Mighty Tuks are back on track! After three losses to Bangkok at the start of the season, the Tuks picked up their third win in a row on Saturday 18 November by beating the Phnom Penh Pirates 7-5.
The Pirates dominated large parts of the game and won the shooting statistics 57-24. Strong and disciplined defensive play from the Tuk's players kept the Pirates players from making backdoor passes and getting breakaways, combined with effective attacking founded the victory.
The Pirates had a full lineup in Saturday's game. For the first time this season, the Pirates played with their three top draft picks alongside last season's CIHL leading scorer Zak Garofolo, which at times created a massive pressure against the Tuk's goal.
The Mighty Tuks were without two players, including their first round pick Pierre Lenormand. However, this was compensated by an impressive CIHL debut by Mike Trelford, who earlier this week was picked up by the Tuks from the free agent market.
The match showed that Mighty Tuk's scouting department and General Manager have put together a strong team for this season, where hockey intelligence has been the main focus in the selection of players.
The last month has been full of trade rumors in the CIHL, where Pirates fans have demanded that reinforcements be made to the squad. This could force the Pirates General Manger into some desperate trades. Rumor says that the Pirates have tried to trade their 1st round pick Tyler Kozole for a more experienced player. Likewise, there are also rumors that Adam Anderson may be on his way away in the hope that he can be traded for a more defensively oriented player.
It will be interesting to see how these two players react over the next few weeks with the lack of confidence the Pirates have showed them. The fact is that both players represented the Tuks last season with great success, a potential that is still unfulfilled at Pirates.