Fife Flyers new signing Sean Giles skates with team – late call on debut game

The 6ft 1 inch, 27-year old blueliner arrived in Kirkcaldy on Thursday and has had two skates with his new team-mates, but coach Tom Coolen may wait until closure to face-off before deciding when to throw him into the action.

Flyers face Dundee Stars in a re-arranged game at Fife Ice Arena tonight (Friday) with a 7:30pm face off and then travel west to take on Glasgow Clan on Saturday.

Giles hasn’t iced competitively this season, but comes to Flyers on the back of a hugely successful season into flight Slovakian League where he played with HC Prešov, and the coach expects him to be one of his top defencemen who can soak up the minutes.

“He has been skating back home and will be ready to go,” said Coolen. “My plan is to talk to him later in the day and see how he is feeling. If he feels good, he’ll go, if not we’ll look to Saturday, but I have the luxury of six defencemen to choose from - I may dress all six for warm up and then decide.”

Giles has been on Coolen’s radar and knew he was a free agent when he decided to move, with Adam Holwell being released to make way for him.

“He did very well in Slovakia in a very good league - he was top six scoring defenceman. Sean also played top minutes in all situations. He skates well and will be a big addition to the blueline.”

Giles may be new to British ice hockey, but he has iced with a number of players currently in the league including Flyers’ forward Ben Hawerchuck - they were team-mates with Jacksonville Icemen in the ECHL in 2021-22. That roster also featured Jake Elmer who is with Dundee Stars, and Luke Lynch at Glasgow Clan. Giles and Lynch were also team-mates at Robert Morris University.

The defenceman also also a team-mate with former Fife forward Jacob Benson and Stars’; Kyle Pouncy when he played with Knocksville IceBears in the SPHL in 2020-21