Jamie Russell praised teenage stand-in Joe Lynch who stepped-in for his injury-hit side against Nottingham Panthers in midweek.
Yes, his men lost 4-0, but Russell (pictured) was impressed with Lynch, son of former Flyers and Edinburgh Capitals player, Steven Lynch, and a 5ft 7in centre of left wing on the books of Capitals.
The 19-year-old had not trained or iced with the Kirkcaldy combine prior to Wednesday. Basically, he was thrown in at the deep end and he swam.
All he had was a 15-minute chat with Russell before heading out onto the ice against one if the big names in British Elite League ice hockey.
Russell said: “He (Joe) did really well. I was impressed. I spent 15 minutes with him going over the systems and he worked really hard.”
Staying with the positives, Russell has been pleased with the starts his men have made in recent games. However, mistakes have surfaced in his short-benched, injury-hit team, and they have been costly.
The head coach commented that when fatigue sets in players struggle and he added: “We are making chances but not finishing them, we’re not capitalising.”
Focusing on Giants, a team Fife have faced on four occasions so far this season, all in the Challenge Cup, winning one of the games in a shootout, Russell said the fixture list is out of his and the players control. He added: “It is what it is.”
Lynch is otherwise engaged this weekend and misses Fife’s double-header against Belfast. The first game is in Belfast tonight (SAT, 19.00) as the club continue their tough eight games in 15 days schedule, and this encounter is in the league.
Johan Porsberger and Justin Ducharme remain sidelined, and the coach will dress 11 forwards, one of them a young British player, not Lynch.
Russell admitted it was not ideal to be playing the same club in a short space of time, but Saturday, however, is a new day and Flyers will look to snap a four-game losing streak which goes back to the night then edged Giants 4-3 in a shootout at The Fife Ice Arena. The date? Saturday, October 4.
Fife entertain Giants at Rosslyn Street on Sunday. Face-off 5pm, also in the league.
