VIDEO: Campbell optimistic for Stingrays’ season

Hull head into Sunday’s Elite League clash at home to Belfast Giants on the back of a four-game losing streak, extended last weekend by defeats at home to Edinburgh Capitals and on the road in the Challenge Cup at Coventry Blaze.

But 33-year-old Campbell, who helped Hull reach the play-off semi-finals two years ago, believes he has seen enough positive signs already to believe good times lie ahead for player-coach Sylvain Cloutier’s team.

“I’m impresssed with this team so far, we need to work on a few things, sure, but Cloutier has put together a pretty good group,” said Campbell.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that can score and skate really well. We need to work on our defensive game as a unit in crucial parts of the game, which we didn’t do against Edinburgh at times last week.

After his one season in Hull, Campbell dropped down to the English Premier League with the Sheffield Steeldogs, only to find himself moving across the Pennines to Mancehster Phoenix for a short spell before hooking up with Paul Thompson at Coventry for the second half of the season. There he helped them defeat another former club of his – Sheffield Steelers – to reach the play-off semi-finals.

“I still love playing the game and I really enjoyed my time here last time with Clouts and those players,” said Campbell. “But I decided to take a different path last year and it didn’t really work out for me until halfway through the season when I went back to Coventry.

“Then this year, Cloutier called me right away and told me the direction he wanted to go and how he wanted to compete. Geographically it was a good choice as it’s closer to my family and, mainly, because I do love playing here.

“The guys here want to win all the time, I like that.

“The year before when I was here we had a pretty good run, then last time around the club didn’t make it and that’s not where a guy like Cloutier wants to be at the end of the season – he wants to be competing right up until the end (in the play-offs) and so do I. That’s why I think he brought me in and other guys who think the same way. We want to win our Conference – that has to be the aim, but we can’t afford to lose home games to teams like Edinburgh like we did last week.”

Belfast go into this weekend in decent form under new coach Paul Adey who replaced Doug Christiansen. They currently sit second behind Dundee Stars in the overall league standings and on the back of wins last weekend at home to Dundee and Braehead Clan. They face Nottingham Panthers on Saturday night before heading to East Yorkshire 24 hours later.

“We’ll have to see how the game goes in Nottingham before adapting our tactics to face the Stingrays,” said Adey.

“I know that Hull have some top-scoring forwards and seem to have performed well so far. Some of the games they have played this season against teams that are supposedly ‘stronger’ than them have been very close.

“Both games are going to be tough.”