Fife Flyers

Fife Flyers
City Kirkcaldy, Scotland
League Elite Ice Hockey League
Founded 1938
Home arena Fife Ice Arena
Colours

White, Gold and Blue

              
Owner(s) Kirkcaldy Ice Hockey Club
Fife Flyers Limited
General manager Tom Muir, Tom Muir(Snr), Jack Wishart (directors)
Head coach CanadaUnited Kingdom Todd Dutiaume
Captain Canada Kyle Haines
Website fifeflyers.co.uk
Franchise history
1938–Present Fife Flyers

The Fife Flyers, established in 1938, are the oldest professional ice hockey team in the United Kingdom. The team has a history of success through the ages, with over 60 Scottish and British cups and titles to their name.

History

2011 - Present

In late June 2011, the Fife Flyers were confirmed as having been accepted into the EIHL, replacing the Newcastle Vipers for the 2011-12 season. Flyers found the going tough in their first season back in British Ice Hockey's top flight. A combination of icing far less imports and the relative inexperience of the British contingent resulted in Flyers almost inevitably missing the playoffs and finishing in last place.

Despite this, there were positives to take from their first season in the EIHL. The experience the British contingent gained for example should stand them in good stead for the 2012-2013 season. Their talented roster, made up of key players Casey Haines, Derek Keller and Bryan Pitton were the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde team. Almost unbeatable at FIA, they couldn't buy a win on the road. They finished the league in 7th place which was a net 8th for the playoffs given the conference winners Hull had finished in 8th spot in the league but by virtue of winning the conference, they were seeded 2nd. Fife would go on to play the eventual treble winning Nottingham Panthers over 2 hotly contested legs, winning 4-2 at home before losing an agonising 3-0 in Nottingham and bowing out of the years playoffs.

2013-14 brought renewed vigour to the team. Another squad overhaul saw only 2 returning imports from the previous year with Bobby Chaumont and Danny Stewart returning to Kirkcaldy. The team, in true Fife Flyers EIHL fashion was again, a Jekyll and Hyde team. The start was poor and it was a long and hard winter for the Fife Flyers players and coaching staff. Changes were made in February and the team were a revelation in the league. They went on an unbelievable run and forced their way back into the playoffs in the very last game of the season. Going one step further this time, they defeated fierce rivals and Gardiner Conference champions, the Dundee Stars 8-4 on aggregate and made the Final Four playoff finals in Nottingham. The semi-final against runaway league winners Belfast was an incredible display of ice hockey with neither team backing down an inch. Sadly, the Giants of Belfast found a way past the mercurial Kevin Regan in net and held on to win 1-0.

Elite Ice Hockey League Record

Season League Conference Playoff Challenge Cup
2011-12 EIHL 10th Group
2012-13 EIHL 7th Gardiner 2nd QF QF
2013-14 EIHL 7th Gardiner 3rd 4th QF
2014-15 EIHL Gardiner

Facts

First Game: October 1, 1938, vs Dundee Tigers

First Captain: Les Lovell Snr

First Goal Scorer: Norman McQuade

Since Fife Flyers entry in to the amateur Scottish Premier Hockey League, they have won 11 out of 12 trophies whilst recording a new club record of 47 consecutive wins and a 50 game unbeaten run, which stretched from September 2006 to April 2007.

The teams longest serving player is Gordon Latto(Snr) who started playing with Fife Flyers in 1972, and retired in 1998, recording 974 games with a points total of 1265pts.

2014-2015 Roster

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
29 Scotland Blair Daly L 2005 Edinburgh, Scotland
32 United States Kevin Regan L 2013 South Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
2 Scotland Thomas Muir R D 2001 Kirkcaldy, Scotland
4 Scotland Chris Wands R D 2004 Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
6 FinlandSweden Niko Suoraniemi L D 2014 Oulu, Finland
13 Scotland Euan Forsyth R D 2013 Kirkcaldy, Scotland
50 United States Matt Nickerson R D 2013 Old Lyme, Connecticut, USA
55 Canada Kyle Haines L D 2013 Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada
60 United States Jamie Milam R D 2014 Lake Orion, Michigan, USA
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
8 CanadaMontenegro Ned Lukacevic L LW 2013 Podgorica, Montenegro
9 Canada Scott Fleming L LW/C 2014 Plainfield, Ontario, Canada
10 Scotland Stephen Gunn R RW 2005 Kirkcaldy, Scotland
15 Scotland Josh Scoon R RW 2008 Kirkcaldy, Scotland
18 Scotland Allan Anderson R C 2013 Kirkcaldy, Scotland
21 Canada Bobby Chaumont A R RW 2012 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
22 United States Matt Reber R C 2013 Edina, Minnesota, USA
23 Scotland Jamie Wilson L LW 2004 Kirkcaldy, Scotland
26 United States Jordan Fulton L LW 2013 St. Louis Park, Minnesota, USA
39 Canada Danny Stewart L D/RW 2011 Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
61 Canada Chris Auger L C 2014 Belleville, Ontario, Canada

Retired Jersey Numbers

Player Records

All Time Statistics

Season Records

Game Records (All Players)

Game Records (Home Based Players)

BIHWA Hall of Fame Inductees

All Star Honours

Player of the Year Trophy[1]

Coach of the Year Trophy[2]

Player's Player of the Year

Netminder of the Year

Ahearne Medal

Rookie of the Year

Young Player of the Year

Notable Former Players

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "Player of the Year Trophy". Ice Hockey Journalists UK. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  2. ↑ "Coach of the Year Trophy". Ice Hockey Journalists UK. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-27.

External links