The Excel Hull Stingrays tonight kicked off a five game pre-season schedule in the best possible way, beating ownership rivals Coventry Blaze by three goals at Hull Arena.
Sylvain Cloutier handed Rays debuts to no fewer than 11 members of his squad including five new blueliners in an all new defensive corps, entering the game with just four returning players. However, it was new Czech forward Frantisek Bakrlik that caught the eye most with a man of the match worthy performance which saw him notch two goals and one assist.
With both squad's having spent less than a week together it was always going to be a case of getting used to systems and team mates, and so it proved in a relatively scrappy opening five minutes.
Despite its pre-season nature early on the game showed periods of being far from friendly with hits raining in midway through the first. First Bobby Chamberlain - making his senior debut with the Rays at just 16 - took a run at Coventry's youngster Ross Venus before Martin Ondrej executed what looks likely to become a trademark hip-check and Coventry's Owen Fussey hit a Rays player with enough force to pop out the penalty box plexiglass.
Having traded marginal chances in the opening stages, it was the home team that had the first real chance of the game. Player-coach Cloutier perfectly firing the puck home in off the post from the top of the circle only to have his effort wrongly disallowed for a Dominic Osman offside.
Nevertheless, with less than a minute remaining in the period, Stingrays Jereme Tendler - who netted a club record 50 goals last season - began where he left off, scoring his first of the year into a largely unguarded net after a mix-up left Blaze keeper Peter Hirsch way out of position. Although the lead was not undeserved, in its infancy the Rays powerplay had been largely ineffective with plenty of time spent on the man advantage and neither side had been able to maintain long periods of domination.
In a standout debut, man mountain Bakrlik then added his first to double the Rays lead in the second period, needing no help on a two-on-one to fire past Hirsch.
Unsurprisingly the Blaze - who were without Canadian Luke Fulghum and later lost Hull born defenceman Dave Phillips to injury - then struck on the powerplay, former Newcastle Viper Matic Krajl picking his spot to net high past Christian Boucher on the man advantage.
However, early in the third the Blaze powerplay turned hero to villain as once again Bakrlik chose to go it alone on a two-on-one breakaway with Tendler to double his account for the night.
The Blaze man advantage soon made up for the shorthanded goal though, hitting back with their second powerplay goal of the night less than a minute later through Robert Farmer's shot from the point, which found its way home to once again shorten the Rays lead to one.
That was as close as the Blaze would come to their ownership counterparts though as Osman tipped in a Martin Ondrej point shot after 51 minutes before new alternate captain Jason Silverthorn stuffed in to a largely unguarded net after Derek Campbell had spurned an initial chance close in to Hirsch, sealing a somewhat surprising 5-2 Stingrays win. The only blemish on Bakrlik's performance being a missed breakaway opportunity late on with Hirsch denying him a debut hat-trick
If Cloutier was looking for a near perfect start then - save for a Bakrlik treble - that is what he got. A win but more importantly a good team performance. Of course, it is very early on but those early signs are overwhelmingly positive at this stage.
The club's mooted weakness - its defence - was largely solid, with imports Ondrej, captain Joshua Mizerek and Dmitri Rodin proving that age and stats do not tell the whole picture. They were well complimented by Brits Sam McCluskey and Dan Scott who both seemed to defy their age, seeing regular minutes on the blueline.
Up front the Rays initially looked a little scrappy - as is to perhaps be expected - but they grew into the game and proved deadly on the counter attack as well as clinical and forceful going forward - which is something the club has perennially struggled with. The majority of that offensive brunt came from Bakrlik whose puck handling skills, size and power proved a real highlight with home fans.
Similarly there were positive signs from the performances of player-coach Cloutier - who was robbed of a goal - Silverthorn, Matty Davies, Jack Watkins, Tristan Harper and Bobby Chamberlain, whose enthusiasm on debut was another highlight. With former ECHL forward Osman also bagging an important first goal for the club, it looks like Cloutier may not have to just rely on Tendler for another 50 goal year in the season ahead.
In reality, while there were zero poor performances, there is still a long way to go for the Stingrays, and Cloutier will only be too aware of that heading into his next four pre-season fixtures and two weeks of training.
The Rays take part in the reverse fixture in Coventry tomorrow night before facing English Premier League side Sheffield Steeldogs on Tuesday and Dutch sides Geleen and Tilburg in Coventry next weekend.
Rays Rating
8
As far a first pre-season games can go, this wasn't far off perfect. Good performances all around and a very competitive base to build from.
FBB Three Stars:
1 - Frantisek Bakrlik (2+1)
2 - Dmitri Rodin (0+2)
3 - Dan Scott (0+0)
