WEEK 1 of the 2024/25 Elite Ice Hockey League season and the Flyers are one of six teams who will be in competitive action as they start their Challenge Cup campaigns. Flyers have two games on home ice against rivals Glasgow Clan and Belfast Giants with the Dundee Stars the other team in the group who will also play the Flyers two opponents over the weekend.
SEPTEMBER 7th FIFE FLYERS v GLASGOW CLAN @ FIFE ICE ARENA – FACE OFF 7.15pm
Recent Form Guide
As this is the first competitive game for Clan we don’t have much to go on other than the outcome of their preseason schedule. The Clan come into the season after a summer of considerable change which will see the return of Corey Neilson as a head coach having last stood on the away bench in December 2022 when he was in charge of the Nottingham Panthers. The Clan roster has been completely overhauled with 17 new players arriving which is the most amongst all 10 teams in the league. Only five players have been returned from last season as the Glasgow club ended the season in 10th spot. In the Challenge Cup the Clan qualified in 3rd spot in the group and went to the semi-finals before being beaten by the Guildford Flames. One of those returning players is Clan’s leading scorer in the league last season Gary Haden who returned just before last weekend and will need to be carefully watched as he has a liking for putting the puck into the Flyers net. The Clan’s preseason was one of contrasting opponents with their first two outings being against NIHL opposition in the Solway Sharks with both games taking place in Dumfries and as most would expect the calibre of the EIHL roster saw a couple of comfortable wins. Last weekend the Clan were in Germany to take part in an invitational tournament featuring Finnish side Jokerit who play in the KHL, EC Red Bull Salzburg who have dominated the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL & ICEHL) and German side ESV Kaufbeuren who were hosting the weekend and play in DEL2. The Clan ran Salzburg very close as they held a 2-1 lead to eventually lose out on a final spot with a Red Bull OT winner. In the Bronze medal match the Clan Came back from a three goal deficit against their German hosts to won by the odd goal in 11. The Clan will open the season on the road both this weekend and next before their home opener against the Belfast Giants on Saturday 21st September.
Last Challenge Cup Visit from Clan
Overall Challenge Cup Home Record Against Clan
P 10 W 7 L 3 F 38 A 27
Number Crunching
The Flyers won points in all four meetings with the Clan at The Auld Barn last season recording two regulation wins and two overtime losses.
It is the Flyers best run at home since the Clan were rebranded for season 2108/19.
In Challenge Cup meetings the Flyers have won three of the last four meetings with the Clan on home ice.
With 16 goals in all competitions against the Flyers Gary Haden is the joint all-time Clan scorer against Fife along with Scott Pitt.
The teams have recorded a one shutout each on home ice against each other in Challenge Cup action.
A note on last season’s Challenge Cup encounter against the Clan in Kirkcaldy – the Flyers 70 shots on goal was a new record for an EIHL game having previously registered 50 as their best on three occasions.
The last time the Flyers opened a season with back to back home games was the 2018/19 season when they met this weekend’s opponents – beating Clan 5-4 in a shootout and losing to the Giants 1-3 with both matches in the Challenge Cup.
SEPTEMBER 8th FIFE FLYERS v BELFAST GIANTS @ FIFE ICE ARENA – FACE OFF 5.15pm
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The Giants will arrive in Fife having opened their season the night before in Dundee in Challenge Cup group action. The Giants roster has seen a total of 13 additions to last season’s team and although that’s a relatively high number of new faces for a Giants roster many of those who have joined in the summer will be familiar as returnees to Belfast. Adam Keefe’s roster has the highest number of North American players. The Giants finished third in the league last season and were beaten finalists in the Play-off Final weekend at Nottingham. Having topped their group with a 100% record against the three Scottish teams they were upset in the quarter finals of last season’s Challenge Cup by the Coventry Blaze. Looking at preseason results it appears as though the Giants have gelled quickly after winning all four of their games. They opened with a 5-1 win on home ice against the Cardiff Devils and then travelled to the Vindico Arena the following night, not to meet the Devils, but to meet the GB squad in a pre-Olympic Qualifier run out. The Giants, with Ben Lake and Jackson Whistle playing in opposition, handed their teammates and GB their second warm up defeat with a 4-1 scoreline. Last weekend the Giants, like the Flyers, hosted Canadian University sides. Carleton were defeated 8-2 on Friday whilst the University of Alberta Golden Bears kept things close for a while but eventually went down 6-3. So with the return of Kyle Osterberg to Fife Ice Arena adding additional interest the Giants come into the weekend with plenty of goals in their locker. The one negative on the season is the loss to injury of new blueliner Zak Galambos who is expected to be missing for the “foreseeable future”.
Last Challenge Cup Visit from Giants
Overall Challenge Cup Home Record Against Giants
P 14 W 2 D 1 L 11 F 25 A 48
Number Crunching
The Flyers final meeting of last season with the Giants saw them snap a 13 game home ice losing streak against the Giants with their first win at Kirkcaldy since November 2019 against Belfast.
Flyers will be looking to make it back to back wins against the Giants for only the 3rd time in the previous 84 meetings in all EIHL competitions.
Giants have faced the Flyers most often of all teams in the Challenge Cup with 29 meetings to date. The Flyers have never met the Manchester Storm or Coventry Blaze in the competition.
Five of the eight meetings between the teams last season were one goal games.
Scott Conway with 14 is one goal behind Colin Shields as all time top scorer for the Giants against Flyers.
A note on last season’s Challenge Cup encounter against the Giants in Kirkcaldy – 16 shots on goal is the lowest total against the Giants in the last 28 home matches stretching back to 1st March 2016 when Flyers had 13 for the game
