Head Coach Kevin Parrish was delighted that his Invicta Dynamos side made a winning start to the season on Sunday night.

The 36 year old watched on as the Dynamos put in a superb performance in the third period to beat Milton Keynes Thunder 7-2.

Going into the third period, the two teams were square at two apiece, but a sterling performance from the Dynamos saw them post their first win of the season in front of a good crowd at the Silver Blades Ice Bowl.

Reflecting on the win, Parrish told KSN:

“It was a nice victory to have in the first game. It was scrappy in the first two periods, but I think that was always going to happen in the first game with the guys being a little bit nervous and tensions running high.”

“After the challenge games where there was no hitting going on, the guys were probably rushing things and making mistakes with the puck.”

“We picked it up in the third though and if we play like that for the rest of the season, we’ll definitely be in with a shout.”

“We’ve got a lot of things to work on though.”

One thing that did concern Parrish was the amount of time his players spent off the ice for a variety of infringements, and he told KSN how he was going to be working on that:

“I think at the start of the season the referees are going to be picking up on things to mark their authority and I think Tom (referee) did a good job seeing what he saw and if he did, he had to give it.”

“I’m probably not too happy with the ten’s we took. Noble’s visor infringement was a silly penalty to have and we’ll have to have words about that.”

“Nat (Rose) lost his head a little bit there, but he swears he didn’t swear at the ref, but the referee had made the decision and you have to get on with it.”

“We will struggle if we keep taking ten minute penalties, but it was probably first game tension.”

One thing that pleased Parrish was the performance of imports Justin Noble and Peter Vaisenen:

“That’s what they are here for, they are here to score goals and help out the British guys, not just on the ice but off the ice.”

“Both have come from good backgrounds and have got a lot of input off the ice. On the ice Noble struck twice and Vas got one, so that’s good for us.”

Fans were treated to some physical play from the Dynamos over the course of the three twenty minute periods and if Parrish has anything to say about it, they will be seeing more of the same in the coming weeks:

“There were a few good hits out there and the boys have been chomping at the bit for the past few weeks. They wanted to throw their weight around and if anything, I wanted them to hit a bit more than they did, but you will see us showing a bit more of a physical style in the next few weeks.”

New signing Arran Strawson picked up the man of the match award for a battling performance at the back and the Dynamos Head Coach was full of praise for the man from Sheffied:

“He was steady at the back, he did what he had to do. He got the puck to the forwards and made sure he didn’t get scored on. That’s all you have got to do as a D man. It sounds easy, but sometimes it can be a lot harder.”

“A couple of the guys struggled back in the D, but we will make changes. We will take the positives from the game and make sure we cut out the negatives.”

From here, the Dynamos face two games in two days next weekend, but Parrish is of the belief his side could go on a nice winning run:

“We have got a couple of big tests next week. We go to the Isle of Wight in the cup game and then back home to play Bracknell so it will be a big double header weekend.”

“It will be a tough weekend as you have got to go to the Isle of Wight, play a game, come back, recuperate, get your body going again and play the next day, but that will show what character we have got.”

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Olympic hockey semi-finalist, Ashley Jackson, from West Malling, has been added to the Invicta Mustangs roster for the coming season.

Pictures by David Trevallion