Fife Flyers skidded to their 14th straight defeat in all competitions on Sunday and bosses have appealed to loyal fans to stay behind their favourites.
The Kirkcaldy club lost 4-1 in front of over 1,900 fans at The Skydome in Coventry to remain rooted to the bottom of the ten-strong Elite League with one point from 11 starts. They also lost 4-1 at home to Elite League leaders, Nottingham Panthers, on Saturday.
The home side struck early. Fife went behind after 6min 36sec at the Skydome Arena, Matthew Gleason converting a penalty shot past Flyers’ netminder, Christian Purboo, and it was 2-0 less than a minute later. William Bryson netted at 7min 15sec.
Blaze then scored a short-handed goal when Sam Ruffin converted unassisted, but Fife hit back.
New recruit, Giordano Finoro, hit the rigging after being set up by Vlastimil Dostalek and Ryan Nicholson. Time 47min 50sec but their joy was short-lived.
No 4 hit the Fife net when Grant Mismash scored from another penalty shot, this time at 52min 30sec.
That’s where the scoring ended with injury-hit Fife being outshot 31-28 and Flyers have are without a win since beating Belfast Giants at Kirkcaldy 4-3 after a shootout in the Challenge Cup. Date Saturday, October 4.
Max Birbraer, the club’s general manager and president, said: “There is no hiding or sugar coating, results have been well below expectations, to say the least.
“We always envisaged this first season being very difficult, with the late takeover of the club, the resulting late recruitment and the sole focus of ensuring we just had a team on the ice.
“We expected highs and lows, but certainly not the level of frustrations we’re currently experiencing.”
Fife hope to have positive news on fresh blood soon but Birbraer said: “Opening the wallet is one thing. Finding the appropriate players, with the qualities needed to address our issues, and getting deals over the line to join us in Fife under our current curcumstances, is another battle altogether.
“I want to make sure our loyal supporters understand that the constant search for reinforcements has been and is on-going. We will bolster the line-up with best available solutions as soon as humanly and logistically possible.”
CLOSING IN: Fife captain Garet Hunt prepares to challenge for the puck at Coventry on Sunday. Courtesy of Elite League and taken by Scott Wiggins
