AMERICAN Chuck Weber’s first weekend in charge ended in disappointment following back-to-back defeats in the Elite League.
Weber flew into England on Saturday morning before boarding the bus to Scotland but his injury-hit Blaze side fell to a 3-2 defeat against Edinburgh Capitals.
Steven Goertzen put Blaze ahead before Ryan O’Marra made it 2-0 mid-way through the second period.
Jordan Steel pulled a goal back for Capitals before final-period markers from Dennis Rix and Jade Portwood handed the home side victory.
And the enormity of the task in-hand was made much clearly the following evening as Weber tasted defeat in his first home game after watching his side lose 4-2 to Sheffield Steelers in the Elite League.
Blaze welcomed Jereme Tendler and Justin DaCosta back into the line-up but Mark Smith, captain Ashley Tait and Trevor Frischmon were absent.
Tyler Mosienko got the go-ahead goal for Steelers but Goertzen’s 12th marker of the season tied up the match.
Ryan O’Marra put Blaze in front shortly after the half-hour mark only for three goals inside 171 seconds to surge Steelers into a two-goal advantage with Robert Dowd, Rod Sarich and Mike Forney scoring.
Weber said: “We made a slow start and Sheffield controlled the puck and I thought we were lucky to go in 1-0 down. We put a push together before things got away from us.
“We took a couple of bad penalties and against a good team like Sheffield they will take advantage.
“But I am still learning about the guys and they are still learning the way I want to play the game. That is something we will work on this week.
“We lost Mike Egener in the first period and when (Craig) Cescon took a 12-minute penalty that left us with four ‘D’ which was tough.
“Justin DaCosta played hurt and Ashley couldn’t make it and neither could Trevor. These are valuable guys we have missing.
“I have seen a lot of positives and there is a good group of guys here. The biggest thing is they need some structure and direction.”
