BIG things were expected of the Newcastle North Stars in their opening weekend for the 2015 Australian Ice Hockey League season and big things were delivered.
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The North Stars produced the best possible result from their two games played across the Anzac weekend - two wins.
Against the Adelaide Adrenaline on Saturday the North Stars won 6-4 and backed that up with a 7-4 win over Canberra Brave on Sunday.
Though happy with the results, North Stars coach Andrew Petrie said there were aspects of his side's game that let them down.
"Defensively, our structure broke down in the third period each game," he said.
"I think it may have had something to do with complacency. We went into third periods with quite big leads so I think it [break down] has something to do with complacency."
A strong-looking North Stars side hit the ice in Saturday's game against Adelaide looking to make their mark, which came in the form of a goal from import Geordie Wudrick 20 seconds in. He and fellow imports Geordie Wudrick and Luke Moffatt made their presence felt in the AIHL, scoring 10 of the North Stars' 13 goals at the weekend.
"It usually takes imports a week or two to settle because they've travelled halfway around the world, but these guys are in," Petrie said.
"They're zoned in and if they get better from here that's only going to be better for us."
Despite the third period complacency, the North Stars significantly outshot and outplayed their opponents in both games.
In Saturday's game the North Stars fired 35 shots for six goals while Adelaide only got four of their 21 tries behind Newcastle goalie Dayne Davis. On Sunday the North Stars were able to get seven of their 44 shots fired at the Brave goalie in the net while Canberra could only get behind Davis four from 24 times.