Ice hockey – Capitals sit-out as Clan re-group

Edinburgh Capitals have to wait until Sunday night (face-off 6pm) for their next taste of on-ice action at Murrayfield.

Then, Scottish rivals Dundee Stars come to town but Capitals’ coach Dmitri Khristich must take heart from Thursday’s result at Braehead Clan.

They misfired and the Purple Army witnessed a 7-1 thrashing by Canadian tourists University of Manitoba Bisons.

New Clan coach John Tripp must re-focus his hand-picked squad ahead of Saturday’s visit of Manchester Storm (7pm).

Tripp admittedly tried different combinations and experimented but the 2,600 fans must have left the Glasgow arena shocked by the size of the victory.

Remember, Bison only beat short-benched Edinburgh Capitals 2-1 on Tuesday at Murrayfield with a goal six seconds from time.

Craig Peacock scored for Clan who have only won one of their five pre-season games, three of which have been at home.

Worryingly, they have conceded 24 goals and scored only nine, five of them coming in the 5-4 victory over Lowen Frankfurt last weekend. Face-off is at 7pm

Elsewhere, Dundee Stars coach Omar Pacha and his squad are excited by the visit of Belfast Giants to Tayside in the Challenge Cup (7pm).

Three players are still missing as they wait for documentation to come through.

Pacha said: “Belfast have played some matches. You can only control the controllable. I can’t control Belfast.
“What I can control is Dundee Stars. We’ll have had a week of practice by Saturday and the guys are working hard and they are gelling as a unit.

“This is a process. Saturday’s game is part of that process.” Face-off here is also at 7pm.

Fife Flyers entertain Danish side Herlev Eagles on Saturday (7.15pm).

Eagles were formed in 1993 and one of Flyers latest recruits, Liam Heelis, will meet two of his former Acadia University team-mates in netminder Evan Mosher and forward Brett Thomson who now play for the Copenhagen-based side