Fife Flyers: Michael Courts on a farewell dram with players, and dream of building his own team

The whole team raised a glass before returning to the ice rink in Kirkcaldy where they stayed in their dressing-room to savour the final moments together.

Michael Courts brought the curtain down on his stint as interim court by taking the bottle of whisky from the coach’s office - opened only after a home win - and offering everyone a dram. It was a special moment with the buzz of a standing ovation from the travelling fans still fresh in their memories.

On the bench, players had joked about taking a bow, to emulate Stars coach Marc Lefebvre’s gesture to all four corners of the Fife rink after a pre-season friendly win which ignited the old rivalry for another season.

But the moment was one to share with their own fans.

Courts admits he’s watched the video of the moment more than once since the final buzzer sounded on a season that saw him step into the lead role following the resignation of head coach Jamie Russell as off-ice problems engulfed the club.

He was in charge for 12 games, but discounts the first two as they were conducted in a haze of upheaval as he went from assistant coach on Friday to being in charge as the team bus headed to Cardiff the following morning.

While fans keyed in on his lack of a hockey CV - he played reccie - his route into the sport was via data and video analysis, working with several coaches whose mentorship he rates as invaluable.

He also came into hockey with a military training which helped put the rinkside pressures in perspective. Courts, from Lochgelly, joined the Black Watch straight from school, saw the world, and served two tours to Afghanistan where he was injured in 2011, to the extent he had to learn to walk again.

The world of motorsport opened up, first racing karts with Kartforce, the UK's leading charity in team endurance racing for injured troops, and then graduating to racing cars via Rory Butcher at Knockhill. He raced for BMW, Mazda and Jaguar, but hockey called him back.

“I went to a Flyers’ game with my son who was about four and he said he wanted to play, so I taught myself how to skate again. I started playing reccie and got back into it as motorsport fizzled out around 2016. I had to concentrate on skating. I know I want to do and my brain knows too, but after my injuries I had to really focus on skating.”

Playing reccie led to a conversation with Jeff Hutchins, who worked with Todd Dutiaume at the helm of Flyers’organisation, and a move into financial services with the Canadian.

When Hutchins stepped aside and Tom Coolen took over, the team had a gap in its data analysis - Courts stepped in, working with the veteran as he made hockey fun again in Kirkcaldy.

That led to a move over the Tay to do a similar job for Marc Lefebvre at Dundee Stars last season before returning to work with Russell at the start of Flyers’ new era as the league embraced the world of data analysis in sport. He is in no doubt their guidance got him through his first stint as interim head coach.

“I cannot under value how massive Jamie Russell was and how much I learned from him,” he said, “His knowledge is incredible. He came into a league he didn’t know and with an assistant coach learning to cut his teeth - all credit to him. He was brilliant, I could not have done it without working under him to begin with. The time spent with Marc and Jamie - without it, I wouldn’t have coped.”

Data sits at the heart of his decisions on how Fife lined up, but Courts insisted it was a team effort with two strong dressing-room deputies in Garet Hunt and Milan Lucic.

It can break down plays line by line and player by player, and show them hope even the smallest of adjustments can have a key improvement on their game.

“Data and video analysis reinforces decision making,” he said. “At Dundee we started drilling down and analysing scoring chances - a certain shot has value in that it can create a goal, but it also shows if we move a few inches it can be higher. A guy coming in to block a shot is aiming his skate pads at your stick. If you shift even slightly, that makes a huge difference to the chance.

“I can’t approach guys saying I have 25 years experience in the sport, but the data tells me if they do ‘this’ then they can be more successful The guys respect the information - this generation has grown up with it.”

Having Hunt, the defacto team leader in the dressing room, and former NHL-er Lucic backing up that message was also crucial in keeping the team as upbeat as possible in the run-in.

“I could not have done it without Garet and Looch - they are huge, huge players who helped so much. All I had to do was chat about systems I wanted to try and they implemented them. Garet was the leader from day one. That’s why Jamie brought him here.

"When Looch spoke, everyone stopped and listened. Sometimes it’d be to point out simple things - he wanted D-men to rip the puck at the net, not drop it in, so we got big rebounds.”

The record books will show Fife finished tenth for a second successive season, but the stats don’t begin to tell the full story of what the team went through - and, despite all the adversity, Courts is keen to taste more of life as a head coach.

“When I took over I wanted the guys to keep playing for each other and for the jersey, and they did. I asked them for more after the loss in Glasgow and got it – that was the first time I gave it to them and the room went quiet!

“As assistant coach there is no real risk. If things go pear shaped it is on the head coach - my job was to implement and support his vision. In that respect Jamie carried all the pressure,” said Courts. “My plan was to do four or five seasons as an assistant and see what opportunities are out there. Jamie left me a good team - I’d love to see what I could do with a team that I build.

“We have something here and I’d love to carry on. You saw over the last few weeks of the season the style of hockey I want to play and which can work here for this team, and the fans will buy into it. We have the right players lined up and the right players we want back. We have something here.”

The week coming to an end has given Courts some welcome down time after stepping into a role that became 24/7 as he dealt with the team and helped to keep the off ice issues at bay.

With the first players already home, he has had messages of thanks from them, simply strengthening his desire to step up as a head coach if the chance arises. “Got your back,” one of them simply said.

And that bottle of whisky?

The original bottle brought in by Courts was drained some time ago, with a second one handed in. He had one in reserve to make sure everyone got a chance to raise a glass and toast a farewell to season 2025-26. It’s unlikely they will experience another like it ...