Dutiaume in positive mood
Saturday night saw Flyers go down 6-2 to Nottingham Panthers, but despite another loss player/coach Todd Dutiaume was full of positives and praise for their performance. Saturday night also saw new import Mike Hamilton make his debut and get the teams first goal of the campaign.
“There was a huge sign of relief when we got that 1st goal, it was great to get the monkey of our back this early on in the campaign and especially to get our first goal in front of a our own fans, who were buzzing on Saturday. The atmosphere was just incredible, both sets of fans made a huge amount of noise. The passion of the fans and the atmosphere they create was one of the main reasons I came to Fife all those years ago, and it was great to see that back again on Saturday.” said Dutiaume.
The opening goal of the league campaign came from 3 of Flyers new signings with Danny Stewart and Matt Siddall getting the assist on Hamilton’s goal in the 2nd period. The other big talking point of the game was Danny Stewart dropping the gloves with Steve Lee. “Danny is a big team player for us and he is here in a multi-faceted role. We will be picking his brain to get an insight on the other teams as he has a huge amount of Elite experience so we are lucky to have him here.
“Danny has the ability to keep a room together and keep players playing well together, and I think he recognised on Saturday at that particular point that we, and the crowd, needed a boost. When you see a team mate do this, the whole bench and the guys on the ice really appreciate it. Danny brings intensity to this team and he brings a huge amount of grittiness, we need him to keep bringing that week-in week-out”.
There were more than a few jeers from both sets of fans when some penalties were called, or not called in many cases, but Dutiaume is not blaming any referee for giving up more penalties. “The refs have a tough job in this league and no-one has eyes in the back of their head. There is less tolerance in this league as soon as you raise a stick, whether it be a slash or hook. It wasn’t as evident against Panthers, but against Coventry you could see we were 2 or 3 strides behind the opposition and when we find ourselves in that kind of position we are hooking them because we just can’t make that difference up.
“It all comes down to our fitness and cardio and the guys have made a huge improvement in this area, even over the last week. There are teams in this league that have exceptional powerplay units and will punish us if we keep taking such high amounts of penalties.”
Dutiaume has taken many positives from the weekend performance, notably the performance the guys put in during the 1st and 3rd period on Saturday night. “To finish the first period 1-0 was very unlucky, the boys worked their socks off, to go in 1-0 after the first was a huge accomplishment against the Panthers. The 3rd period, we led until the final 3 ½ minutes.
“We have upped our pace since last week and the guys are getting to know each other better all the time. Finally getting Mike over has helped as well, he played really well on Saturday and he will continue to get better, he only got in on Friday evening, so he will get a chance to rest a bit, and will light up the place even more.”
Dutiaume was also full of praise for the fans despite them witnessing another defeat. “The fans have been used to us winning every week for the past 5 years, so to get another huge send off after the game despite another defeat gives us all a huge boost. They know we are working hard and at the same time, the fans know this is a tough challenge and the transition we are making in to this league is a tough one. Come October we hope we will be repaying their faith in us and they will be cheering us off after victories.”
Looking ahead to a tough 3 game weekend trip starting on Friday when the team travel to Belfast, Dutiaume had this to say: “We have had a daunting start to the league, we are facing the top sides in the first few weeks. Belfast are most peoples tip to win the league and Doug Christiansen has put a tremendous team together. He has them playing well and they have seemed to have gelled. There has been some money spent over there, but we will go over there and give ourselves a chance.
“I am telling the guys not to look ahead to the derby with Edinburgh as we have got to take each game at a time, but they are excited about it. It is the type of game we need after such a difficult opening few weeks and one we will be looking to win.”
And on any possible new arrivals, “I will never say never, but I don’t control purse strings, I will push to improve the team but on the flipside it would likely push a local guy aside however they have to realise they have to fight for their place. If another import comes in then that means the local guys will have to compete even harder for their place, which is not a bad thing at all. I will always be pushing to improve the team.”
Saturday 24th September sees Flyers take on rivals Edinburgh Capitals (7:15pm face-off) in the first of their Challenge Cup games. Fans are reminded that season tickets are not valid for this game, but come along to see what will surely be another classic against our old time rivals, and get the place buzzing again like you did last week.
