Ice Miners Searching for Home Success
Published on November 6, 2014 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Keystone Ice Miners News Release
CONNELLSVILLE, PA - After the first two months of the season involved plenty of travel for the Keystone Ice Miners, November and December bring some home cooking for Michael Gershon's squad. Thus far in 2014-15 however, it's been anything but a home sweet home for a Keystone team that has just one win in four tries at their home rink, a 5-4 come from behind victory in the season opener against Johnstown nearly two months ago.
"I think we've just got to get comfortable playing in the building," said Gershon. "It's hard to go from an Olympic sheet to an NHL sheet and back and our guys just have to get used to it. It's our home rink -we've got to take advantage of being at home and we've just got to figure out how to play on it."
Eight of the next eleven games - between now and December 6th - are at the Ice Mine, with a quick stop in Illinois just before Thanksgiving. A key aspect of the Ice Miners struggles has been the penalty kill, which ranks second-to-last in the NAHL, both at home and overall.
"It's obviously tough when you don't take many penalties and then you get scored on," said Gershon. "A lot of it is just hard work - good stick placement. We've had a problem getting the puck 200 feet and I think our guys just need to bear down. Sacrifice is what PK is all about."
The other glaring problem has been losing third period leads, an event that has struck the Ice Miners in two of their last three home games, seeing a 1-0 advantage slip away in an eventual 3-2 loss to Michigan on October 4th, and losing a 3-2 lead against Johnstown in a 4-3 shootout loss in their last action on October 26th.
"I think our guys just get too high when we score," said the Ice Miners head coach, "We've talked to them about it over the last few weeks. We just have to be professional about it. Yeah we score, we're expected to score - but we're a defense first team and I don't think our defense has been as good as it needs to be. We've got to make sure that we get that killer instinct to start putting teams away."
Despite the hardships, the Ice Miners find themselves hovering around the .500 mark at 7-6-2, with the next four games all against the top two teams in the North Division. The Janesville Jets (10-5-1) come in this weekend before the Soo Eagles (10-8-0) play a pair at the Ice Mine on November 15th and 16th.
"I think this will give us a good opportunity to see where we're at against the top teams in the division, standings-wise and it will be a good test for us," Gershon said. "We're looking forward to it."
The games against Janesville are at 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday night as the Ice Miners celebrate Military Appreciation weekend. They will sport special camouflage jerseys, which will be sold and auctioned off. Past and present military members can get tickets for just $6 by wearing their uniform or presenting military I.D. Item donations for soldiers in Kuwait will be collected at both games. Gates will open at 6:30. Tickets can be purchased at the door, online at keystoneiceminershockey.com, or by calling 724-970-6228.
North American Hockey League Stories from November 6, 2014
- Amarillo Bulls Weekend Preview - Road Trip to Wichita Falls - Amarillo Bulls
- Home-And-Home Redux for Bobcats, Blizzard - Bismarck Bobcats
- Runners Visit North Fairview - Topeka Pilots
- Ice Miners Searching for Home Success - Keystone Ice Miners
- Lone Star Brahmas - Topeka Roadrunners Preview - Lone Star Brahmas
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