[22
JAN 01] COVENTRY BLAZE NEWS
Blaze Risk
Losing Momentum After Defeats
A
tough weekend saw Coventry Blaze slip to third in the table as the
BNL title race became a tough four-horse race.
Guildford
Flames took the top spot, with Basingstoke Bison also moving up the
table after Coventry suffered back-to-back losses.
Both
matches, a 2-5 defeat in Basingstoke on Saturday and a 3-5 loss at
home to the Fife Flyers yesterday, saw the Blaze dominate but fail
to make their chances count.
Again
the failure to score in powerplays proved decisive, as did brilliant
performances by the opposing netminders.
In
both games the Blaze managed to get more shots on goal, but were
unable to make the chances count, while less secure defending let
the opposition in.
On
the plus side was a record crowd at the Coventry Skydome as standing
tickets had to be sold to accommodate the 2,333 people watching.
The
deluge of people brought bottlenecks to parts of the arena and
complaints from the fans about the lack of good facilities in the
new stadium as vending machines stopped working, cafe staff were
overwhelmed and the ticket system went down.
Basingstoke
Bison v Coventry Blaze 20
January 2001-01-22
Period
scores : 2-1/2-1/1-0
Penalty
minutes : 26-40
Shots
on goal : 31-48
Referee
: Dave Cloutman
Bison:
Burgess 1+1; Manson 1+1; O’Connell 1+1; Daniels 1+0; Ellis 1+0;
Cote 0+1. Net - Foster
48/2
Blaze:
Shewan 2+0; Watkins 0+2; Johnson 0+1; Twaite 0+1.
Net - Sjodin 31/5
Coach
Paul Thompson said after the Fife game:
"We
had 50+ shots on net and didn't take our chances. We're a bit down
on our confidence right now, but I can't fault a single person's
commitment to getting a win tonight.
“We've
took a set back. We're not used to losing, but the players have
got to deal with it and it's my job to boost their confidence
again.
"All
the top teams have strengthened, but we've weakened with the loss
of Steve Chartrand and Craig Chapman, that's no disrespect to
Claude Dumas and Chris Kelland.
“But
we've lost a very big chunk of leadership with those two guys, two
guys that can control the ice out there."
Coventry
Blaze v Fife Flyers 21 January 2001
Period
scores : 1-1/0-2/2-2
Penalty
minutes : 18-10
Shots
on goal : 57-35
Attendance
: 2333
Referee
: Mick Litchfield
Blaze
: Johnson 1+0; Kelham 1+0; Knights 1+0; Irvine 0+2; Kelland 0+1;
Samuelsson 0+1; Soderstrom 0+1; Twaite 0+1.
Net - Holyhead 34/4 (time not recorded); empty net 1/1
Flyers
: Monteith 3+1; Dutiaume 1+0; Morris 1+0; Russell 0+2; Morrison 0+1.
Net- Murphy 57/3
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