Bobby Smith isn’t letting a tough weekend at the Metro Centre discourage him.
The majority-owner-turned-head-coach suffered back-to-back losses on home ice, with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles embarrassing his Halifax Mooseheads 7-2 in front of a season-high crowd on Pink in the Rink night on Friday and the Saint John Sea Dogs winning a harder-fought 5-3 affair on Saturday.
Smith, who won his coaching debut last Tuesday, called Friday’s setback “very disappointing” but Saturday’s “less so.”
“We’re building something here,” Smith said, when asked if his confidence was shaken.
“We’ll get back at it this week in practice and Wednesday against Gatineau.”
Slow starts burned the Mooseheads both nights.
They came out listless against the Screaming Eagles, who had a 4-0 lead on separate two-goal outbursts in 12- and 13-second spans against beleaguered goalie Mathieu Corbeil.
The Sea Dogs, meanwhile, had a 2-0 lead midway through the first versus rookie goalie Anthony Terenzio.
“It’s not real easy playing from behind,” said Mooseheads defenceman Sawyer Hannay on Friday.
Smith said “it’s hard to say” what contributed to the slow starts, but added that Saturday’s game wasn’t “so bad” as Friday’s game.
“We had chances to get the first goal ourselves,” Smith said.
The Mooseheads are 5-11-1, last in the Maritime Division and tied for third last in the QMJHL.
