THE Newcastle North Stars have all but secured their spot in the Australian Ice Hockey League finals following their performance in Melbourne last weekend.
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Returning to the ice after a week off, the North Stars were “a little rusty” meeting the Melbourne Mustangs on Saturday.
Newcastle coach Andrew Petrie said passes were off and pucks were hitting skates and not sticks, which contributed to its 2-1 loss to the Melbourne side.
“The game was super competitive, as the score line probably indicates,” Petrie said.
“I think the effort we put in was really high, but we looked pretty rusty after our week off.”
Sunday’s game against the Melbourne Ice was a different story, with Newcastle walking away with a 4-2 win.
Petrie said the game was one of the North Stars’ best this season.
“They [North Stars] were gritty and unrelenting,” he said.
“They refused to lose.”
The win saw Newcastle once again move to the top of the league’s standings with 45 points, two clear of second-placed Perth Thunder.
The North Stars, with seven games to play before the end of the regular season, need a maximum of seven points to officially cement one of the four finals spots.
Petrie said the North Stars would look to win each of their seven remaining games.
“We see winning as a habit, not an option,” he said.
The North Stars will face sixth-placed Sydney Bears in Penrith on Saturday and cellar dwellers the Sydney Ice Dogs at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on Sunday.
