WEEK 18 of the 2024/25 Elite Ice Hockey League season and the Flyers round out 2024 with two matches midweek matches against the Glasgow Clan before the weekend when they welcome the Coventry Blaze as First Foots to Fife Ice Arena ahead of the long trek down to Surrey to meet the Guildford Flames.
MONDAY DECEMBER 30th FIFE FLYERS v GLASGOW CLAN @ FIFE ICE ARENA – FACE OFF 7.15pm
Recent Form Guide
The Flyers and Clan last clashed on St Andrews Day at the end of November. Since that game the Glasgow side have played two road games during December. They visited Sheffield in the middle of the month and collected a well deserved two points in a 2-1 win. The victory came at a cost however with starting netminder Landon Bow leaving the game through injury and at the time of writing he has yet to make his return to the lineup. On the weekend before Christmas the Clan visited the Stars and in a wild game they ended up on the wrong end of an 8-5 scoreline which brought an end to their season high six game winning streak. The Clan have made one addition to their roster since their last meeting with the Flyers with American Forward Matt Berry joining in early December having been last season with Slovakian side HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas. Ahead of coming to Kirkcaldy the Clan played in Belfast on Saturday night where the Giants 4-1 win exacted some revenge for their reverse in Glasgow 48 hours earlier.
Last League Visit from Clan
Overall Home League Record Against Clan
P 42 W 20 L 22 F 143 A 141
Number Crunching
The Flyers have lost in their last four meetings with the Clan and are 1-3-1 on the season against the West coast side.
The Clan have a 3 and 10 record on the road in league play this season.
The Flyers have points in their last four league games on home ice against the Clan.
March 2023 was the last time the Clan won in regulation at Fife Ice Arena.
The Flyers have only one regulation win against the Clan at Fife Ice Arena in their last 11 meetings.
The Clan have given up 10 empty net goals in all competitions this season, the Flyers have next most with 7 on the season.
Clan have scored an average of 2.94 goals (7th most) a game across all competitions this season and have given up 3.29 (7th most).
TUESDAY DECEMBER 31st GLASGOW CLAN v FIFE FLYERS @ BRAEHEAD ARENA – FACE OFF 2.00pm
Recent Form Guide
The Clan started December with a double header on home ice. On the Friday night the Manchester Storm visited and were defeated 4-1 before the Clan made it a four point weekend when the Stars lost 4-3 at Braehead Arena on the Saturday night. The following weekend the Guildford Flames were the visitors and the game was abandoned at the ed of the first period due to dangerous ice conditions as the temporary ice plant at Braehead Arena failed. The Dundee Stars were visitors again on the last weekend before Christmas and in another tight game the Clan once again prevailed by the odd goal with a 3-2 win. On Boxing Day the Belfast Giants visited Braehead and were sent packing as the Clan continued their dominant home form and came up with a big 5-1 win.
Last League Visit to Clan
Overall League Away Record Against Clan
P 42 W 12 L 30 F 113 A 174
Number Crunching
The Clan have won their last six games on home ice in league play and have a 7 and 2 record for the season.
The Flyers have three wins in their last six visits to Braehead Arena in league play with only one of those coming in regulation.
The Clan have given up almost 50% of their goals in the 3rd period but have also conceded the third fewest in the final period across all games played this season.
The Flyers have three players each with three goals who lead the scoring against the Clan this season, Phelix Martineau, Lucas Chiodo and Michael Cichy.
Cole Ully with 7 goals is Clan’s leading marksman against the Flyers this season.
SATURDAY JANUARY 4th FIFE FLYERS v COVENTRY BLAZE @ FIFE ICE ARENA – FACE OFF 7.15pm
Recent Form Guide
The Coventry Blaze last met the Flyers in mid-December. Following their win in Kirkcaldy the Blaze travelled to Belfast in midweek where they were on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline. The weekend before Christmas started with a heavy defeat on home ice as the Manchester Storm secured a handsome 5-1 win at the Skydome. The following night a point was returned on the road in a 3-2 shootout loss against the Guildford Flames. The mini slump was arrested with a Boxing Day win against the league leading Cardiff Devils who were beaten 5-2 in the Midlands. The return fixture in Wales two days later saw the Devils get the win with the odd goal in five in a game that saw a feisty ending. Ahead of their visit to Fife the Blaze are scheduled to close out the year with a trip to Nottingham on Hogmanay before hosting the Panthers on New Years day.
Last League Visit from Blaze
Overall Home League Record Against Blaze
P 30 W 16 L 14 F 88 A 79
Number Crunching
The Flyers have lost their two encounters so far with the Blaze this season and have been outscored 3-16.
Michael Cichy has goals in both games against the Blaze this season
Zach Seitz and Chase Gresock both have hat tricks against the Flyers this season and both have 4 goals on the season in the two games between the teams.
With 33 power play goals Coventry lead all teams with the man advantage with all but one of those goals scored by forwards.
The Blaze have the third most shots on goal for per game and also the third most against in all EIHL competitions this season.
The Blaze top scorer against the Flyers in all EIHL competitions is Ben Lake with 9 goals, Lake also has 14 goals against the Flyers with Belfast for a total of 23.
Top scorers for Flyers against the Blaze are Ryan Dingle and Carlo Finucci who each have 7 goals.
SUNDAY JANUARY 5th GUILDFORD FLAMES v FIFE FLYERS @ GUILDFORD SPECTRUM – FACE OFF 6.00pm
Recent Form Guide
Following the last meeting of the teams in early December when the Flames recorded a shutout win in Kirkcaldy they travelled midweek to meet the Sheffield Steelers and suffered their heaviest defeat of the season when they were shellacked 9-0 at the Utlilita Arena. The following weekend there was frustration when they were on the road again with a visit to Glasgow where the ice plant failed and the game was abandoned with the score tied at one apiece with the Clan. The weekend before Christmas started with a 6-4 defeat in Nottingham before the Flames got back in the win column with a shootout win against the Coventry Blaze at the Spectrum. Their travel woes continued on Boxing Day as the Flames went down 7-4 in Manchester but on home ice two days later they flipped the scoreline with a 6-4 win against the Storm to make it three consecutive wins at the Spectrum. The Flames end 2024 with a trip to meet the Devils on Hogmanay before entertaining the Devils at the Spectrum on New Years day. Ahead of hosting the Flyers the Flames will return to the Utilita Arena to meet the Steelers on Saturday night.
Last League Visit to Flames
Overall League Away Record Against Flames
P 18 W 8 L 10 F 42 A 59
Number Crunching
The Flyers have one win against the Flames in their last nine visits to the Spectrum.
During that sequence the Flyers have been outscored 15-34.
The Flames have won all three meetings so far this season between the teams.
The Flames remain the only active team to not have a hat trick scorer against the Flyers.
Flames Brett Ferguson requires 1 goal, to tie Ian Watters who has 12 as their top scorer in EIHL games against the Flyers.
Chase Schaber, Mike Cazzola and Paul Crowder each have six goals against Guildford which leads the Flyers against the Flames in all EIHL competitions.
Michael Cichy has four goals against Flames this term whilst Ethan Strang also with four goals is top scorer this term for Flames against the Flyers.
The Flames have the second fewest goals per game average at 2.67 in all EIHL competitions this season. Flyers have fewest at 2.88.
The Flames with an average of 30.35 shots per game have the second fewest across all competitions this season.
