Two debuts for Fife Flyers this weekend as coach calls up Brits for training

Tom Coolen’s bid to shake up his team saw Ryan Foss arrive in Kirkcaldy on Thursday ahead of a debut away to Dundee Stars on Friday, and home to Guildford Flames on Saturday.

And he seems set to be joined by Latvian netminder Jānis Voris who joined the team at the end of September.

Coolen is of a mind to pitch the goalie into the action this weekend after giving him time to settle in. He seems set to give some respite to number one starter, Shane Owen, with Cameron Kenny as back-up.

Foss’ arrival is the first big addition this season and is unlikely to be the last as Coolen looks to add size to his roster as it battles through some early season injury issues.

Flyers go into the weekend action with three imports definitely out. Team captain Olivier LeBlanc is out, along with forwards Johnny Curran and Nikolai Shulga - the Kazakhstan import will hopefully be back in the mix for next weekend. Defenceman Patrick Kyte is listed as day to day as he recovers from a painful collision with the goals.

The absences bite deep into the squad’s depth - an issue that has concerned fans.

This week the team had two British skaters on the ice for training sessions. It gave the players a chance to show what they can do - and the coach an opportunity to assess them.

“I liked what I saw,” he said. “They can train with us and gave us depth in those sessions. It gives them a chance to improve their game too by training with the best players around and learning from them. It makes them focus and give their best - the jumped into our drills and were excited to be part of the sessions.” Whether they make any future jump to the bench on game nights remains to be seen - they are not the first Brits to lace up in the midweek sessions as the club looks at ways to find players able to add depth as Coolen looks ahead to his injury worries easing. The club can add players on two-way deals which don’t count under EIHL rules towards to roster total unless they play 20 games. Brodie Kay is already halfway to that benchmark with ten appearances this season.

Coolen is hoping Flyers will emerge from their injury hit run and get back on to an even keel, and back to winning ways.

“I see light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “I am happy with the core of our team, and a new guy coming in is good for them room - they know help is coming. I want us to get bigger and Ryan’s arrival is the first step towards that.”