Ice Hockey: Lomas looking to add goals to his graft after Kim's departure

DAVID Lomas has built a solid reputation as a tough, no-nonsence player since signing for Edinburgh Capitals and the shock departure of Alex Kim to Germany has opened the door for the hard-working forward.

Lomas is determined to take his chance with both hands.

He now forms a striker partnership with skipper Martin Cingel and the experienced Jeff Hutchins, and the 6ft 1in Canadian is determined to increase his points tally which stands at four goals and nine assists from 29 games.

Previously, Lomas was leading the club's third line alongside two home-bred players and the former four-year Acadia University star has a quick chance to boost his stats when Dundee CCS Stars come to Murrayfield in the Christmas Cup, first-leg, tonight (7.00pm).

Lomas looks to be again paired with two of the Edinburgh club's most experienced men and the 25-year-old from Burlington, Ontaria, said: "I'll hopefully increase my numbers playing with Jeff (Hutchins) and Martin (Cingel).

"They are good guys and know the league and the game well. They're also very experienced. It's a challenge for me to step-up, but I'm up for it.

"I aim to give value to the team and I try to finish my hits and checks. It was a long weekend for us with games at Dundee on Friday and the trip to Belfast on Saturday, then the game here against Dundee.

"It was disappointing that we didn't get any points from the three games but we were 3-3 in Belfast and they are the league leaders, then fatigue got to us.

"They scoreline does not show how well we played in Belfast and we've done really well in games leading up to last weekend."

It was indeed a tough weekend, with the fixture calendar harsh on the Capitals players, who didn't arrive back in Edinburgh until Sunday morning from Belfast.

Capitals took three points from Belfast and two from title contenders Nottingham Panthers in successive weekends prior to last week and Lomas added: "That shows we can play. On Friday in Dundee we should have won the game but we didn't.

"On Sunday, we tried hard but it didn't happen. The weather has been against us recently.

"A lot of our fans have been staying at home as they couldn't get out.

"That's disappointing but we hope we can get our crowds back to cheer us on."

The second leg is in Dundee on Monday (6.30pm), 24 hours after Dundee visit Murrayfield in the Elite League.

And Brent Hughes, Dundee's skipper, said the games are important to the Tayside team who are building for the future.

The fiesty 5ft 7in Canadian, who has played for Basingstoke Bison and Newcastle Vipers in the past, believes his team are progressing.

The 28-year-old, who also has experience of the rough, tough Central Hockey League and International Hockey League, said: "Four points out of six last weekend is gathering momentum.

"We'll be fighting with Edinburgh along with Hull, Braehead and Newcastle for a play-off spot, so we have to get the jump on them."

And Hughes is on a mission in the Christmas Cup. He added: "We can't afford to take any nights off and we're coming to win.

"We're a team which is work in progress and we are making progress. We're in the eighth and final play-off spot in the table. We want to stay there."