SCOTT SPEARING has warned his side against complacency after Bracknell Bees were made to work hard for two more victories at the weekend.
While it was a double success, Spearing’s charges found themselves behind against both London Raiders and Invicta Dynamos before late rallies saw them win 6-5 and 7-6 respectively to jump up to second in the table after seven straight league wins.
Both opponents have been struggling for results in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) this season, but Spearing says everybody is upping their performance against Bracknell following their drop down from the Elite League.
“The NIHL teams will always raise their games against us,” player-coach Spearing told The Wokingham Paper.
“It’s just exactly the same as what it would’ve been for instance last year if we were playing Guildford or Telford.
“Sometimes those games are even closer than the games against teams you’re nearer to in the table.
“It’s maybe a little bit of the mindset of the opposition. They come to the game knowing that it’s going to be a tough game so they’re well prepared.
“Even during the week you’re thinking about who you’re playing, how you’re going to play them and what you’re going to do to make sure you bring your best game.”
He added: “Sometimes you go through spells where you win games comfortably.
“I just need to get the guys back on and try to get them away from being complacent and making sure they’re all working hard really.
“You’ve got to be prepared to battle when you go into last year’s NIHL rinks right from the start.
“Unless you’re well prepared and you go there with every guy pulling on the same rope, it’s a challenge.
“That’s where we let ourselves down a little bit at the weekend.
“We’ve got the ability to dominate them, but we all have to be prepared and focussed right from the start.”
With a number of key men missing against Invicta Dynamos, Bees needed star man Frankie Bakrlik to step up and drag them through from a losing position.
And he did exactly that, levelling the game at 6-6 in the third period at The Hive and scoring his fourth of the night in over-time to clinch a dramatic win.
“I can’t ask for much more from Frankie at the moment,” said Spearing.
“He’s unbelievable.
“That’s what I signed him for in the summer and the same with Thommo (Shaun Thompson). They’re both top guys and we can rely on them but without the rest of the team stepping up to give him those opportunities and those breaks in the play to find him space, he can’t shoot the puck.
“Although it’s him scoring the goals, there’s a lot of hard work going on around him.”
He added: “Against Invicta we had a full team with a spare line on the bench and on top of that we’ve still got another three forwards that we were short of.
“I’ve got countless lines that I can run with.
“Personally, coaching wise I’m in a great situation where I’ve got so many options and the guys are all fighting for positions. It’s great for me.”
Bees face another double header this weekend.
Saturday evening sees a tricky trip to rivals Swindon Wildcats in the National Cup (6.15pm) before an NIHL game against London Raiders at The Hive on Sunday (6pm).
And Spearing believes his squad is more than capable of winning both.
“We had some guys missing last weekend in Alex Barker, Steve Osman and Shaun Thompson that should all be back against Swindon,” he explained.
“That is the tougher of the games that we’ve played recently.
“I think we can dominate them physically. I think we’ve got good depth in comparison to them, but nonetheless it’s going to be a tough game.
“Aaron Nell will come very organised and he’s a good coach and he’s got a great team. So we all need to make sure we bring our A game to compete.”
He added: “Without a doubt I want to be beating every team every night, but even more so the NIHL ones from last year (like London Raiders).
“I don’t want to be dropping any points against those teams.
“That’s a big key for me.
“Mentally I think it would be tough to come back from if we did start dropping points against those teams so we need to make sure we keep on top of them.
“I think if we win on Saturday we’ll bring that confidence into the group and the room and we’ll just all keep getting stronger.”
