Cloutier remains upbeat as Ondrej returns for Stingrays

No win in eight league and Challenge Cup games – including four defeats on a shoot-out – is a poor return for a team tipped by some to be one of the leading lights in the Gardiner Conference.

The biggest damage to Stingrays’ hopes has so far come in their three games against conference rivals Dundee Stars, with only one point to show for their efforts with Jeff Hutchins’s side edging them out on each occasion.

With the worst goals-against average in the overall league going into last weekend, a 6-0 defeat at Nottingham Panthers ahead of a 2-1 shoot-out loss in Dundee convinced Hull player-coach Cloutier that he needed to make his first roster change of the season.

First to head out the exit door on Monday after just 12 appearances was Slovakian defenceman Tomas Valecko, replaced less than 24 hours later by compatriot Martin Ondrej, a popular member of last season’s team who helped the club reach the play-off semi-final.

Cloutier hopes it will be the last change he has to make as he remains confident in his current squad’s capabilities, believing a slice of luck could be all it takes to bring an end to their bad run.

“You do have to create your own luck, but we’ve not had many bounces going for us either lately,” said Cloutier.

“We can sit here and mope about it or we can get out there and create our own luck.

“It’s still early in the season and we are certainly not going to panic.

“Apart from the defeat in Nottingham – which was down to a poor second period – all our matches have been very close.

“We’ve got to stay upbeat and I’ve still got lots of belief in the guys that we have in our room.

“We’ve got plenty of offence in their and we just need to start scoring a few more goals again.”

The return of Ondrej should go down well with both supporters and players, particularly those who played alongside the stay-at-home D-man last season.

For Cloutier, it heralds the return of a player he never wanted to let go of in the first place.

“It’s always sad when things don’t work out with a player, but we needed to make a change and we wish Tomas well,” added Cloutier.

“Ondrej was a big part of our group last year and he wanted to stay. But there were personal, off-ice issues which meant he needed to stay closer to home.

“He was one of the guys who I wanted to bring back this year. He’s very composed, has a lot of experience and will fit well into the dressing room because he’s a good character and he’s well-liked.”

Ondrej will be back in the Hull line-up in time for Saturday’s encounter against Dundee. Cloutier will be hoping for a big improvement on the lacklustre performance produced when the Stars last visited East Yorkshire just 10 days ago and headed back north on the back of a 3-1 win.

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