Coventry Blaze coach Chuck Weber hopes their solitary Elite League match against Manchester Storm this weekend can prove a blessing in disguise.

Blaze have been playing short for a number of weeks and while Boris Valabik remains sidelined, they welcome back Kevin Noble from a five-game suspension.

Weber’s team head into Sunday’s game at the Skydome on the back of a 6-3 home win over Braehead Clan.

He said: “We have some guys who are banged up so it is a chance for us to regroup and after the weekend we will be pretty busy from then until the end of the year.

“We must eliminate their powerplay opportunities. They have scored five timely powerplay goals against us in three games which have hurt us.

“They play with a lot of pace and they get up the ice quick. They are a fast, counter-attacking team and we must be aware of that.

“With the one game this week it means Manchester can be our main focus and they are a team just above us in the standings. Our goal is to reel in Manchester and then move on to the next one. There is a lot of hockey ahead of us and we can only take care of our business.

“We are still looking for that level of consistency. We have shown flashes of brilliance and flashes of I don’t know what you want to call it.

“In our first 10 games we scored 11 goals and in our last 10 games we have scored 35 goals. Our offense is starting to come.

“Defensively we were playing pretty well and our PK was good and our powerplay and goals for were not so good. Now it is the other way round. It is about bringing it all together.

“There are some things out of our control but what we can control is our work ethic, our attitude and our preparation.”

Check out Blaze defenseman Steven Chalmers (above) speaking after last week’s game against Braehead.

(Image permission: Scott Wiggins)