Fife Flyers: Jeff Hutchins reveals team goals on eve of new ice hockey season

The optimism of autumn has removed the shadows of last season’s grim tenth placed finish as a new look, bigger, more experienced side hits the ice.

And after the shortest of pre-seasons, it all starts in earnest this weekend with two games in the Challenge Cup.

Flyers head west to face Glasgow Clan on Friday night, and then entertain Dundee Stars at Fife Ice Arena on Saturday - and they are looking for a winning start in a bid to nail goal number one of the new campaign; qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition.

It’s one of several targets set to rekindle the team’s standing in the EIHL after a tough return from lockdown.

A play-off place? “Non negotiable” said Jeff Hutchins, associate coach.

“We have to be in the top eight, and with the team we have, we can achieve that,”

“Top five - that’s the goal we should be aiming for.”

There is no doubt that the process of change has been started behind the scenes.

Roles have been re-aligned, and the circle around the dressing-room has a sharper focus - all with the aim of icing a team that challenges, wins and entertains.

“Off the ice we are getting stronger,” said Hutchins.

“We can’t change everything overnight, and there may be gaps in what we can do compared with other teams, but we have the right people involved and motivated to push things forward.

“There is a more cohesive circle around the room - and that is not a criticism of people who have gone before.”

There is a strong Scandinavian presence in the dressing-room too, but the nationalities were not foremost in the coaches’ minds when they set out to recruit.

Hutchins explained: “The key is who do you want, and what do they bring to the team.

“It doesn’t matter so much where they come from - they have a role to fill and we have to want them.

“The guys we signed are the people we wanted to come here, they wanted to be part of the team.

“We knew we were not making the play offs last season, and we had to change. We had to identify the guys we wanted to come back and put a vision to them of where we were going next.

“We identified a core of five guys we wanted back, and we got three of them.”That trio included Swedish blue liner Jonas Emmerdahl along with Lawrence, and all-star goalie Shane Owen.

Emmerdahl proved to be a go-to guy for the lowdown on Fife as the team built up its Swedish and Finnish contingent,

“Jonas is unique,” said Hutchins. “He has played in two teams which didn’t make the play-offs but he came back motivated to do things right.

“His return was not a certain conclusion. He rightly wanted a commitment from us as to where the club was going to turn things round. He felt we had the pieces in place, and that gave him the confidence to return.”

Flyers had aimed for a four-game pre-season, but plans to bring a Danish side to Kirkcaldy fell through as the costs involved escalated - but the coaches have been pleased with the opening skates in games against Glasgow Clan and Dundee Stars.

“There is a buzz at the start of every season,” said Hutchins, “That comes from being organised as well - you don;t want to feel you’re on the back foot which we have done for the last couple of seasons.

“We feel we are better prepared than we have been.”

“Our first goal is to make the next round of the Challenge Cup, so the next month is so important tor us.

“We also want that winning edge to our game from the start. It’s good for the mentality.

“I think the Scottish challenge will be pretty good this year.

“We played a good game against Clan, we have a big enough team this year that won;t be pushed around, and we have the better netminder.

“Clan have firepower and a couple of mistakes from us saw them put the puck in the net. That needs to be ironed out.

“But it was a pretty good test to see what we are up against”

Hopes are high the Flyers-Clan rivalry will be rekindled again this season, while games against Stars are likely to be just as competitive - with little between the sides.

For Fife, the goal is to aim higher and set the scene for the autumn and winter months ahead.

Added Hutchins: “We feel positive about this group. They are seasoned pros for the most part. The have played the game to a decent level and understand what the job involves.

“Their attitude has been fantastic, “