Blades focus on division
After opening on the road for the first time in team history, the Florida Everblades return to Southwest Florida this weekend for two games against the Charlotte Checkers having learned that nothing is going to be easy.
“Teams are playing us as if we have a target on our back,” said Blades coach Malcolm Cameron. “Teams are trying their hardest against us.”
That statement comes after a tough three-game stay in Toledo in which the Blades were 1-1-1 last weekend.
“We were up and down,” said Cameron. “I think that some of the guys who returned from last year just expected to be able to pick up right where they left off and have that instant chemistry that comes from playing together.”
Overall, though, Cameron was pleased with the way the team played in the hostile environment.
“Toledo sold out their arena the first two games and nearly did so the third,” said Cameron. “The crowd was loud but it was good to open the season with a road trip like that. It gave the guys a chance to get to know each other a little better.”
Now that they’re back home, the focus has been on their weekend opponent, the division rival Checkers. The Checkers have played one game so far, a 3-1 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays.
“It’s going to take discipline to beat Charlotte,” Cameron said. “They are a lot like us in that they are big and fast. It’s going to take a full 60 minutes of hockey both nights to take two games from them.”
Winning twice at home would be an important start to the Blades’ divisional play, and send a message to the others that they intend to retain their division dominance. To that end, Cameron is focusing on team defense and power-play consistency in practice this week.
“We didn’t play very good defensive hockey, which has been a trademark of this team.” he said. “So this week in practice I really had the guys focus on their habits on the ice.”
The Everblades and Checkers face off Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Germain Arena.