Fife Flyers: four games in seven days with key players sidelined
Fife Flyers lace up tonight (Wednesday) at the start of a hectic spell of four games in seven days with two key players still on the sidelines.
Jamie Russell’s team take on Nottingham Panthers at Fife Ice Arena this evening (Wednesday, October 15, 7;30pm) before a weekend double header with Belfast Giants, taking the total number of times the teams have met this season to six.
Flyers travel to Belfast on Saturday on league duty, returning to Fife Ice Arena for the return on Sunday night (5:00pm) with four points up for grabs. The hectic schedule concludes with a visit from Dundee Stars in the Challenge Cup on Wednesday 22nd.
Winger and key goalscorer Johan Porsberger is likely to miss tonight’s game and is listed as day to day, while Justin Ducharme is still out as he works his way back to fitness after an early injury took him out of the line-up.
Those absences have meant a juggle of the lines and players being asked to step into different roles, and the coach admits results have been tough.
“We are a hard working, physical team, and when you are short handed it is hard to play that way,” Russell said. “We have 18-19 year old kids who are being thrown in - they are still learning and we will get the dividends from that as the season goes on - and we have guys playing first line for the first time and guys who normally get one or two shifts doing much more.” Russell says his team has to handle the momentum of games better, regardless of the absences.
“We are struggling to find the back of the net just now,” he said, “We can’t score our way out of mistakes, so we have to have more mature game management, handle turnovers and get better controlling the momentum. That’s on me.”
Russell was frustrated by the weekend’s tough results - a 7-2 loss to Guildford and a 6-0 shut out in Belfast.
“We had one of our best periods of hockey in the first against Guildford,” he said. “It was a huge let down to start the second with a penalty - we had talked about the logistics between periods and getting the guys on the ice in time and still found a way to screw it up.
“That was the most frustrating period for me. We conceded on the powerplay, the second goal went through and off a defenceman, and the third was a penalty shot. For that to happen one-two-three was tough. It has been a long time since I have seen that.”
He accepts his team are struggling to find the net with Porserberger and Ducharme out of the line-up, putting more pressure on the forwards soaking up additional ice time in back to back games.
“Everyone has elevated up the lines to cover,” he said. “It’s also a learning process for a lot of the guys who are new to the UK hockey. Other than Shane, Jonas, Drew and Keaton, none have played in this league and it is understanding the style of hockey, the travel, and playing back to back, how the schedule works, and how games are reffed.”