Jeff Hutchins: Why we limit ice time for young Brits at Fife Flyers

Why, when the team is short-benched, do the young Brits not get a regular shift?

Kirkcaldy junior development graduates Reece Cochrane, Chad Smith and Calum Robertson were all used very sparingly, if it all, over the weekend despite Flyers missing four players, three in defence.

It meant imports double-shifting, but assistant coach Jeff Hutchins explained that the youngsters, all of whom are still in their teens, are just not yet ready for the regular demands of the Elite League.

Speaking specifically about Cochrane's limited ice time over the weekend, Hutchins explained: "People have to understand it's a small sample size of the game, and with more ice time comes more opportunity to make mistakes and be exposed.

"It's very careful insertions, just knowing what the other line-up is and whether we're in the offensive zone, or a defensive zone draw.

"We take careful consideration because the last thing we want to do is crush a guy's confidence and put him in a situation where he's destined to fail.

"Reece is coming along, but the message for all those guys is that it's a process and it's not going to be a one-year thing. You won't wake up one morning and be an Elite League player.

"It's a process, and the physical and off-ice stuff is massive for those guys. If you want to play at this level you need to have the bodies of guys at this level, and they don't have that yet.

"They also have to think about the game. It's a lot more than just putting your skates on and going out there.

"There's a lot of systematic tangibles in the game that they have to figure out that don't exist at the SNL level.

"Reece did well for the limited minutes he got and it would've been great if Bulmer had buried that goal he set him up on.

"He had a couple of shifts on Sunday in Dundee and did very well, but it was about carefully putting him into spots, where you limit the opportunities for mistakes."

Hutchins believes that, given time, the youngsters can become regular EIHL players, if they follow their coaches advice.

"These are teenagers playing against 30-plus men and there's a big gap," he said.

"It's not the 80s where a 17-year-old playing against men was the same skill level. It's just not.

"So be patient. The worst thing you can do at 17 is burn a guy out, let him make a bunch of mistakes, lose the love of the game, and just quit. It's a fine balance."

Hutchins accepts that it can be difficult to get the message across to both a fan-base keen to see local talent on the ice, and young players themselves eager to play.

"The problem in a smaller hockey town like this is the outside influences on a player," he said.

"When everyone is saying they should in the line-up, it's hard to filter that out, and you start believing it.

"Instead of trusting your coaches who have a plan for you, and have gone through that plan for you, you start listening to people that don't have a plan for you, and are just about the here and now.

"If we put Reece out against a Jacob Doty or some of the bigger boys, and he goes back for a puck, and someone hits him normally and busts him up, that might be his career done.

"I know there's a lot of calls to make sure he's playing more, and he deserves his opportunity. He'll get his opportunity - he's only 17."

Hutchins believes that the 14-import structure of the EIHL has resulted in a lack of opportunities for youngsters to play at the top level.

It was a situation head coach Dutiaume warned of when he spoke out against the increased import quota back in 2014 (click here for article).

"How many GB players at 20-years-old are playing in the starting nine in the EIHL?" Hutchins said. "There's not any.

"It's not a Fife thing, or holding these guys back. They're just not physically or mentally ready at the moment.

"That's why the plan is training, off-ice development, mental development, and being ready to play to have an impact, rather than just being thrust into it and fizzing out because you're not ready and have been pushed too quickly.

"It's not football where you can put guy in at 17 and he can go run around and his energy will take him through. That's not the way it is.

"We've had those discussions with the guys too. You can leave and go somewhere else if you think there's more opportunity, but there's no opportunities that are any different than here.

"Glasgow have a couple of young guys who get a handful of shifts, not even that some games. It's the nature of the beast.

"We might be talking a different story if we had 10 imports in this league and you can fit them in comfortably because everyone has an understanding that when the other team's third line goes out, your third line goes out.

"They do it in Austria and Denmark, where they have an understanding between coaches and it revolves around development. But that's not the league we're operating in.

"There's a fine line between development and winning. If we put all our kids out for 25 minutes a game, and we were sitting below Milton Keynes would that be acceptable? Probably not.

"We only hope that the young guys buy into what we're doing, and the timelines, and they don't want all their just eats right now.

"There is a future, there is a progression, but you have to buy into it.

"We have a good core built around a guy like Bari McKenzie.

"If we could get our British guys up to his level in terms of his enthusiasm, knowledge, work ethic, and interaction with the fans in the next three to four years then you have a good base to build your team every year.

"Then you start getting a couple of import guys that you can bring back for two or three years in a row, and you feel confident when you go into the summer knowing what you have as a core.

"I don't think we've had that for a few years. We had guys that transitioned out of the SNL into the EIHL, basically by default, and had to adjust.

"A lot them did very well, but the league was different when they started. It was 10 imports so they had to play, and the level of import was lower.

"It's a bigger transition for these young kids now to get into the top league than it was seven years ago.

"There's no eye for development from a league point of view, that's why it's at 14 imports."