Telford Tigers go into a second weekend away from home, with games at Sheffield and Romford, and player-coach Claude Dumas knows his squad will miss the Telford Ice Rink crowd.
“It’s rare to be away for two weekends,” said the French-Canadian. “Everyone wants to play at home in front of their own fans. Also, missing two weeks of home ticket revenue is tough on teams like us.
“But that’s how the schedule has gone this year, and we haven’t always had the luckiest draw. We just have to get on with it and try to win games. We will play positive and we are getting better, especially on the road.
“We are playing well defensively as a unit and everyone is doing what I am asking. Now we need to go on the offensive quicker and take our chances more. We have not had that killer instinct.
“We have definitely been playing better since Christmas, and if we can keep playing this well we should start seeing some wins.
“I expect that the goals will click in one of these games and then the confidence will come back to our team.”
Tigers netminder Daniel Heslop certainly knows who will be the one to watch at Sheffield - his opposite number Pasi Raitanen.
“Pasi is by far the best goalie in the league,” said Heslop. “You’ve got to stick your players on top of him and not let him settle. If there’s the slightest hint that he’s not having a good night you’ve got to jump all over him because he is a stand-out player. His stats show he faces a lot of shots, but his class shines through.
“Sheffield are fighting for the league title, so they are not going to want to lose.
“If we get even a half chance we have to be able to put it away. They don’t have flair players, but they are a very hard-working team.
“In their minds they think that even if they only get three goals in a game they’ve got a good shot at winning, because Pasi will keep the score low.”
Heslop picked up last week’s man of the match award for stopping 40 of the 41 shots on his goal in the team’s 1-0 loss at Milton Keynes, but takes little comfort from the accolade.
“I only enjoy it if we win. There’s no enjoyment if you lose. It puts a lot of pressure on the goalie when the forwards are not getting goals, but you can’t worry about what other people are doing. You can only look at yourself and do your part. I’d rather let 10 goals in as long as we scored 11 to win the game.”
The next home game is February 3 (5.30pm) and will be preceded by a fundraising sponsored skate by junior fans.
Youngsters aged 16 and under will take to the ice, accompanied by Tigers players, for a 45-minute skateathon, with a Tigers goodie-bag for the supporter who raises most funds for the club.
By Caroline Garbett
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