The Fife Flyers are delighted to announce the signing of Slovenian winger Jaka Sturm for the 2025/26 Elite League season.
Sturm arrives in Scotland after spending much of his career with his hometown club, Acroni Jesenice in the Alps Hockey League.
And he says the chance to come to the Flyers was an exciting one and he’s already got his sights on this weekend’s opponents, Dundee Stars.
“I feel happy and proud to have signed here,” he said. I’m excited to be here and I’ve already met the guys who have made me feel welcome.
“I wanted to go somewhere away from Slovenia and play in another league so when the Flyers came to me, I didn’t think twice.
“I heard a lot of positive things about the Flyers and their long and proud history so I was happy to take up the offer.
“I heard the games with Dundee can be pretty intense. Hopefully I can play but if I do, it will be tough, but we need to show them who is boss.”
Sturm is a Slovenian international, with 26 appearances to his name for his country and spent last season with Jesenice, his second spell with the club, making 69 appearances in all competitions and scored 18 goals, with 47 assists.
He also featured in the Continental Cup last season, picking two helpers in his three appearances.
Prior to that, Sturm played in Olimpija Ljubljana for three seasons between 2021 and 2024, where he featured in the Champions Hockey League and winning three Slovenian championships.
All in, he’s a five-time title winner in his home country, with the other two coming from his first spell with Jesenice as he gets ready for his new challenge in a new country.
He played a total of 190 games in the Alps HL, scoring 40 goals and 71 assists, totalling 111 points from his seven seasons there.
Flyers head coach Jamie Russell is pleased to have him on board and outlined what he’ll bring to the team.
“Jaka is a big winger that plays with pace,” he said. “He has good hockey sense and is coming off a very productive season.
“I’m pleased to bring him into our team and look forward to seeing what can do for us in the season ahead.”
Sturm will wear the #42 jersey for the Flyers this season.
Wilds and scatters are the two special symbols that appear in almost every modern slot, and they work in completely different ways. One stands in for other symbols to complete a combination, the other pays or triggers regardless of where it lands. Confusing the two leads to a lot of misread paytables.
Wild And Scatter Symbols Explained
A standard wild substitutes for any regular symbol, but developers have layered variations on top of that, including expanding wilds that fill a whole reel and sticky wilds that stay in place across several spins. Players comparing features often Winplace to see which mechanics each title uses. Scatters sit outside the line system, paying on any position and typically triggering the free spin round when three or more appear.
| Symbol | Function | Line Dependent |
|---|---|---|
| Standard wild | Substitutes | Yes |
| Expanding wild | Fills a reel | Yes |
| Scatter | Pays or triggers | No |
- Wilds complete combinations, scatters usually do not
- Expanding and sticky wilds behave differently from standard ones
- Three or more scatters commonly trigger a feature
Special symbols shape how a slot feels far more than they change its return percentage, which is set by the game as a whole. A title packed with sticky wilds is not inherently more generous than a plain one. Reading the paytable before playing is worth a minute, and setting a session budget is worth rather more.
