Friday 27 March 2015

Flyers Year in Review: October

Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, and as you continue to read this article you will realise the selection committee probably made the correct decision. October would prove to be a mixed bag of results, with both some incredible wins and agonizingly close losses. In total, the Flyers would play nine games in this month - including a rare three game weekend.

 The month began with a Challenge Cup double header against the Edinburgh Capitals. The first encounter resulted in a 5-1 victory at Fife Ice Arena:

This is a great opening win in the series between the long-time rivals. This would be a perfect example of what is a quintessential meeting of the two teams in Kirkcaldy. Flyers had a swagger and carefree nature to their game, and the Capitals showed that self-destruct nature that they possess. The second period of the game shows this in abundance conceding 3 goals in the space of three minutes. This is something the Flyers are adept at taking advantage of at home, Hiadlovsky looks like a world beater one moment and then loses his focus when he concedes. Josh Scoon picked up another goal in the absence of Matt Reber, clearly taking advantage of the extra ice-time he has been afforded. A number of fans will argue that someone like Stephen Gunn or Allan Anderson deserved more ice time but the fact is that during this spell Scoon put numbers on the board. Incidentally, please leave your comments below if you wish to weigh in on this.
This game was also the first time Fife fans got a look at Riley Emmerson, his unique frame and skating style certainly made him stick out. Although, he certainly wasn't the player I had expected him to be, or rather his phantom ten match ban at the start of the season created an image that he didn't live up to. One player who came with a reputation and lived up it was Josh Grimaldi - we'll get to him in more detail later in the series. Ned Lukacevic chirping him was a great example of getting someone to bite and he really coaxed Grimaldi in to the game misconduct - this would have been perfect if Ned hadn't talked himself in to a 10 minute misconduct and then another 10 on his next shift. Ned has coaxed players in to throwing punches at him before, most notably Jonathan Phillips in March last season:

The video doesn't show it, but it did happened - honest. Finally, I said in the Flyers Year in Review: September that I'm not a fan of fighting but being a sponsor of Kyle Haines' stick if someone breaks it - they need to answer for that.
The following night in Murrayfield the game would be a completely different animal, with the Flyers grinding out a 2-1 shootout win and this would afford the Flyers the first shootout win. Bobby Chaumont converted his 6th shootout goal which tied Tim Hartung with most goals in the shootout. Since joining the Elite League, the Flyers and Capitals have met 8 times. Edinburgh won the first 4 encounters but have not yielded a victory since October 2012.

The following week, the Flyers would first head to Braehead on the Friday and one of the few 3 game weekends. In order to cope with the extra workload, the Flyers were lucky to welcome back wounded pair Kyle Horne and Matt Reber. The game in Glasgow finished with a narrow 4-3 defeat:

A really close game, that for a while looked to have given Jamie Milam his first goal as a Flyer, although the goal was rightly given to Danny Stewart. The Flyers have played 3 of their 34 matches against the Clan in October losing all 3. In the process the Flyers have scored 10 and conceded 15. The last two meetings have acted both league and cup games (20/10/2012 and 10/10/2014). I know that these games are due to scheduling issues and given Braehead's attendances this year they don't necessarily need another game, but I often feel too much ride on these games. Especially when you consider the weekend that this game fell on, in essence the Flyers are playing for 8 points in the space of three days.
This was the second meeting of the season between the two Gardiner rivals, and although there was zero points gained the result was largely positive. Given the dominant win in September and the close game here, there was a wave of optimism throughout the Fife Ice Arena. As the weekend would continue this wave would continue to gather pace.
Saturday's match was a trip down to Nottingham and an incredible shootout victory:

Not for the first time, the Flyers allowed goals through failure to clear the zone, although there was nothing they could do about the powerplay goal. The three goals the Flyers scored in the regulation showed great perseverance and the two penalty shots showed the class that this roster possesses. In scoring the decisive goal in the shootout, Ned Lukacevic would embark on a remarkable run of success in the shootout. While Bobby Chaumont became the Flyers the all-time top scorer in the shootout - a title he briefly held in 2013 before Tim Hartung got on a bit of roll:

The addition of Ned Lukacevic a week later would make the the Flyers a formidable force in the shootout.
Anyway, back to October 2014 Fife would close off their weekend with a home game against the opposition from the previous night, the Nottingham Panthers:

The Flyers lost narrowly, as they just ran out of steam after the 125 minutes of hockey the previous nights. The opening goal from Matt Reber was exceptional, the weighted pass from Lukacevic was perfect and shows the real chemistry that the two players possess. The equalising goal from the Panthers was another example of failing to clear the zone, and the credit for the winning goal must go to Matt Nickerson who proved to be an excellent screen in front on Kevin Regan. You hear the calls from the fans insulting Greg Jacina but he scored on that play - goals are more important than fights.

The long weekend coming to an end and three points to show for it against very strong opposition was an undoubted success. Todd's post match comments summed up the weekend, the effort of the players was huge. Once again though, Todd talked about the team clicking and settling in, bear in mind that only 3 members of the roster had not played together last season. The issue with allowing breakaways will continue to haunt the club in the coming weeks, although Kevin Regan will stand tall for most of them With the exception of the two games over this weekend, the Flyers and the Panthers have only met once in October - a 5-3 defeat at the Fife Ice Arena in 2012.

The following Friday, Fife would play their third of four meetings with the Coventry Blaze. Despite Blaze conceding 91 goals away from home in two meetings the Flyers only managed a solitary marker. This time the game would go to overtime, and guess who scored the winner? That guy again, Rory Rawlyk. Rawlyk in his 18 months in the UK was a true thorn in the side of the Flyers. At the time of him scoring he had two goals, both against Fife:

You'll notice that the Flyers had some different attire, this was all in aid of Cancer Research UK raising an incredible amount of money:


The root cause of this awesome amount is the jersey auction, the star attraction at the auction was naturally that of Matt Nickerson's:




The following night, the Flyers would made the short journey north over the Tay to face the Dundee Stars. Although, this is the third time the clubs had met, it was the first league game of the year:

An early contender for goal of the season from Danny Stewart as he ghosts through 4 Dundee players and slots passed Marc Cheverie to make it 2-1. Stars then score two impressive powerplay goals through Rob Ricci to gain the lead in the third period. Just after the Flyers make it 3-3, Tommy Muir is assessed 2+10 for checking to the head. The subsequent penalty kill would once again produce a goal of the season contender. Captain Kyle Haines blocks a shot in his own end and then skates the full length of the ice to score to make it 4-3. Although Haines admits the shot was a mis-hit it was a remarkable effort.
Muir's hit would incur further action from the Department of Player Safety (DoPS). A further example of the Flyers inability to clear the zone. Muir extends his elbow and catches Chris Blight in a reckless manner and is deserving of his punishment:

Muir would miss three games through suspension.

The following weekend, the Stars (minus the injured Blight) would face off against the Flyers (minus Muir) in Kirkcaldy. For the second time this season, the Flyers would lay down a marker to their Gardiner Conference opposition. A second shutout of the season for Kevin Regan, produced a 5-0 win and would breed confidence for the upcoming games:

The Flyers open the scoring through the resilience of Danny Stewart and then in an incredible sequence that lasts 30 seconds - where no Dundee player touches the puck - Ned Lukacevic makes it two. Both goals come on the powerplay after an awful hit by Brad Plumpton on Josh Sccon. Further goals from Chaumont and Lukacevic showed the impeccable ability to score on the counter attack.
Once again, the Flyers would feel the wrath of DoPS, this time Jordan Fulton's foolish cross-check earns him a 2 match ban:

There really is no argument here, the loss of Fulton would prove costly.
Post match, Todd praised the team for getting the win and reserved special praise for man of the match Euan Forsyth who stepped up in the absence of Thomas Muir:

The Flyers and the Stars have met on 4 occasions in October, Fife winning three of these contests at a score differential of 11-6.

The final game of the month saw the Flyers travel to Humberside to play the Hull Stingrays for the first time this season. Those of you who read my article in the Flyers Matchnight Programme will know that I am obsessed with the record between the Flyers and Stingrays. Prior to this game, the Flyers had played each other 16 times in the Gardiner Conference (since 2012/13 season), of these game both Hull and Fife won 8 games (7 at home, 1 away from home). With that in mind, guess what happened this time? Yep, a home win for Hull in a closely fought contest:

This was the fourth meeting between the two sides in October, Hull winning on every occasion.

The NHL season opened to much fanfare in October, and if the EIHL players think they have a tough schedule they should consider their counterparts across the Atlantic. Using the Flyers as an example, they will play 60 games (league and cup) between 6th September 2014 and 22nd March 2015, a total of 198 days meaning a game every 3.3 days. An NHL team will play 82 games between 8th October 2014 and 11th April 2015, a total of 186  days meaning that in addition to logging an average of 41,390 airmiles (2013-14 season) they also have to play a game on average every 2.26 days.
Thankfully the longest journey the Flyers have to cope with is the 440 miles to Cardiff!

This is the second in the series of Flyers Year in Review, you can still read the first in the series Flyers Year in Review: September clicking here

Read the final Flyers Weekend Update of the season here.

Please leave your comments below on your memories of the Flyers in October.

Follow us twitter: @murdochhockey
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Flyers Weekend Update 27/3/2014

So here we are, it's quite possibly the final time this season that I will have the chance to do one of these. Thought I would jump at the chance. At the end of a season that produced 5-1-0-2 record in the Challenge Cup and finished with a 22-27-0-3 record in the league, the Flyers find themselves in the final playoff place. Who are the opposition this weekend? Only the newly crowned league champions who are vying for a playoff win to match what they earned  last season.

In the 4 games between both sides this season, the Steelers have come out on top on every occasion. The season opener was a tense affair, with the Flyers coming close in a 6-5 shootout loss. The game was notable for Josh Scoon's excellent solo effort to open the scoring:

The following night, the steelers showed their strength running out 8-1 winners in what stands as the biggest defeat of the season:

Mind you the Flyers weren't the only team to fall at the hands of Matthieu Roy and co, look what they did to the excellent Cardiff Devils in what was a title showdown:


The Flyers will hope that their luck at the Motorpoint takes more the form of their  visit in the 2013/14 season:

Rather than the final visit this season, which was a 6-1 loss. In two visits to the Steel City the Flyers have been outscored at a rate of 14-2:
First though the Flyers need to perform in Kirkcaldy against opposition that have proven difficult to play against:

The Flyers will only be effective with all players pushing for the win so need to avoid any moments of madness like this:

Todd Dutiaume was in defiant mood in the weeks Fife Free Press:


The Flyers have revelled in the past as the underdog. In fact some of the close results going the wrong way are perhaps the end-product of no longer being the underdog. There has certainly been a change in expectations this season, with potentially just 120 minutes left in the season the siege mentality of previous years may need to make a return. If we need an example of what this mentality can produce, we only need to look at the game in early 2012/13 season where a Kris Hogg hattrick inspired the Flyers to victory:

Allan Crowe of the Fife Free Press has chronicled the history of the Flyers and the Steelers in an excellent  read:


They are a team that have winning at their heart and will be a formidable opposition for the Flyers this weekend. Just remember what we did in the playoffs last year! The Steelers are not the only team with winning at their heart!

The Flyers had their annual award ceremony at the Bay Hotel. Congratulations to all the award winners:





An interesting stat was revealed today as the season came to a close:


The Flyers have always been effective on the penalty kill, but the addition of Jamie Milam and Chris Auger has added a great dimension to the powerplay. Special teams are something that requires a lot of attention and coaching, I think congratulations are in order for both Todd Dutiaume and Danny Stewart.

Further congratulaions to Flyers fan, Paul Walker, who suited up in a Carolina Hurricanes Alumni match:


This is very cool.

I know I'm obsessed with this but I posed this question on Twitter the other day:


Since the conference system was introduced, is there a more even match up?

And finally...

Ned Lukacevic and Niko Suoraniemi visited St Johnstone Football Club and a familiar face in the form of Ross Cunnigham (former Community Officer for the club):





Both players are excited and happy to be the underdogs, playoff hockey can throw the form book out of the window. The guys have the Playoff Weekend in their sights and want a huge crowd this Saturday! These are exactly the sort of things that has been missing from the club's PR since his departure. It is great that we have managed to get one done before the end of the season.

EDIT: Chris Auger has echoed the confidence that Ned and Niko have shown, the manner of their defeat against Braehead has reinvigorated the team and they are ready for the challenges that the playoffs can bring:

For live updates on Saturday follow: @hockey_laura, @matthewelder_ffp and @fifefreepressed

For live updates on Sunday follow: @hockey_laura

For live updates on what's happening at Nandos follow: @capsbanterarmy

Check out Flyers Year in Review: September, the first in series of a look at the Flyers season. The next in the series Flyers Year in Review: October will be published later today. Read Laura Duff (@hockey_laura) and Andrew Frames' (@aframe88) reviews of the season next week at Murdoch's Hockey Blog.

Follow us on Twitter: @murdochhockey
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Monday 23 March 2015

Flyers Year in Review: September

After a remarkable run that saw the Fife Flyers win 13 from their last 17 league games and the ensuing playoff run, it was safe to say that hopes were high when entering the 2014/15 season in Kirkcaldy. The playoff quarter final win over longtime rivals, the Dundee Stars and the visit to the Playoff Finals Weekend in Nottingham (or "Scottingham") proved that there was a great deal of talent in the ranks of Fife Ice Arena. As a result, the annual rebuild of the roster, would prove to be easier than in previous seasons for Todd Dutiaume and Danny Stewart. Gone were Tim Hartung, Justin DaCosta and Derek Roehl (who defected west to Braehead) and in came Chris Auger, Scott Fleming and Jamie Milam. On paper, these were strong additions to the roster, with all other players from the 2013/14 campaign returning the EIHL would be trembling at the offensive potential of the boys in gold, white and blue, wouldn't they?

There was certainly a great deal of confidence amongst the ranks preseason:





The visit of Paul Thompson and the Aalborg Pirates was a perfect curtain raiser. Two games in late August prepared the team for the season ahead. A win on the Saturday (4-2), followed by a loss on the Sunday (8-3). After the games though, Todd Dutiaume (despite looking a bit like John Travolta) was happy with the outings from the players:


In the post-match debrief of the game on Sunday, Todd would note it was "good to how these guys losing a game" as September would begin he would get to see this perhaps more than he hoped.

The opening weekend, with promises of a 4-point weekend over the Coventry Blaze would produce zero. With an old foe in the form of Rory Rawlyk scoring the solitary goal on the Saturday. An opening night crowd of 2733 certainly shared a degree of disappointment but at the same time there was some optimism with the team.

Todd noted that the players were a bit rusty and perhaps weren't afforded the space required to be effective. He also pointed out that the crowd was loud when the players came out, this is hardly surprising as the crowd is much larger than previous seasons. In fact there were an extra 1200 fans in stands:
The increased numbers are remarkable, as this series continues the increased attendances will continue to be a trend.

A loss the following night, once again at the hands of the Coventry Blaze would mean that for the third time in four seasons that the Flyers would yield no points. Only the 2012/13 season beat the trend, where a Jason Pitton inspired Flyers would attain the much yearned for 4-point weekend.

Since joining the Elite League, the Flyers have faced the Coventry Blaze 8 times in September. In this time they have won only one match, the shootout victory in 2012. Also, in this spell the Flyers have been blanked on 3 occasions. Although two of these were the opening Elite League contests in 2011.

Moving on from the disappointment of the opening weekend, the Flyers would face up against the Playoff Champions - the Sheffield Steelers. A shootout loss on the Saturday, would offer promise for the season ahead. Josh Scoon scored an excellent goal that would earn him some extra ice time in the weeks that would follow.

Ned Lukacevic once again showed his skills:

Todd Dutiaume was in an upbeat mood, despite the defeat:

In the game, Kyle Horne and Matt Reber would collide resulting in both players missing a large chunk of the season. A "gutsy" performance earned the team a point and they were unlucky to miss out on the win. The game would result in Tommy Muir stepping up and fighting, this would be the first of a number of fighting majors for Muir and Todd made the point to praise him for doing so. Muir was reacting to a hit by Mark Thomas on Danny Stewart, the hit itself would lead to a 1 match ban for Thomas and the Flyers first involvement with the Department of Player Safety (DoPS):

DoPS is something that will discussed at length later in the series, but I would be remiss not to discuss them now. While they are inherently controversial as they are responsible for judging something subjective as an absolute, they have an important role in the game in reducing reckless play in the game. This is something that has been immensely successful in the NHL, however, at this juncture I am not certain that current guise of cloak and daggers is the right set up. Nonetheless, with a few tweaks, there are all the makings for a reputable body.

If the loss at Fife Ice Arena was gutsy, the the loss that followed was gutless. An 8-1 loss stood as a stark reminder that the Sheffield Steelers are formidable opposition and they are relentless - Fife would not be the only team to realise this. These are the only games that Fife and Sheffield have shared in September, the hope is that any future fixtures in this month will have a distinctly different outcome.

Going without a win in the opening four games for the first time since 2011/12 season, the visit of the Dundee Stars proved to be huge blessing. In what would prove to be the only Flyers league game covered by Premier Sports, the Flyers pulled a 4-2 win out of the bag.

With a goal and two assists, the undoubted star of the night was Bobby Chaumont. Although, the entire team attacked admirably forcing EIHL rookie Marc Cheverie to make 31 saves. Cheverie would get his revenge the following night though, back stopping his team to a 2-1 overtime win. The Flyers and Dundee have played one another in 6 contests in September. The record stands as 2-2-1-1, however, three of these contests were friendlies and when it's cut down to the games that matter the Flyers have a 2-0-0-1 record.

The final weekend of September would prove to be the Flyers most successful weekend in their short EIHL history. With the visit of the Braehead Clan, the Flyers would pull off an impressive 4-0 win. Tying Kevin Regan with Bryan Pitton with two EIHL shutouts. The Clan have played at Fife Ice Arena in September on 4 occasions (one friendly and 3 in league/cup), Fife will hope that all matches between the two are scheduled for September in 2015 as they have won every game! In these four game the Flyers have scored 18 and limited the Clan to just 5, of which three of Braehead's goals were in the Autumn Cup of 2012.

The game would be an eventful one, with Matt Nickerson meeting Zack Fitzgerald for the first time.

The final blow from Nickerson appearing to knock Fitzgerald to the ground, but Fitzy cleared it all up for us:


I'm glad we got that sorted. I really don't care about the outcome of the fight. As regular readers may have noticed for a while, I have had an anti-fighting stance. It's always something that I've been uneasy with (granted, I did enjoy it) and as this season has progressed I have drifted further and further away from it.
The visit of Braehead saw the return of Derek Roehl and he had a brief reunion with his comedy partner from last season, Ned Lukacevic:

They also had a message for their most notable victim, Tim Hartung:

Todd Dutiaume would praise a "fantastic team effort" but was also keen to praise his opposite number Ryan Finnerty. Kevin Regan was fully deserving of his shutout and was able to keep the sheet clean despite a few defensive errors. The crowd is noted as being the biggest of the year, but the 2733 from the opening narrowly beats the 2693 in attendance.
The only way to follow up that win against the win at home, would be to beat the reining league champions in their own back yard....
HIGHLIGHTS - Sun 28 Sept - Belfast Giants vs Fife Flyers from Belfast Giants on Vimeo.
Two goals from Stephen Gunn and a remarkable 6-1 win in the Odyssey Arena. This would prove to be the biggest weekend of the year. With the Belfast game counting for both League and Cup points, Fife would win two games, gain 6 points, scoring 10 and conceding 1 in the process. The goal differential of 9 stands as the best in two win weekends, and was their twelfth all-time two win weekend in the EIHL. In 3 September contests between the Giants and the Flyers this resounding win is the first victory that the Flyers have tasted.
The Flyers earned a 3-3-0-2 record in September 2014, only the 5-2-0-0 record in the 2012/13 season stands as a better record. This season, the Flyers would light the lamp on 22 occasions, conceding 23 (if only we could have written off the 8-1 loss in Sheffield). Once again, the 2012/13 season yielded more goals (23) and only the 2011/12 season had more goals conceded (31).

This is the first in the series of Flyers Year in Review, the next in the series will be Flyers Year in Review: October. 



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Tuesday 3 March 2015

Flyers Mid-Week Update 03/03/2015

OK, I've not done one of these for a while but a combination of being off work and being bored beyond recognition I have decided to pull some stuff together. Two games over the weekend for the Flyers and a two completely different results. A 5-1 victory over the Edinburgh Capitals means that the Flyers maintain their record of being unbeaten at home against the Caps since January 2014. Head coach Todd Dutiaume - not for the first time - comments that a lack of concentration meant that the Flyers lost the shutout for Kevin Regan. This has been a consistent theme in the games against Edinburgh but they have been comfortable at home against Richard Hartman's men. This has perhaps been more of an issue when playing some of top teams in the league. Todd Dutiaume and Jordan Fultons' post game comments with Ali McLaren are available on Flyers TV:

It's important to remember that ice hockey is a family sport and foul and abusive language is not permitted. With that in mind, here's eight and half minutes of fans swearing:

To be fair, no-one used the flash on their camera. Five good goals from the Flyers, Niko Suoraniemi with his second goal of the season on a superb rush up the ice. Jordan Fulton once again showing why is among the best agitators in the league getting under the skin of the Capitals defence and worthy of his man of the match purely for that.

 Todd mentioned in his post match comments that the Flyers penalty kill has been strong this year and it really has, ranking forth in the league:

 Only Cardiff, Nottingham and Sheffield ranking higher than them. Remarkably, the Belfast Giants sit bottom of the table - this no doubt a huge factor in their tumble down the league standings this season.

 Sunday, saw a different game entirely. A 5-2 loss against the league leading Braehead Clan. An honest Danny Stewart laments the lack of focus and - just as Todd did the night before - complains about the number of minor penalties that the club has taken. Post match he spoke with Ali McLaren:



Ali asked about Nickerson and Fitzgeralds' fight, to which Danny commented that the outcome didn't have an impact on the game either way. Which really begs the question, what is the point? NIckerson is a solid D-man who is most effective when he is on the ice rather than in the penalty box. When you look at the much maligned DOPS, there job is to punish and ultimately reduce plays that are reckless and can cause serious injury. With that in mind why, is fighting a part of the game?

 The fight is at the start of the highlights package from Clan TV:

Who won? I'll tell you who won, Braehead - 5-2. The fight was irrelevant, the 59 minutes that followed impacted the game and the Flyers came up short. I have to disagree with Danny Stewart's "honest" assessment of the game, the Flyers make mistakes in most games but the Clan are among the teams that are good enough to take advantage of these mistakes. The Clan aren't on the brink of a title win because the Flyers make mistakes at the Braehead Arena.

 Moving on from last weekend, the Flyers need to win hockey games. Todd Dutiaume was in the Sun this week:
            
I have no idea what this says, but I imagine from the headline it's something about focusing on the playoff chase. The league table shows how close it really is:
As both our coaches have said, it's better to have money in the bank than games in hand but it still means that the next 5 games are going to be tense contests.

In case you missed it, the Flyers have released the shortlist for their goal of the season as part of the end of season awards. Here are the finalists:
This is surely a formality, Chris Wands is the clear winner! Ned Lukacevic scores a mean penalty shot, but they aren't goals, so it doesn't count for me.


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