‘Hausinger hat-trick’ put Christian Hausinger into Fife Flyers’ record books

Short-benched and battered by injuries, the club shifted bluer liner Christian Hausinger on to the wing, and he delivered a remarkable hat-trick in a 4-4 draw with Dundee Stars to set up a winner takes all return leg in Kirkcaldy next week.

And it emerged later that it was the first hat-trick from a Fife defenceman in any competition in the club’s EIHL era which now spans over a decade of hockey.

“It’s nice to get my name in the record books,” he said. “It’s a big milestone - one I’ll never forget. It makes my time here all the more special.”

And while the match puck didn’t find its way into his kit bag - “no-one grabbed it!” he laughed - he could look back on a huge result for a team which only iced 13 skaters, and was still able to dig deep in the middle of an injury crisis.

There’s every chance he could be deployed again as a winger this weekend if Flyers’ injuries don’t recede.

“It was at Nottingham I played the last ten minutes on the wing,” he said.

“We had a few forwards out, and I think Chris (Lawrence) was in the box when we were five or six up. I looked over to the coaches and said we’ve got seven d-men back here and if they needed someone to play wing to give the guys a break I’d go there.

“I guess I must have done alright! We played Glasgow the next night, and lost two forwards in the opening ten minutes. Jeff (Hutchins) came across the bench after I’d finished a shift and said they needed me to play forward.

“Right now, I thought? There’s two and a half periods to go! I wasn’t sure I was cut out for that but I understood we were short and accepted the role.”

He also found the net against Clan, quickly adapting to a new set of circumstances.

“New positioning, new routes - it is quite different,” he said. “I played forward when I was 13 years old - it’s a whole different ball game at pro level, but it’s important to help the team as much as possible.

“I’m a lot more comfortable as a defenceman but if I need to be called on to go on the wing, I’ll do it.”

Hausinger’s hat-trick almost overshadowed the goalscoring debut of new signing Liam Blackburn.

The 26-year old Canadian forward had one training session with his new team-mates after arriving in town 25 hours earlier, and more than made his mark against Stars, netting Fife’s second goal.

“He played well and fitted in right away,” said Hausinger. “It was nice for Liam to get an goal early on - that always helps with any nerves coming into a new league where you don’t know what to expect and have to learn the speed and style of the game.

“He made an immediate impact and that was a big boost for the team.”