Swedish signing Anton Karlsson is set to make his debut for Fife Flyers when they travel to Manchester Storm tonight (19.30), their final scheduled visit to Planet Ice, Altrincham, this season.
The 29-year-old was sidelined through red tape last weekend while his international clearance was processed so he could play his first game for the injury-hit side in a difficult, small icepad, but Flyers’ head coach, Jamie Russell, has made allowances for that in training this week.
Karlsson, a third round draft pick with Phoenix Coyotes in 2014, has trained well with his new colleagues and is likely to feature on a line with countryman, Johan Porsberger, a former team-mate elsewhere, and Giordano Finoro.
The inclusion of the 6ft 2in physical forward is a big boost to Russell who said: “Anton is available for our line-up and we have had a really good week. He has taken part in power play situations (in practice) and he has a good hockey sense.
“I really like what I have seen of him so far and the fact that he has played with Johan before is a bonus.”
The negative is that five players are sidelined including Mason Alderson, Vlastimil Dostalek and long-term injury victim, Justin Ducharme, as well as home-bred talent, Joe Lynch.
Former National Hockey League player, Davd Booth, has still not arrived and that means that some of the fringe players will have to step in. It’s a frustrating situation for the coach who has the option of his senior men logging extra minutes, but that can lead to them being exhausted.
It’s a juggling act that Russell has had to endure so far this season, but he said: “We have a great group. They want success, they have made sacrifices and they work hard and compete, but we do not have the depth.
“That is my responsibility and management are looking at getting more players where, higher-end players. This is a good league.”
Fifth-placed Storm have comfortably won the first two matches between the sides – 6-1 on October 5 and 5-1 on October 31 – and, overall, they have scored 43 goals and let in 36 as they have accumulated 16 points from 13 fixtures.
Their Canadian hit-man Gary Haden is currently in form and a real danger. The 26-year-old has netted on 12 occasions and set up 14 other strikes in 23 games and he previously starred with Glasgow Clan.
There he accumulated 51 goals and 54 assists in 115 regular season games in just over two seasons and is back in Britain after playing 16 games in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) for Florida Everblades and in the second division in Germany.
Another man to watch is Canadian-born Brady Gilmour who has nine goals and 17 assists in 23 games for head coach Cameron Critchlow and Brandon Cutler also carries a real threat.
This weekend is unusual for Fife who have the night off on Saturday before hosting third-placed Cardiff Devils who have 20 points from 14 starts having scored 51 goals, the second highest total behind pace-setting Nottingham Panthers, who have scored 52, and let in 29.
Devils visit on Sunday (17.00) and the Welshmen have plundered Fife for 13 goals and only let in two in back-to-back wins, 8-2 at Kirkcaldy on November 16 and 5-0 in the Principality on November 23.
POSSIBLE LINEMATE: Karlsson could ice alongside former teammate, Johan Porsberger (right). Picture courtesy of Elite League
