Ice Hockey: Hartmann drills Caps for derbies

Edinburgh CAPITALS player- coach Richard Hartmann is looking to take things one game at a time as he prepares his charges for two crucial British Elite League ice hockey matches this weekend, both against Scottish opposition.

The Capitals make the short trip across the Forth to visit arch-rivals Fife Flyers tomorrow, before hosting Dundee Stars at Murrayfield on Sunday.

The Slovakian said today: “We’ll have to be prepared, because Fife are playing pretty well at home. So we’ll have a good practice today and we’ll be ready.”

Hartmann’s men will be looking for an improved performance after Edinburgh lost their last outing on Tuesday night away to Braehead Clan, the Glasgow outfit comfortably winning 8-2.

Hartmann said: “We have to just forget about it. We did a lot of things badly. We’ll be working on our systems, and doing all the things we normally do. We just have to move on and focus on this weekend’s two games.”

Currently, Edinburgh sit in seventh place in the Elite league on 14 points and will be looking to take something from both games to consolidate their position in one of the eight play-off spots.

This will prove more difficult with the loss of experienced defenceman Martin Petrina, who is out for at least a fortnight after picking up a knock in last Sunday’s 4-2 home victory against Braehead.

Hartmann said: “Martin’s out for at least two weeks, after that we’ll have a look and see if he can play or not.”

Coach Hartmann can expect a physical encounter against the Stars in the Capital on Sunday (6pm).

The Edinburgh men, who were missing three key players through injury, including starting goalie Nathan Craze, grabbed a crucial 3-2 overtime victory the last time the sides met, on Tayside, earlier this month.