Northland Men are on the hunt for two wins this weekend after a disappointing start to their 2010 National Hockey League campaign.
They will be without Australian import Troy Sutherland who broke his arm in round one after he collided with an Auckland player, but the side had recruited another New
South Wales striker, Josh Miller, Northland skipper Sam Webb said.
"Troy just thought it was minor until he had his arm X-rayed ... we have asked him to came back to be our assistant coach for us which he may or may not do. Everyone is pretty excited to have the new Aussie with us ... he was just picked for the Australia A side and he's pretty good."
Miller could be one solution to Northland's struggle to convert their opportunities following their first two NHL clashes against Auckland and North Harbour last weekend.
Northland suffered a thwarting 7-0 loss to Auckland on Saturday, in a game which didn't go their way and where the team just didn't click, Webb said.
"We were pretty disappointed with how we went against Auckland ... we had a lot of chances in the first half and is we had converted one of those, it would have been a very different match."
On Sunday, Northland trailed North Harbour 3-0 at halftime, before getting a rev-up at the break. They turned the game around and played some classy hockey but could not close the gap enough, losing 4-2.
Webb and his Northland teammates are hoping for a different story on the weekend, with a side Webb believed was good enough to compete with any team in the league, when they face Central tomorrow and Midlands who finished third last year, on Sunday.
Northland men hit off against Central at 11.30am tomorrow and at 3.30pm against Midlands on Sunday, at North Harbour Hockey Stadium.
