With games in hand and fixtures against Sheffield coming up, the Blaze can get right back in it and Thompson's counting on the Canadian defenceman and Swedish forward for a late-season shot of adrenaline.
“Blake Forsyth looks like the real deal,” Thompson said in an interview with skysports.com.
“He’s come in and been solid and steady and I’m happy with his contribution so far. He got the game-winner against Edinburgh this weekend so we can’t be disappointed at all.”
The Blaze don't appear to have fully recovered from losing the core of last year's team, especially defenceman Neal Martin. Corey LeClair had the unenviable task of filling Martin's skates, and made way for Forsyth to come in, although Jon Coleman guested on the blueline for a while. Now with LeClair and Coleman having provided a buffer between him and Martin, maybe Forsyth can help Blaze fans finally forget.
After replacing underperforming forward Scott Kelman with Hjalmarsson, Thompson is pleased to see something in the Swede that he hasn't seen all season in his current squad.
“He’s been out with an injury for three months and is only three games back in,” Thompson added.
“He’s a little short on fitness, but I saw glimpses of things he can do which we don’t currently have on the roster. We’ll work hard with him over the next week to get his fitness levels up.”
With the Blaze playing four of their next six games against top four opposition, it won't take long to figure out just how good they are.
Coming soon on elite hockey today: We hear from Andy French, the EIHL's Director of Hockey, as he discusses discipline, rivalry and the playoffs.
