WEEK 10 of the 2025/26 Elite Ice Hockey League season and the Flyers start on the road with a trip to West Yorkshire to meet the Sheffield Steelers before heading home to host the Cardiff Devils on Sunday evening.
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15th SHEFFIELD STEELERS v FIFE FLYERS @ UTILITA ARENA – FACE OFF 7.00pm
Introducing the opposition – One to Watch!
The Sheffield Steelers were given a tough encounter two weeks ago against the Flyers and in midweek they eventually secured two points in overtime as they surrendered a two goal lead late at home against the Guildford Flames to go joint second in the strandings. The Steelers also secured a Challenge Cup semi-final berth as group winners. On home ice the Steelers are 7 and 4 whilst on the road their form has been more consisted with a 7 and 2 record. In that earlier meeting against the Flyers Evan Jasper collected the man of the match award and with 6 goals and 12 assists coming into this weekend 33 year old Whitby Ontario native has made a solid start to his Steelers career. Jasper who signed a two year deal in the summer for Sheffield is well travelled and the he can now add the UK to Canada, America, Denmark, China, France, Germany, Czech and Austria to his hockey journey. After completing his education with Sacred Heart University (between 2014 and 2017) where he ended up as the team captain, Jasper turned pro in 2017 when joining Greenville Swamp Rabbits when he played for just over a season before heading to Denmark for the 2018-19 season with Frederikshavn White Hawks. The year after and it was off to China to play in the VHL for Beijing with ORG. 2020-21 saw a split season between France (Chamonix) and Germany, where he helped Bietgheim Steelers get promoted from the DEL 2 to the DEL, he remained for a further two seasons in German until a move to Czechia with Mountfield HK. Last season it was Austria and 23 points in 46 games for Vianna Capitals. On his signing he said “I guess I like to travel”. Head coach Aaron Fox said “Evan is a dynamic offensive player who has put up real solid numbers in some top European leagues. He can slot into a top 6 role and give us some real goal scoring ability. Evan skates well and competes hard and is willing to get to the paint. I know he can play all 3 Forward positions and has played on the PP and PK wherever he’s been. I think his game translates very well here”.
Last League Visit to Steelers
GALLERY
Pic Credits – Sheffield Steelers
Overall Away League Record Against Steelers
P 33 W 3 L 30 F 48 A 158
Number Crunching
The Flyers are looking to end a 19 game winless run in all EIHL competitions on Sheffield ice.
It’s the longest losing road streak against any team in the EIHL for the Flyers and is the second longest ever losing streak against any team in the EIHL era.
Flyers 10.6 winning percentage all time on the road in league play against the Steelers is their lowest return against all other teams in the EIHL era.
When ahead after the 2nd period this season the Steelers are a perfect 10 and 0.
The Steelers have yet to score a goal at home in the opening 10 minutes of their games so far this season.
The Steelers have 17 power play goals on the season in all EIHL competitions which is most of all teams.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16th FIFE FLYERS v CARDIFF DEVILS @ FIFE ICE ARENA – FACE OFF 5.00pm
Introducing the opposition & One to Watch!
The Cardiff Devils will be the final team that the Flyers have to meet this season. Coming into the weekend the Welsh side have only been beaten in 1 of their 7 games and sit joint second along with the Sheffield Steelers in the standings. This form suggests that they have recovered from what might be described as an indifferent start in Challenge Cup play as they missed out on a tie breaker with the Nottingham Panthers to advance to the play in round. The early points leader in all competitions is American Brandon Estes who has 5 goals and 14 assists ain his 19 games played. 28 year old Estes joined the Devils from the Odense Bulldogs of the top Danish League, following the Devils’ new head coach Paul Thompson and assistant coach Niklas Hovivuori to Cardiff. The trio won the Danish Championship with Odense in April with Estes leading the team in scoring throughout the playoffs with 7 goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 17 games. Estes led his team in scoring during the regular season as well, scoring 14 goals and 38 assists for 52 points in 48 games. He finished sixth in the overall scoring table in the entire league and led all defencemen in goals. Paul Thompson spoke about bringing Estes to Cardiff saying; “I was thrilled we managed to get Brandon to Cardiff, having played for me last season in Odense we know each other very well. Brandon has an unbelievable engine and can log big minutes, he led Odense in points in the regular season and in the play-off Championship run, as a defenseman! He has a high compete level and is a humble man. I might be biased but he was the League MVP in my opinion and made the difference on so many occasions. We have secured ourselves a quality person and a high quality defenceman.” Prior to making the move to Odense, Estes spent two seasons in the ECHL with the Savannah Ghost Pirates, putting up 24 points and 32 points respectively and appeared in the ECHL All-Star game season 2023/24. Before turning pro, he played 5 seasons at Union College in the NCAA, leading his team in scoring in his final year.
Last League Visit from Devils
GALLERY
Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young
Overall League Home Record Against Devils
P 33 W 9 L 24 F 84 A 123
Number Crunching
Having been swept in league play last season by the Devils the Flyers are winless in their last 6 games against the Welsh side and have been outscored 11-33.
The Devils are also unbeaten in their last 5 visits to the Kingdom.
Cole Sanford has goals in his last 5 games against the Flyers.
The Flyers win percentage at home against the Devils in regular season play in the EIHL is 33.3 percent which is second lowest against all teams.
Devils are 5 and 4 on the read in all competition this season.
The Devils have spent only 16 percent of their game time trailing in games this season which is best amongst all teams. The Flyers in contrast have been behind for 59 percent of their game time which is most amongst all teams.
When leading after 2 period the Devils are a perfect 9 and 0 in all games played this season whilst the Flyers are 1 and 12 when training after two.
Click the image below for your downloadable gamesheet for Sunday’s game against Cardiff Devils
