Fife Flyers: Tom Coolen heads home to Canada with farewell message for fans

Johnny Curran heads off for a holiday on Wednesday, 24 hours after his predecessor Tom Coolen takes his leave of the Lang Toun.

Coolen was axed as head coach in late December as the club came perilously close to losing its place in the league amid a mounting injury crisis and departing players, but has remained in town finalising his business with the club.

And he leaves with a heartfelt thank you to the fans who made him and his wife Jane so welcome.

Coolen’s arrival in Fife for the 2024-25 season created a buzz rinkside that had been missing for some time as he moulded a hard-working fast skating team which made the play-offs for the first time in five seasons.

Hopes of further progress this season collapsed amid injuries, a short bench which skated itself into the ground, and a Kazakh experiment which just didn’t work - the four players had all gone by the time Coolen was removed from the bench and replaced by Johnny Curran, the player he saw as a key summer signing that he then lost to a season ending injury even before the campaign was in full flight.

He admitted he loved his time in Fife - and “memories of the good times and the bad; the ups and downs. All part of being a coach and a player in the organisation.” “Much the same for the life of a Flyers fan!” he added.

Regardless of how it ended, Coolen looked back on his time in Fife with warmth.

“Memories include the great encouragement of the fans though thick and thin,” he said. “From January of last year until the end of last season we were over .500. We put people in the seats, and at home we beat every team in the league,.

“We were competitive almost every night and lost in the play-offs to overall champions Sheffield Steelers. That is nothing to hang our heads over. We made the play-offs for the first time in five years. I was proud and felt we had it moving in the right direction.”

That progress came to a shuddering halt from the start of this season. Veteran forward Martin Latal was out with concussion - the result of a collision in warm up before a challenge game - for six weeks before quitting, the Kazakhs brought skill but were clearly too timid for UK hockey, and four became two and then none, while Austin Farley was out injured as Curran’s season was curtailed within half a dozen games.

Roster limits meant Coolen had burned four spots on his Kazakhs and only had limited room to move. He brought in Ryan Foss to get size into the line up - he got that but not much production - and then Massimo Carozza and Jordy Stallard while a poorly under-performing Drake Pilon bailed before Christmas.

“Injuries, departures, the depleted under-manned lineups for far longer than usual took a physical and psychological toll on the players and team,” he said. “We had talent, but for far too many games we were under-staffed. We needed additional quality depth. The team needed more bodies - simple as that.”

Axed as head coach, Coolen has remained in Kirkcaldy sorting out his affairs with the club while his wife has taught figure skating at the rink - “she has loved the experience.”

He said: “I am returning to Canada shortly and wanted to thank everyone, especially the fans,” he said. “We will sadly leave the Kingdom of Fife, but with warm memories of our time here.”