News Report

Coaches thoughts.....

Coach Cliff gives his thoughts on the season opener...

• admin
• 10 September 2024

Hi Chieftains Fans,

The summer has seemed very long and very short in equal measures, I hope you all had some great times away from the rink and spent time with your nearest and dearest.

We have had some comings and goings through the summer months, but we are back ready for the season and can’t wait to get going at the Riverside on Saturday.

Last weekend we went to Oxford with very little prep time and we knew we would have to keep it very simple and stick to the basics to get a win against a team who had played a couple of games already.  The Stars are in a state of transition and a bit like us their coach will be trying to implement things at double speed, but they are young and worked hard all night and we know their goalie will always give us a tough time, Sunday was no exception.

I was really pleased with the way we stuck through it through a frustrating first period, finally breaking the tie with around a minute to go, from there we took control of the game. It was great to have our new additions on the team, you never know until you see the guys on the ice what you’ve got but I’m more than happy with what I saw in Oxford, we tried to stick to systems for the most part and we utilised all 5 guys in the offensive zone really well for the majority of the game, there are areas that need work, for example the Powerplay, whilst we only got 2 on the night I feel we could have been sharper so we will have a look at that this week.

It’s great to be back and I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the rink on Saturday.

Cliff.