Charlie Mosey: The player at very heart of Fife Flyers' success

The record books will show that newly-arrived Dan Correale scored the overtime goal that clinched victory for Fife Flyers on Sunday night.
Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)
Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)

But the strike which secured the point needed to land the Gardiner Conference came from Charlie Mosey.

It takes a special type of player to maintain focus when you know there’s silverware on the line and the clock shows just 16 seconds to play.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The puck drops. One second gone. You have 15 seconds left to think and move, to find the puck and guide it from stick to net, and write yourself into the club’s history.

Charley Mosey (Pic: Steve Gunn)Charley Mosey (Pic: Steve Gunn)
Charley Mosey (Pic: Steve Gunn)

How fitting that it was Mosey who delivered the golden game-tying goal that secured the point which got Fife over the finish line to win the conference and the first silverware of their Elite League era.

If any single player epitomises the spirit, the selflessness, the work ethic and the commitment of this team, then it’s the skater from Prior Lake, Minnesota.

Look up the phrase ’’unsung hero’’ in the dictionary – you’ll find his profile picture there.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He’s the guy who makes the team tick, who does whatever is needed on any game night.

Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)
Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)

On Sunday, that meant dropping back to the blue line to let Ian Young get patched up in the dressing-room. Had netminder Andy Iles also needed a breather, chances are Mosey would have been first to pick up his catching glove and step between the pipes.

Team players like Mosey are worth their weight in gold.

His Fife journey began on a three-week try out’contract, but, clearly, the coaching team saw something that interested them.

Jeff Hutchins, assistant coach, spoke of Mosey as ‘’a quiet leader’’ with a work ethic he felt would filter along the bench – a player who ‘’does a lot of the little things right and plays the game the right way.’’

Charley Mosey (Pic: Steve Gunn)Charley Mosey (Pic: Steve Gunn)
Charley Mosey (Pic: Steve Gunn)
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

That three-week try out quickly became a season-long deal, and, by mid-October, Todd Dutiaume, head coach, drew a parallel to another huge player, Russell Monteith, the club’s record breaking powerplay goalscorer and a key figure in Mark Morrison’s Grand Slam team.

Dutiaume shared the ice pad with Monty and saw his strength, his vision and how it was nearly impossible to get the better of him in the corners.

On the bench, he watched Mosey hunt down defenceman in the corners, win pucks regardless of how many players surrounded him, and make himself almost unplayable on the boards; the places where the dirty work has to be done to create the chances that win hockey games.

Monty and Mosey also shared another key strength – their discipline amid the mayhem of a hockey game.

Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)
Charlie Mosey, Fife Flyers (Pic: Steve Gunn)
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Both had the physical strength to ride the impact of big hits, but they also rarely responded in anger to the hackers and whackers who are well versed in the dark arts of stickwork and subtle flying elbows. Staying out the sin bin made them even more effective on the ice pad.

Mosey’s PIMs for the conference stand at a minuscule two minutes, while 36 league games have yielded just ten minutes. Monteith never broke double figures for PIMs during a regular season, and that included when he was given the traditional ‘’welcome to the UK’’ opening night roughing-up from Murrayfield Racers Paul Hand ...

Mosey has, in the words of Dutiaume, been ‘’a beast on the boards’’ and a major player at the very heart of a highly focussed hockey team which has played with a clear unity of purpose previous line-ups have aimed for only to fall short.

He’s certain of a special cheer when it comes his turn to raise the silverware this weekend.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As he does, one former Flyer across the Atlantic will have good reason to smile too.

It was Matt Reber who gave him the thumbs-up when Fife got in touch.

They’re both Darmouth College alumni from back home.

Reber’s endorsement of Fife was key to him making the same journey. He knew Mosey had what it took to be a hit with Fife fans, and that he’d love playing here.

‘’That was more than enough to get me hooked on the organisation,’’ Mosey said as his signing was announced last autumn.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A hockey season has all but flown past, almost as fast as Reber used to scorch down the ice.

If their paths cross back in Minnesota, the story of Mosey’s title-clinching goal is sure to be toasted all over again …

Related topics: