COVENTRY Blaze skipper Jordan Pietrus has teamed up with The Observer to deliver an exclusive insight into the Blaze locker room by writing a fortnightly column.
In his latest column, the Blaze skipper reflects on a massive four-point-weekend, netminders Brian Stewart and Renny Marr and keeping in touch with his homeland.
“We took a step in the right direction this weekend.
“Getting two wins in front of our home fans is massive, I thought we did some good things on both nights to get the wins.
“Although winning is great we have to understand that our work is not done, this weekend is another big one for us with Challenge Cup qualification on the line and another tough Elite League fixture against Braehead.
“Our defence was strong this weekend as was Stewy’s (Brian Stewart’s).
“Our defensive unit did a good job of keeping the opposing teams to the outside and using their skating ability to take away time and space.
“Stewy was able to see a lot of pucks because of how we defended and he came up big when we needed him to.”
Renny Marr:
“Marrsy showed a lot of maturity during the Sheffield game just over a week ago, he came into a tough situation against a high-powered Sheffield team.
“Though he didn’t get off to the start he would’ve like, he responded like a true professional and shut the door after that.
“His performance said a lot about him as a person and his ability to bounce back, it’s great to know he’s there for us if anything happens to Stewy.
“It’s great to see a young guy work hard and I think the Blaze fans saw glimpses of his improvement during the second and third periods during that game against the Steelers.
“We do a lot of stuff at both ends of the ice during practice, so Renny see’s a lot of shots in practice.
“He also has the chance to compete with, and be mentored by Stewy – so I’m sure he’s taking notes mentally.
“Stewy is one of the best goalies in the league and you can tell Marrsy is learning immensely from him.”
Davies addition
“I’m told Ben will get in to town later this week so we will have to see if Ben will hit ice this weekend with us.
“Playing against him last year I know he’s a guy that plays hard and is a competitor.
“He can really skate and play with pace so he will be a great addition to our team.
“A few of the guys have played with him in the past so I’ve heard he’s a great guy, we are all looking forward to having him join the squad.”
America:
“I’ve got some deep ties to the US – my wife is American, I went to University in the US in addition to playing junior and starting my professional career in the US.
“Not only that most of my friends and now half of my family lives in the US now as well.
“As such I’ve paid close attention to the election – in my opinion it won’t just have an impact on Americans but people around the world as well.
“As I’ve got older I’ve paid more attention to politics, however I didn’t stay up to watch as it was past my bed time!”
