Fife Flyers coach Tom Coolen urged the club’s fans to come out in force when their favourites square-up to Dundee Stars in a re-arranged Elite League clash at The Fife Ice Arena on Friday, November 10 (19.30).
The Canadian (pictured) said: “Having good crowds is really important to us going forward and we would urge local people to come out and support us on Friday. The fans really matter to us.”
It looks as if forward Ben Hawerchuk will return to duty for Flyers. The 25-year-old North American winger, son of the late Ben Hawerchuk, who was the first National Hockey League player to reach 1,000 career games before turning 31, missed Sunday’s league clash at Guildford Flames which Fife lost 5-2.
Hawerchuk’s return is a welcome boost for coach Coolen who is determined to snap a five-game losing streak.
Stars, sponsored by Trade-Mart, also come into the game on a downer having lost 5-2 at home to Coventry Blaze only 24-hours after beating the same team 5-3 in the Midlands.
The pair have met in the Challenge Cup, Fife winning 6-3 at Kirkcaldy and also 4-2 at The Dundee Ice Arena.
Coolen, one of the most experienced coaches in the league, said Dundee’s strengths include good forward and good speed and he added: “We have to make sure we defend well.
“We’ve been working on that in practice this week and, naturally, we’ll be looking to exploit what we believe are their weeknesses.”
However, he added: “Our focus is on our team, not theirs. We want to play our game and to minimise our mistakes.”
Fife have had a clear week to prepare and Coolen conceded: “That has allowed us to work on things and we have Ben (Hawerchuk) back in the line-up. Injuries have hit us in recent weeks and so has the travel, but we have battled on and will continue to battle on.
“We naturally want to win our home games but we have been in most games we’ve played this season. We were in the game Saturday (against Clan) and we got a point in a 3-2 overtime defeat.
“We wanted two but we got one but we’ve been in most games we’ve played this season and we’re looking for a good crowd to back us on Friday.
Across country, Glasgow Clan, sponsored by Aspray Glasgow West, have confirmed that Troon-born winger Jordan Buesa has been released to pursue another opportunity with immediate effect.
Clan said that after initially approaching the club to move on a two-way deal, it has now become apparent that a permanent move to the National Ice Hockey League is best for 23-year-old Jordan and all involved.
After the Clan and the NIHL’s Leeds Knights reached an agreement, the transfer will see Jordan see out the remainder of the 2023/24 season in Yorkshire.
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