Captain's Corner - Mountain Cats, mindset, team consistency

Each week during the 2012-13 season, Metro Jets’ captain Matt Stirling will give his thoughts on topics surrounding the team as it makes its way through the North American 3 Hockey League grind.

-- On getting swept at home last weekend by Michigan.

It was a tough pill to swallow losing to Michigan twice last weekend. I thought we played well, but it obviously wasn’t enough to win the games. I thought we played well in the first game and really should have won that game, but their goalie (Spencer Craig) was on top of his game.

-- On his expectations this weekend at home against Cleveland and Toledo.

We just go back to work this week and try to figure out a way to get the wins this weekend. The points are necessary for us to make the playoffs and we’ll do everything possible to get the four points.

-- On his mindset at this point of the season as captain.

The mindset here is that as we enter the final third of the season, we need to get on a roll to make the playoffs. The last few weeks have not been very good and we need to find a way to get back into the win column. We need to start with one win and build from there. With wins in the next couple of weekends, we then can evaluate where we are in the standings and go from there.

-- On consistency within the team.

The most consistent part of the team this season is the development of some of the younger guys. The way some of the rookies play now compared to the beginning of the season is much improved and that can only help us down the road. Guys like Myles Burrough, Thomas Evans, Brad Hepler, Zack MacKay and Brian Ziola have made great strides in their play that has helped the team down the road here.