Team spirit provides added boost for Stingrays

SYLVAIN Cloutier believes his new-look Hull Stingrays team are capable of causing a stir in the Elite League after putting together what he regards as his best roster since arriving at the club.

A trouble-free summer has enabled the Stingrays player-coach to mould a team more to his liking than ever before, having spent the same period last year hampered by the club’s temporary demise and, prior to that, inheriting a somewhat lack-lustre squad when he first arrived in 2009.

Following an impressive pre-season, which last week culminated in them lifting the P&O Cup in Coventry after defeating two sides from the Netherlands, Hull begin their league campaign with a tricky opening weekend, coming up against two teams many people expect to be fighting it out for the league title once again come March.

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A trip to Belfast tonight is followed on Sunday night by the Stingrays’ home opener against the Sheffield Steelers.

Doug Christiansen’s Giants - already tipped for honours due to the strength and depth of their roster, which boasts a ‘spare’ import - will be desperate to give their fans something to cheer about after going down 2-1 following a penalty shoot-out to the Steelers 2-1 last Saturday.

Cloutier knows his team will have to take their pre-season form and mental approach into Friday’s opener if they are to enjoy their visit to Belfast’s Odyssey Arena - a rink they only took one point from in three visits there last season.

“It’s a pretty tough opening weekend,” said Cloutier. “But this will show the new guys what they can expect from two of the top teams.

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“Doug (Christiansen) has put together a very good team in Belfast, they’ve got quality all over the ice - but I like what we’ve got as well.

“Most of the guys I went after as my first-choice signings in the summer are here - it’s totally different to the other two pre-seasons. Last year - with everything that happened - it was a case of whoever I could find at the last minute to fill some of the spots and we then ended up making a few changes as we went along.

“The last two weeks have been great for team spirit. We lost some ice time which saw us take to the hills running and then in Coventry last weekend it was kind of like another bonding exercise.

“The guys seem to have gelled together really quickly and there’s a really good spirit in the camp.”

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Cloutier acknowledges that he will need his top line guys to deliver regular scoring if the Stingrays are to enjoy any success this season, even just to improve on their highest-ever regular season finish of seventh last time around.

The likelihood of hot-shot forward Jereme Tendler repeating his 51-goal tally from last season is unlikely, given that he will be more of a marked man this season. And with the equally-impressive Andrew Coburn not returning to East Yorkshire it is therefore key for the likes of new arrivals such as Frantisek Bakrlik and Dominic Osman to contribute regularly, along with alternate captain Jason Silverthorn, now in his third season with the club.

“We’re going to need Silverthorn, (Derek) Campbell, Bakrlik, Tendler and Osman to be producing for us regularly. Obviously Tendler scored 50 goals last season but will he repeat that? It’s hard to tell, but teams will be keeping a close eye on him so if he scores 35 goals for us I still think that will have been a very good season for him.

“What ‘Tends’ did last season for us, with basically little help, was quite an accomplishment, particularly when compared with other guys who scored 50 or so goals on other teams - no disrespect to them, but they were playing for the top teams.

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“I also think our defensive core is pretty solid and in Josh (Mizerek, captain), we have a true leader who is going to hold guys accountable back there both on the ice and in the locker room.”

As is so often the case due to the generally light rosters which populate the Elite League, ensuring your players stay fit and healthy for as long as possible will prove key to any team’s chances of success. Coventry Blaze found that out to their cost last season, when the first few months saw their roster decimated by injuries and only managing to finish sixth in defence of the regular season title they had won in 2009-10.

“If you lose a few players to injury it’s not like you can bring in three or four more imports to replace them,” added Cloutier. “Look what happened to Coventry last year.

“Every year I’ve been here we’ve improved on what went previously. So the first thing we need to do is improve on last season and believe that we can win games every night and show up to compete every night.

“But, as ever, the key to everything is staying healthy.”

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