Autumn Cup semi-final second leg clash.
Coach Ian Carstairs said: “A win against the Lynx would take us above them so there is a real incentive.”