Cingel hoping to build on heroics against Hull

Published on Friday 21 November 2008 08:55

MARTIN CINGEL had the fans on their feet when the puck hit the rigging seconds from time to complete a glory treble and secure a comfortable victory over fellow-strugglers Hull Stingrays last weekend.

The Slovakian's goal breathed new life into Edinburgh Capitals, who doggedly held onto eighth spot in the highly-competitive Elite League table.

Now Cingel, who has suffered more lows than highs in his seven seasons with Capitals, hopes his impressive display at the weekend can rub off on his team-mates and spark a burst of form.

The club's loyal skipper will again endure his hatred of boat trips as Edinburgh travel to Belfast Giants tomorrow (7pm) for the first game in another tough weekend double-header. On Sunday (6pm), Capitals return home to entertain Manchester Phoenix, but Cingel prefers to concentrate on giant-killing before considering the visit of Tony Hand's troops.

Giants have won the first two encounters between the sides so far this term, a 4-1 victory at the Riversdale rink in the first home game of Capitals' season was followed by a 4-3 victory in Northern Ireland.

Capitals won the middle session 1-0, but were heavily outshot 52-18 over the 60 minutes in Ireland and Cingel expects another tough clash tomorrow. Giants are fourth in the table with 24 points from 15 starts, winning 12 and losing only three. In the process, they have netted 64 goals.

Capitals have scored 70 goals but conceded 112, the worst total in the league. Belfast have let in 42, the second-best record of all the clubs. The Scots have won six of their 22 games, losing 16 and Cingel, who has scored 11 goals in 22 league games, does not underestimate the size of the task.

"Going to Belfast is one of the toughest trips in the league," said the Slovakian. "We've hardly ever won there in my time with the club and it's not hard to see why as they have a really good squad. Their position in the table, and the stats this season, speak for themselves and we'll have to play at our best to get anything out of there."

Cingel stressed: "We have to play our game and stay out of the penalty box as they can kill you with their power play. We must stay smart and work 100 per cent on every shift. In the last few games, we've changed one or two things and the system seems to be working. We have to keep working on that. We've been picking up some points and we need to keep doing that to stay ahead of Basingstoke and Hull."

Belfast claimed a narrow 4-3 victory at Manchester last Sunday, but they square up to second-placed Sheffield Steelers tonight on their home ice.

If Sheffield push the Irish outfit hard, that may equalise the travelling from Scotland's capital.

But Cingel said: "We are professional ice hockey players and travel is just part of your job." He jokes about his aversion to sailing, but the double crossing, and the overnight trip back to Edinburgh could prove a factor in Sunday's crucial test.

Manchester, who are now fifth in the table with 21 points from 17 games, entertain rock-bottom Hull, who are now five points adrift of Capitals, tomorrow and only face a bus journey from the North-West to Murrayfield.

Cingel said: "The Manchester game is a must-win game for us. We're playing at home and our big rink is totally different from their small rink."