Hull forward hoping for improvements
Frantisek Bakrlik says Excel Hull Stingrays must be “smarter” when they face Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers this weekend.
The Czech forward feels Stingrays have deserved a better reward from their first seven games, which have yielded just three points. Stingrays claimed their first win of the season with a 3-2 success after penalty shots over Fife Flyers at Hull Arena last Sunday,
They next travel to defending Rapid Solicitors Elite League champions Sheffield on Saturday before hosting holders Panthers in the Challenge Cup on Sunday. Stingrays lost 6-3 at home to Steelers on September 11 and went down 6-2 in Nottingham 10 days later but Bakrlik, with eight points in seven games, believes the score in both games do not tell the whole story.
He said: “We have played well against the top teams but we have made some mistakes and that has cost us.
“It looks bad when you see on the scoreboard it is 6-2 or 6-3 but we were close and sometimes we were playing better than them.
“Hopefully we can do better in the next games. We have to play much better and smarter [than we did against Fife] and play harder.
“If we play hard, smart and without the mistakes we can beat anyone in this league.”
Stingrays take on Nottingham Panthers at Hull Arena in the Challenge Cup on Sunday October 2 (6pm face-off). Tickets can be purchased by ringing the Hull Arena Box Office on 01482 325252.
