Fife Flyers: short benched and shut out – coach looks for re-inforcements

They hosted Belfast Giants at Fife Ice Arena and went down 7-0 in front of just 786 fans - their smallest crowd of the season. With school holidays underway and Raith Rovers hosting Hearts for Ross Matthews’ testimonial match, the rink was missing more than a few regulars.

For those who turned up, it was a long, difficult night with Giants 3-0 up and out of sight by the end of the first period as they took their chances, and Flyers did not. Seven different players found the net in a game that was always going to be a huge ask for a Fife side minus several imports.

Post-game, Tom Coolen, head coach, hinted at reinforcements to get his team back on track after a rocky start to the league which has yielded just one win in five starts.

“Bottom line is we are just so short staffed right now,” he said. “I need to find a way to get reinforcements and get some help. We can’t do that from the outside, we have to help ourselves within and find a way to get it - that’s basically it.” Coolen can only make two import changes to stick within this year’s rules on rosters unless players are put on the Injury Reserve (IR) list to bring in cover - and if they are, it means they are sidelined for three months, effectively leaving them in the stands until mid January. Last season IR was set at 28 days.

“This is the toughest, most depressed time I have gone through as a coach,” said Coolen. “Injuries mean we can’t show our best - we can’t put best foot forward. We need our defencemen on the back end and our three lines back. When guys are banged up it makes it that much tougher - you can’t do it the way you want to.”

Flyers have little time to lick their wounds as they travel to Wales to face Cardiff Devils on Friday - their only game of this weekend.

“We have a week until we play again and I am hoping we get some of our guys back,” said Coolen. “I’m hoping new faces are in, we reinforce our club and away we go again.”