The club are delighted to recognise a Fife Flyers all time milestone achievement by Shane Owen as he has played the most ever games as a goalie in Flyers history. As we entered this season Shane was chasing the previous holder of that accolade Blair Daly who had played a total of 261 games spanning ten seasons. Blair played his first Flyers game at home in season 2005/06 in the Scottish National league against the North Ayr Bruins in November 2005 where he also posted the first of his four shutouts that season. Prior to the Flyers joining the EIHL in season 2011/12 Daly would make 221 appearances and he added six more shutouts in season 2006/07, four in season 2007/08, six in 2008/09 and eight in season 2009/10 which is the most by a Flyers goalie in a single season as well as tied for a team high all time for a season. Included in those eight were three consecutive games without conceding which you won’t be surprised to hear is yet another Flyers record. In season 2010/11 Blair would add another three to bring his overall total of shutouts to 31 which may very well be a record that stands forever unbroken. Blair would make 37 appearances over the Flyers first four EIHL seasons making his final appearance against the Dundee Stars in March 2015.
His overall record was; Played 261 Won 187 Drawn 9 Lost 65
Shane finished last season having played 259 games for the Flyers over his then four seasons. So his record setting 262nd appearance was earlier this season against the Belfast Giants on 30th September 2023 in a game that the Flyers lost 1-0.
The then 26 year old Shane signed for the Flyers in the summer of 2016 having played most of the previous six seasons of this professional career in the East Coast Hockey League where he made 153 appearances with no fewer than 11 different teams whilst posting five shutouts. His competitive debut for Flyers came against the Belfast Giants in September 2016 and he would go on to be an ever present that season. In fact Shane until his injury this season had played in 289 consecutive games for the club albeit over three different spells which technically doesn’t qualify him as the longest Ironman streak in the EIHL for the club, his 159 games in his latest three consecutive seasons is 7th best with Stephen Gunn holding the top spot with 228 games played consecutively. In his first season Shane put up three shutouts in competitive matches, he also blanked EC Peting in a Challenge match in his first ever game. Season 2017/18 he spent time in Sweden before returning to North America and then resigned for the Flyers for the 2018/19 season in which he recorded one further shutout. Shane at present has a total of 13 shutouts having recorded four in each of the last two seasons and one so far this term. He has also recorded 8 points in the EIHL for the Flyers which is best for a Flyers goalie in all EIHL competitions and second all time for points for a goalie behind Blair Daly who racked up an incredible 30 points which is of course again an all-time record for a Flyers goalie. Last weekend against the Belfast Giants Shane reached another milestone when he played his 300th game for the Flyers which has him currently in 8th position for all time EIHL appearances for the club. Danny Stewart (305) and James Isaacs (308) are the only two imports to have played more games in the EIHL than Shane.
The list of teams that Shane has shutout for the Flyers is as follows:
As can be seen two of those games ended as defeats with the Flyers losing in shootouts after regulation and overtime failed to produce any goals, in these situations the goalies are credited with shutouts as goals scored in a shootout do not count against a goalie. These two games are the two lowest scoring games in Flyers history all time.
Shane’s headline stats as at 25th March 2024 are:
Played 300 Won 113 Drawn 3 Lost 184 Goals Against 1048
Shots Against 11334 Save % 90.75 Goals Against Average 3.49
His full statistical breakdown by season is below:
Shane’s wins have come against the following teams:
In addition Shane has also made 50 appearances in the EIHL for the Belfast Giants in season 2019/20 recording two shutouts and a further 11 appearances for the Coventry Blaze in the EIHL Series during the Covid lockdown period.
Congratulations Shane
