Strachan set for Hull return

While the Excel Hull Stingrays former head coach Rick Strachan has not made a sensational return to the club, he will set foot in the Hull Arena for the first time in nearly two years as he brings his new Nottingham Panthers side to East Yorkshire this Sunday.

 Copyright Nottingham Panthers

The 47 year old, who left the Rays by mutual consent in in April 2008, was named bench coach of the Panthers by player-head coach Corey Neilson a week ago, replacing the outgoing Davey Graham, who has seemingly taken the fall for the club's poor form in recent weeks.

That poor run saw them lose four from six at the tail end of 2010, including a pair of post-Christmas defeats to fierce rivals Sheffield, and, with both their coaching and defence coming under particular flak, Strachan has now been drafted in to shore up the defensive side of one of the most offensive bluelines in the league.

Thus far his appointment has gone well with the Panthers going two for two, even if they have seeped a total of nine goals in the 6-5 shootout win over Dundee and emphatic 11-4 victory over bottom side Newcastle.

Meanwhile, the Stingrays, who have just Andrew Jaszczyk, Lee Esders and Lee Mitchell remaining from the Strachan era, face a big weekend of their own as they continue to chase sixth place.

Having closed the gap to sixth placed Braehead to just a couple of points last weekend, the Rays face the Clan in Scotland on Saturday hoping to once again cut the deficit, which has since grown to eight points.

Significantly Sylvain Cloutier's side have played six fewer games than Bruce Richardson's team this season and the Rays lead teams' series having beaten the Clan twice in three games, however, the Scots themselves are closing in on fifth placed Coventry after turning a corner with wins over the Blaze themselves, Nottingham and Edinburgh twice in their last four outings, and they will be eager to level series.

Sunday's game (6pm, Hull Arena) sees Strachan and the Panthers return for revenge having lost in a shootout in their last meeting with the Stingrays at the NIC.

Strachan said

With the departure of Rick Strachan as coach of the Excel Hull Stingrays, we give you some of F Block Blogs favourite Strachan quotes from the past six years.

Unfortunately he said some of his best, involving parking buses in front of the net, growing players from trees and circling wagons, to the Hull Daily Mail and they don't keep an archive from previous seasons. However here are some of the best from the Stingrays official website.

"We have taken 20 steps forwards in recent weeks but took five steps back on Saturday."

6-1 loss v Coventry (10/11/08)

"Rome wasn't built in a day and over the past three weeks I have seen so many positive things"

6-3 win over Belfast 6-3 and 2-1 loss to Sheffield

"They threw everything they had at us and when that didn't work, Steve Thornton decides to take my goalie out. It was a gutless thing to do. He wonders why he is the most hated guy in the league. The guys battled hard but I am really angry. The only way they could beat us was to take out my goalie."

8-2 loss v Belfast, which saw Curtis Cruickshank receive a concussion (18/12/08)

"What are ‘D’ doing dumping the puck and chasing it? I don’t care if it’s a powerplay, we were winning. All you have to do is dump it in and let the forwards chase it."

4-3 overtime loss v Newcastle Vipers (12/01/09)

"The guys have worked their nuts off for the last 12 games to get to where we are but until we are mathematically there nothing matters."

2-1 win v Newcastle, with the team claiming 12 points from 13 games following New Year (08/02/09)

"What went wrong? Everything. Every time we did something wrong they scored and every time we had a scoring chance we either hit the post or the crossbar. When things go bad here they go bad and when we are good we are really good."

Stingrays 7-1 loss to the Sheffield Steelers (18/11/07)

"We are going to have to play a textbook road game. We have to eliminate their chances and lull them to sleep."

Prior to the Stingrays visit to Belfast after the Giants had racked up their 15th consecutive win (29/01/08)

"He drives the net hard, he goes in the corners and gets crashed, smashed, whacked and hacked and he can score goals"

After Jeff Glowa had scored three goals in two assists in five games (29/12/06)

"This thing is far from over. There is going to be more twists and turns than a Stephen King novel."

"If we score first, the crowd will be up and they will be thinking 'Oh god, here they come'."

Before the Stingrays second leg of the Challenge Cup, trailing 5-3 to Sheffield (23/01/07)

"This is the biggest night for Stingrays in their history. I am so proud of all the guys. We are going to the dance and we are going to savour this moment."

After making the EPL Cup Final, their only ever final, with a win over Guildford Flames (22/01/06)

"It was a comprehensive win. We dominated them and the Zamboni really only needed to do half the ice as we were in their half all the time."

5-1 win over Telford (05/02/06)

"We went to Nottingham and played really, really well. We were not supposed to win, no BNL team is supposed to win.

"Luton are not expected to beat Manchester United but it was encouraging for the sport of hockey because it showed BNL teams can go into the big rinks and play with them"

After away Crossover Cup win v Nottingham (13/09/04)

"The referee was out of his league. It was a circus out there."

6-6 tie with Bracknell Bees (20/10/04)

"Boothroyd did a great job. He got thrown in. It was a case of 'there you go kid, go and play."

5-4 Winter Cup win v Peterborough (6/10/04)

"Luke got thrown in at the deep end and told 'there you go, swim' and I think he did an admirable job."

After Luke Boothyoyd recieved a GB U20 call up (19/11/04)

"At least I will be back in Canada and there is a team in town. Who knows there might be a guy there on the roster and not playing."

After Scott Wray and Craig Minard quit the team, and before he visited Canada (22/12/04)

"Why wouldn't they [play their back-up goalie]? It's kind of a written rule here that in a nothing game you play your back-up because they never get to play. Why didn't they?"

5-2 loss v Fife (19/12/04)

Stingrays begin scouring the globe for new coach

After sacking the only ever coach in the clubs six year existence, the Excel Hull Stingrays today began their search for a new coach.

The Stingrays sacked coach Rick Strachan yesterday for what they say were purely financial reasons, despite the club failing to make the playoffs for three consecutive Elite League seasons.

The search for a new coach has now begun, and after speculation that the player/coach could be a Stingrays player from this seasons team, or even a recent Elite League player, Stingrays director, Mike Pack, stated that the club did not have anyone specific in mind.

"We've got a blank piece of paper for the new player-coach role. We have not got anyone in mind, we'll sit down and think about the sort of person we need, that's very important to us. There are no pre-requisites, they don't have to have Elite League experience before, certainly they don't have to have played for Stingrays.

"There are pros and cons of bringing someone straight in from North America, with recent exposure to that, and advantages of playing over here and having Elite League experience, it's a question of balance."

"Certainly the right kind of person will have to be up for the challenge."

Whoever takes the job will have a big task to get the Stingrays, who have finished in the bottom two for three seasons running, into the playoffs, with many fans adamant that without Strachan at the helm, the job will become much easier despite the Rays budget, which is dwarfed by many teams in the league.

Strachan steps down as coach

Rick Strachan has stepped down as head coach of the Excel Hull Stingrays after the club today announced a re-structuring that will see a new player-coach signed for the 09/10 season.

With a new coach for next season, co-owner Mike Pack take over the teams managerial duties, meanwhile Strachan will remain as director of the Stingrays parent company, Lifetime Sports Ltd, but will take a back seat with team involvement for next season, the Rays first without the soon to be 46 year old Canadian.

Stingrays co-owner Mike Pack commented on the decision:

"The Stingrays are not immune to the financial situation and this has led to a need to re-think the structure of the club. Prior to going into next season we have had to examine the club's finances and will now embark on a search for a player-coach and I will take on the managerial duties. This approach is in line with most other teams in the Elite League."

Fellow co-owner Sue Pack added:

"Mike, Rick Strachan and myself are long-term friends. All three of us operate to the same code of ethics. The level of class and integrity Rick brought to his duties with the Stingrays was second to none. It is an honour to have him as a friend and to have shared the last seven years together. Whoever comes into the new role of player-coach will have some very big skates to fill."

Strachan had been the Stingrays only head coach since their inaugural season in 2003/04 in the British National League and helped the Stingrays to a moderately successful second season in the BNL in 04/05.

The team moved to the four import English Premier League for one season in 05/06, where they finished in a disappointing eighth place, despite reportedly having a higher wage bill than most teams.

In 2006 the Stingrays applied, and were accepted into the sports top flight, the Elite League, for the first time in their history. But they have since failed to make the playoffs for the three consecutive years since, and with fans growing increasingly frustrated by his defensive tactics and with attendances falling to below 700, the club made the decision to part ways.

Only on Monday did Strachan reflect on the Stingrays latest disappointment, after losing two must win games, the team were condemned to the golf course a week early for the third time in three seasons.

"We made progress this year, but not enough. It was disappointing, but there were factors out of our control."

"I cannot fix losing three defencemen for huge periods of the season. Sometimes we were playing with only three defencemen, and one of those was Steve Slonina, who was signed as a forward.

"Last year we didn't have any forwards, this year we had no D! But give Mike and Sue Pack, the owners, full credit. They sucked it up financially and they carried an extra import from Christmas."

When questioned about the fans clear anger after failure to qualify once again, with a number of fans voicing their opinions as the team did their annual walkaround the rink to thank fans following defeat against Edinburgh, he replied:

"At times it's demoralising. I feel the fans' frustration, but they could try walking a mile in my shoes. I can't just snap my fingers and go out and find more players."

"Taking the flak is the nature of sport, you have to have a thick skin. But of course it gets to me, I am human."

His six year tenure as Stingrays coach has now ended, with his record in three years of Elite League play standing at 162 games, 47 wins, 112 losses, 387 goals for and a mighty 614 goals against.

The search for a player-coach for the Stingrays 09/10 season in the Elite League, their fourth in the top flight, will now begin with many disillusioned fans admitting they will return to support the side with Strachan out of the picture.

BREAKING NEWS: Strachan sacked as coach in club re-structuring

Rick Strachan has been sacked as head coach of the Excel Hull Stingrays after the club today announced a re-structuring that will see a new player-coach signed for the 09/10 season.