Scotland host series against Canada

Scotland Senior Men hit-off against touring Canadians in an international capped series at Inverclyde Sports Centre in Larg 28-29 March.

It's been a year since Scotland Senior Men beat Canada at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2-0 and it's time for a re-match.

Following a friendly on the 27^th with GB Super Six team, Highland Jaguars, the Canadians face Scotland Senior Men. Scotland Coach Mathias Ahrens said, ÔÇ£We want to position where we are and how we are able to perform against teams ranked as high as Canada. We should step up and go out to win.ÔÇØ

The Canadian's UK Tour is set to prepare them for the July Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, their best chance to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

They start their tour further south, in Buckinghamshire, against other GB Super Six teams Wessex Leopards, Saxon Tigers and Pennine Pumas.

Performance Manager for Canada, Andrew Petri, told Scottish Hockey, ÔÇ£It's always good to have a re-match, it should be a strong competition. I think both teams are pretty evenly ranked, so it could go either way.ÔÇØ

According to the International Hockey Federation, Canada are ranked 16^th while Scotland sit at 22nd. Canada has four Olympians on board while Scotland has three including Graham Dunlop, Graham Moodie and Niall Stott.

Regardless of any numbers, Scotland's confidence is strong after going unbeaten to win gold at the Four Nations Tournament in Cairo earlier this month.

Explaining Scotland's objectives for this series, Coach Ahrens said ÔÇ£We want to improve and develop our technical game; this is what we have been working on since the beginning of the year.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£One of our challenges is winning back to back games, repeating good performance. Consistency is always a target for us.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Another focus for this tour is for GB Super Six teams to get a chance to play a friendly and for growing players to get more international experience.ÔÇØ

Andrew Petri explained, ÔÇ£The UK Tour gives Canadian National Teammates a chance to meet up and play because there are several Canadian players playing in Europe. There are three in Holland, one in Germany and one in England.ÔÇØ

Adding extra hype to the series, Petri further informed SHU that this would be Canadian Head Coach, Louis Mendonca's first tour with the team and Goalie Mike Mahood will be looking to get his 150^th Cap. Scotland's own Stephen Dick will be celebrating his 50^th Cap in the first game against Canada.

No matter what motivation the Canadians have, Coach Ahrens clarified, ÔÇ£We beat them in the Commonwealth Games and it's our target to go out and do it again.ÔÇØ

Source: Scottish Hockey Union