Remparts de Tours players can go on break, until December 28, with peace of mind. They ended the year 2024 with a fifth success in a row, in Brest on Saturday December 21 (1-5). “It’s rare to win five games in a row,” savors Frank Spinozzi. It is also their biggest away victory of the season, and it allows them to balance their record, with four victories and four losses on the road.
“I think we are making progress on the outside, underlines the Touraine coach. We were solid, we closed the game well in the third period. » While this was their main concern until now, as in Cholet (4-1), “the worst match of the season” defensively, or even at Villard-de-Lans where despite the victory (2-3), they scared themselves in the third third, the Remparts were strong defensively this time.
“We are very good at counter-attacking”
They notably knew how to keep their backs in the second period, dominated by Brest, until they managed to score the 2-1 goal on a puck lost by the Albatross, exploited by the duo Conner Jean – Kyle Gibbons. Before unfolding in the last act, with three goals scored. “When we play very well defensively, we produce a lot offensively, because we are very good on the counterattack. And since we have speed, we are efficient,” explains Frank Spinozzi. When recovering the puck, exits from the zone are clean and quick, which allows you to quickly move into the other camp.
This is the ideal outdoor recipe. Now that it has been found, we will have to know how to reproduce it in 2025, with a high-level trip awaiting Tours, in Caen on January 4. A direct opponent on whom the Remparts now have a five-point lead (although with one more match), since the Drakkars, defeated in overtime at Cholet (1-0), only took one point on Saturday.
Firmly anchored in their second place, four points behind leader Épinal and four points ahead of Strasbourg, the Tourangeaux are therefore perfectly aligned with their objective when it comes time to go on break. Enough to satisfy the Canadian technician, while the return phase began this Saturday: “We had a good first half of the season, we managed well despite the injuries we experienced. »
This reduced workforce will undoubtedly be one of the main challenges to face at the start of next year. Because on Saturday, Tours did not play “only nine attackers”with the end of the season for Matthieu Frécon and Kenny Martin who was ultimately unable to play, also injured in the knee. “And Peter Bourgaut and Andrea Palat were hit during the match,” added by Frank Spinozzi…
One or more reinforcements before the end of the year?
The mini-break will allow the bodies to rest and repair, but not sure that everyone will be on the ice for the next game. “We have a very good medical staff”positive the coach.
However, he remains in search of one or even two offensive reinforcements, but he needs a locally trained player (JFL) because each team must present at least twelve out of its twenty players in D1. A profile that is not easy to find at the moment, as the transfer period ends on December 31. “I continue to work very hard on this and I keep my fingers crossed,” breathes Frank Spinozzi, who will therefore not really have an end-of-year vacation.
But he and his players can still celebrate (in moderation): second at the break, they already have a foot and a half in the play-offs, the first objective of the season.
