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News
Hand pleased with opening weekend
Phoenix player/coach Tony Hand expressed himself as being pleased with his teams performances in the opening games of the bmibaby Elite League.
"To take three points from a possible four, we have to be pleased," noted the Phoenix supremo. "I thought the guys did very well considering we've only practised a couple of times and three of them only arrived on Friday. I thought we dominated the game in Edinburgh on Saturday and were unlucky to get pegged back for the tie and the penalty shoot-out well… they're always something of a lottery. Overall, I'm pleased and it gives us a nice platform to build upon for the coming games."
Phoenix outshot the Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday night 56-28 but the home side fought back with two late strikes, one on a dubious penalty on Hand himself, and then a last-gasp equaliser with just 6 seconds remaining in regulation time. Andrej Rajcak eventually slotted home the game-winning penalty to give the Capitals the win.
Phoenix went a goal behind inside just 49 seconds against the Stingrays in Hull on Sunday night, but fought back magnificently with Hand equalising on the first of his teams three powerplay goals that secured a 3-1 win. Simon Mangos crashed home a second period go-ahead goal and Robin Gomez got a telling touch to a howitzer shot from Scott Basiuk in the final period to secure the points and an excellent start to the season for the Phoenix.
With the bmibaby Elite League opting for a 'zero tolerance' approach this season to improve the quality and speed of the game in the long-term, both games saw a rash of minor penalties that, at times, bemused both players and fans of all teams alike. Phoenix Coach Tony Hand added, "It's going to take a few weeks for everyone to adjust to the new rules as it's largely different to the way we've all played the game over the years. In the long term, I think it will be good for the game but, I think everyone will have to be patient as we all come to terms with the way the officials are now calling the game."
