Fife Flyers’ challenge to create a new British core to compete on level  terms

It underlined the lack of depth coach Tom Coolen referenced last week - a shortcoming that may yet determine how this season concludes - and the irony of Durham-born Ben O’Connor firing the winning goal for Guildford Flames wasn’t lost on fans rinkside.

The days when Flyers teams were packed with local talent belong, sadly, to the history books. A generation of fans who flocked here during the sport’s Heineken era had a direct connection to the Cottrells, Lattos, Kings, and Haigs, and grew up with guys like Neil Able, Les Millie, Dean Edmiston, and David Smith to namecheck but a few. The 1990s era saw young players such as Andy Samuel, Tich Dingwall, Daryl Venters and Lee Mercer all make an impact on the BNL as Mark Morrison threw them into a line up led by some outstanding imports; one which built to a peerless Grand Slam season.

But, to put that into perspective, that was almost 25 years ago. The sport they were part of is as far removed from the EIHL as the BNL was from the Northern League of the 1960s.

Flyers began their Elite League journey in 2011-12 with no fewer than 14 home based skaters. They outnumbered the imports, underlining just how has changed in a relatively short period of time. Some didn’t make the transition, but those who did formed the core of the squad across the next four to five seasons, giving Flyers the depth Coolen desperately needs right now. They also had to play as the import quota was capped at ten.

But, the club has never found the next Chris Wands, Tommy Muir, Josh Scoon, Stephen Gunn, Kyle Horne of Jamie Wilson from within its own ranks - something that gnaws away at many long standing fans.

As the gulf between EIHL and SNL has increased season by season - the quality of the hockey in the top flight is probably greater than ever right now - Flyers have looked elsewhere and drafted in a host of Brits, but players such as Sam Jones, and the experienced Craig Peacock stayed just one season, while Jordan Buesa had two campaigns with minimal points returns. Only Bari McKenzie was a regular returnee over four seasons before moving into the NIHL.

With each passing season, the British core has faltered as imports have increased, both in quality and quantity. It was interesting to revisit a 2019 interview with Jeff Hutchins, former associate coach with Flyers, who addressed the very issue under pressure from fans frustrated as seeing British players benched while imports double shifted.

"It's not the 80s where a 17-year-old playing against men was the same skill level. It's just not,” he said. “We take careful consideration because the last thing we want to do is crush a guy's confidence and put him in a situation where he's destined to fail.

“It's not going to be a one-year thing. You won't wake up one morning and be an Elite League player. It's a process, and the physical and off-ice stuff is massive for those guys. If you want to play at this level you need to have the bodies of guys at this level, and they don't have that yet. They also have to think about the game. It's a lot more than just putting your skates on and going out there.”

Five seasons on and Flyers find themselves in the exact same position once again. Coolen has given Spence his chance, and dropped Kay into the line up a couple of times, with Page yet to find his slot as a forward or defenceman. The names may have changed but the problem remains the same – how to nurture young talent, let it make and learn from mistakes made, and develop it as a key component of the roster.

And the huge ice time being soaked up by players only underlines how important that depth is if Flyers are to compete on level terms going forward.