Brave vs. Adrenaline Preview

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The Adelaide Adrenaline will kick off their second road trip of the season tonight against a CBR Brave side looking to record their second win of the season at home in the Brave Cave. The game starts at 5PM (Adelaide Time).

With the first full weekend of regular season gameplay behind them and a team practice finally under the belt, the Adrenaline look to build upon the positives from their first two games whilst ironing out the kinks and continuing to build chemistry amongst the playing group.

Adrenaline interim coach Graham Charbonneau, who filled in for Ryan O'Handley while he was at the World Championships, says he is not worried about energy lapses like the ones that occurred last weekend, noting a lack of time together as a team and early season legs as contributing factors.

“Prior to last weekend we never had a full training because we a lot of our guys at World Championships and an import that just arrived, so getting the lines rolling [at training], getting them familiar with each other, last weekend should have helped a lot,” Charbonneau says,

Charbonneau is confident that with two matches and a week of practice behind them, energy levels would be up and the team would be ready to go from the first drop of the puck.

For the Brave, this game will be focused on establishing dominance on home ice after mixed results in the opening weekend of the regular season.

The team recorded a solid win in their home opener against the Sydney Bears but saw their effort and discipline slip in a tough loss away to the Newcastle North Stars.

CBR Brave coach, Brad Hunt noted after the loss to Newcastle that staying out of the box would be critical to team success.

“We had a lot of penalties, discipline was horrible but we can play a lot better,” Hunt said.

This will be particularly important against an Adrenaline team boasting the offensive talents of the likes of Canadian import Tyler Grove who comes into tonight’s contest with 3 goals and two assists in his first two games in an Adrenaline jersey.

Grove showed outstanding offensive flair last weekend and if his form continues along with quality support from the likes of veteran skipper Greg Oddy and young-gun Zach Boyle. The Adrenaline’s offense looks in good shape at this early stage of the season.

The team also know the support between the pipes is of the highest quality, with 18 year-old Charlie Smart impressing in his first start since coming across from Perth and the youngster will be looking to establish himself as a presence in net and continue performing solidly for the team. Peter King also impressed making key saves in the season opening loss.

The form lines are good and stage is set as the Adrenaline look to establish itself as force of the competition and the Brave look to defend the Brave Cave in what will no doubt be an enthralling and energetic early season encounter that could go either way.

Puck Drops 5.30PM Local Time at the Phillip Ice Skating Centre in Canberra.

Streaming Details: http://www.ascensionsports.tv 

Charlie Smart Pre-Match Interview: click here.