Fife Flyers: fighting goalies and why a player was banned for spearing in the rammy

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Fife Flyers may have emerged pointless from the weekend, but there were talking points, and positives, galore - and the message of playing for the full 60 minutes came through loud and clear.

Both Johnny Curran and Adam Keefe, head coach of Belfast Giants, re-iterated it after Fife’s 7-5 loss on home ice on Saturday night; a game which ended with an ultra rare fight between the goalies as players clashed at the final buzzer.

Two goals in the opening period put Belfast Giants in complete control, and they were cruising to a win by the half hour mark as they carved out a 5-1 lead.

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But they were caught out by Flyers’ third period revival and were almost taken to overtime as Fife roared back to tie the game with just minutes to play.

The start of the rammy at the end of the game (Pic: Derek Young)The start of the rammy at the end of the game (Pic: Derek Young)
The start of the rammy at the end of the game (Pic: Derek Young)

Two late, late goals finally sealed the result for Belfast but the game ended with a scrum which saw netminder Jackson Whistle in the thick of things, prompting Flyers’ netminder Janis Voris to race up the ice and fight with him. That led to an automatic one gamer ban for the Latvian as he instigated the fight within the final five minutes.

Kieran Craig also found himself with a one-game ban for spearing during the same melee - although no such penalty appears on the game sheet.

EIHL’s Department of Player Safety (DOPs) said he made a spearing motion at the Giants netminder who had come in to confront him. It ruled he had made contact with Whistle’s helmet. DOPS statement said: “It is important to note that what causes this play to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is the intent. Whilst we acknowledge the spear was not forceful, there is still a risk of injury due to the contact in the helmet/head area.”

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Both Voris and Craig were suspended for Sunday’s road trip to face Coventry Blaze.

Janis Voris and Kieran Craig were both hit with one game bans (Pic: Derek Young)Janis Voris and Kieran Craig were both hit with one game bans (Pic: Derek Young)
Janis Voris and Kieran Craig were both hit with one game bans (Pic: Derek Young)

When the dust settled, Flyers’ interim coach described the night as a”tale of two teams.”

Curran said: “At times we looked like we were not ready to play or compete, Other times we showed we were ready to battle. Looking forward we want to be the team that started the third.” Giants’ coach Keefe admitted he was glad it was over after watching his title-chasing team almost lose precious points in the title race.

The lesson he took from the night - “You have to play the full 60 minutes.You have to be prepared,m things can turn quickly. This was a dead in the water game, Fife looked like they wanted to go home, but we gave them some life and it almost headed into OT. The crowd got into it and our guys didn’t handled that well.”

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