Marcus determined to make a mark with Fife Flyers

The 25-year-old Canadian signed on a trial period at the Fife Ice Arena after the long-term injury to Chase Schaber left the club short of fire power.

Basara was a free agent after being released by Manchester Storm in only his second year as a full-time player, having played in the Canadian East Coast Hockey League last season.

He said: “I’ve been really enjoying myself. The guys and the whole organisation have been great. They’ve taken me in and it’s been a great experience so far.

“I knew the Flyers had got off to a good start and they have a great track record and have produced some really good teams.

“I’d been up in this area before. I went to St. Andrews when I was younger so I came up and went right through Fife, so it’s funny to look back on that now.

“I’m really happy to be here.”

Having gained a degree in Finance from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks – where his team mate Carlo Finucci also attended – before joining the ECHL, it looked as though Basara’s stay in the UK was to be brief after being released by the Storm after only a few months.

“They’ve had a tough start there and the organisation felt pressured to make a move,” he said, “they brought another guy in with a bit more experience and I was the one that had come in later so was the odd guy out and had to move on.

“It’s all part of the business, I understand that, so there’s no bad blood towards them on my part.”

Having made his debut in last weekend’s home double-header, Basra got off to the perfect start by scoring in Sunday’s win over MK Lightning, coming just 24 hours after losing in a shootout to Coventry Blaze.

He said: “Coventry’s a good team and they played well. When you go to a shootout anything can happen.

“MK Lightning are another good team. They played hard and we didn’t take them lightly. We found a way to get it done which is the main thing.

“It was good to score, it’s nice to get that out of the way.

“I’d played here before so I knew the rink. I came up here with Manchester and we were on the back end of a bad loss [7-2 in September], so it was nice to be on the other side of it!

Basara says the Flyers fans will see a player who isn’t afraid of getting stuck in.

“I like to play hard and try to use my speed,” he said, “I like to shoot the puck and play in an offensive style.

“I’m responsible defensively too – in a perfect world!

“Playing on the big rink is something I really enjoy too. It’s the same as when I played during college so it’s where I feel more comfortable.

“There are a lot of good players here and they’ve got off to a really good start. It’s good for me to come in here and do what I can to contribute and learn how to play with some different players.”

With Friday’s top of the table home clash with Belfast Giants to look forward to Basara says he’s looking forward to getting in some tough training in the lead up to the match.

“I’ve been really impressed with the guys,” he said, “they have a great skill set and they can teach me a lot.

“For someone like me coming in it’s cool to have a good group of players that you can learn from.”

Reminded that on Saturday he’ll be travelling to face his old team Manchester Storm, he smiled: “Yeah, that’s good to know!”