Ian Turley feels the Paisley Pirates proved their title credentials after beating top of the table Aberdeen Lynx on their own rink.
The Renfrewshire side came out on top after a hugely entertaining, high-scoring clash at the Linx Ice Arena.
Their third victory on the spin saw the Pirates sail up to second in the SNL League table.
And head coach Turley believes the impressive win shows his team are a match for anyone in the division.
Turley told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “We raced into a 3-0 lead after just six minutes, but even then I knew the game wasn’t finished.
“Aberdeen have got a very vocal crowd and they can get the momentum back on their side after just one goal.
“I knew it wasn’t done and it was 3-3 by the end of the first period. We scored right at the death of the second period, which was a great time to take the lead.
“We saw the game out well and it was a big victory for this squad. We still know we are not working at maximum potential yet, but we’re getting there.
“We want to be challenging for the title and we’re up to second in the league now.
“We’ve gone to Aberdeen, gone to their building and taken the points off them. You’ve got to take confidence from that.”
After a topsy-turvy start to the campaign, the Pirates appear to be hitting some form now their summer recruits have settled in at the Paisley side.
Turley believes the decision to invest in more attacking players over the break is now starting to pay dividends on the ice.
Turley said: “It’s a process and we’re still early in it. There’s a settling in period when you bring in new players and we’re just starting to find some form, especially over the whole 60 minutes.
“We’re still not quite there yet, but we’re improving every week and that’s promising.
“We strengthened the squad over the break and we decided to bring in a lot more offensive players than before. That’s helping us find the net more often.
“We’ve also got a lot of returning players from last season who know how painful last year was.
“We had the delayed start with the Braehead Arena situation, then covid problems and injuries.
“The guys were understandably burnt out at the end of the season and they don’t want to feel that pain again.
“We’ve started much earlier this season, got a good pre-season under our belts and we’re just much better prepared this time around.
“Hopefully that will help us stay the course as the campaign progresses.”
Paisley Pirates take on Kirkcaldy Kestrels this Sunday at the Braehead Arena looking to make it four wins on the bounce. Face-off is 5pm.
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