Davies: Staying at Stingrays was an easy decision
ICE HOCKEY
MATTY Davies says he had no hesitation in agreeing a new one-year deal to stay at Hull Stingrays for the 2013-14 season.
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Matty Davies has decided to stay at Hull Stingrays
The 23-year-old Hull-born forward has enjoyed a stand-out season, racking up seven goals and 36 assists as one of the Elite League's top British points scorers.
That scoring record has tempted coach Sylvain Cloutier to extend Davies' stay into a fifth season, along with fellow returnees Jereme Tendler and netminder Ben Bowns.
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Davies said: "Truthfully it wasn't a tough decision as I've always said I wanted to play for Stingrays.
"It's not just because I'm local and it means something to me, I just like where the club has come from since Sylvain joined it.
"I think we have progressed every season and a lot of people understand that.
"It's been hard this season because Bobby McEwan is in his first year as owner, but I think it looks promising for the future.
"I just want to keep building on my own career and keep helping the club to build."
Stingrays have struggled to land experienced British players over the years, as they tend to gravitate towards the Elite League's bigger clubs.
And Cloutier will be particularly delighted to have Davies signed up, having acknowledged a lack of experienced Brits undermined Stingrays' early-season efforts.
"Matty's one of our key core guys and wears the Stingrays' shirt with pride, so he was one of the priorities to get signed up," said Cloutier.
"He has developed well as a player and can put numbers up for us, and we expect him to do that again next season.
"We've been together here for four years and he's comfortable with me as coach so it was an easy decision on my part to invite him back again."
Davies' Rapid Solicitors Stingrays have just four games left to book their place in the Elite League play-offs.
They are one point adrift of the top eight, but still top the Gardiner Conference.
If they win their Conference they are assured of automatic qualification, as either second or third seeds.
However, to stand any chance of doing so, they must beat Dundee in Scotland on Sunday. A win over Cardiff in Hull on Saturday is also vital.
"I'm very confident we can do it," said Davies, who helped Stingrays reach the semi-finals last season.
"If we can get those two wins against Cardiff and Dundee we will put ourselves in a great position going into the final weekend."
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