Fife Flyers: building a new team & a new buzz about ice hockey under Tom Coolen

This autumn, everything about Fife Flyers feels new; a new coach, a completely new-look team, and a new sense of enthusiasm among a fan base that has struggled to square its aspirations with the product on the ice, post lockdown.

“It’s good to see a buzz about this team” said one off-ice team member recently as the latest signing announcements sparked a positive thumbs-up across social media - a platform that has seen criticism and frustration rain down on the club for too long.

Flyers are not a club that changes tack very often. The days of switching coaches every season or two ended when Mark Morrison grabbed the club by the scruff of the neck and shook not just new life, but a new era, into it.

Tom Coolen arguably has the same challenge ahead after stepping into the role of head coach. The phrase ‘a new era’ has started to seep into the clubs comms - a statement underlined with each and every signing as new face after new face has been unveiled.

Flyers’ fans will have spent a chunk of their summer scouring hockey databases for players’ stats, and searching YouTube for footage of them in action to get a sense of how they might fit in.

The roster is certainly within touching distance of completion. Eight forwards, five defencemen and a netminder leave him with one more import berth to complete his quota of 15.

His challenge remains finding British skaters to beef up the depth of his squad to ensure it can handle injuries and suspensions and any individual dips in form. He can have five. So far only James Spence is on board on a two-way deal with Kirkcaldy Kestrels.

The club’s home-based strength and depth - or lack of it - has been evident since the first group which stepped up at the start of the EIHL era started to drift into retirement. Flyers never did nurture the next batch of Tommy Muirs, Chris Wands, Josh Scoons and Stephen Gunns, and the gulf between the top flight and SNL makes the option of a move to the expanding NIHL a more feasible option for many.

That core can be the difference between three and four line hockey, but it’s a conundrum which may not be fully solved until the coach lands in the country later this month.

Reece Cochrane and Bari McKenzie were the two Brits who got regular ice time - injury pushed Spence to the sidelines for a long spell, while Fynn Page rode the pine before going to Solway Sharks for experience and ice time. The team’s home grown identify also remains important to a huge part of the fan base, even if the days when Flyers iced more Brits than imports, and won championships, belong in the days of the BNL.

There is still time yet to make additions to the squad, but, thus far, the fans have given the changes a solid thumbs-up. The proof will be what it does on the ice. Can it deliver the firepower it lacked last season? Can it find that winning streak to stack the points and embed itself higher up the league standings? And how will it look deep into the campaign come the turn of the year?

In his most recent interview with Flyers TV, Coolen spoke of his aims, and they were straight forward: “I want to compete every night. I don't care who we play.”

He has promised speed among his forwards, and more physicality in defence where he is looking at four imports standing six-four - “big and mobile at the back end” is his plan.

His side includes some hugely experienced skaters and a cluster of guys ready to step up and show what they can do. Several are championship or trophy winners for good reason - “they want to be the best and won’t settle for not being as good as they can possibly be” said Coolen.

On paper it’s looking good, and there’s a nice buzz ahead of rekindling hockley nights at Fife Ice Arena.

One man, who knows the club inside out, watching on social media has certainly been impressed. On the capture of Memorial Cup winning defenceman Adam Holwell he tweeted “that’s a nice signing” and on the unveiling of Ben Hawerchuck, he reckoned “Fife will love this guy!”

And if they are good enough to merit Mark Morrison’s endorsement, well that’ll more than do for the fans.