WEEK 4 of the 2025/26 Elite Ice Hockey League season and the Flyers get their Elite League campaign underway with a trip to Altrincham to face the Manchester Storm but first up at the Fife Ice Arena are the Belfast Giants who make their final visit in Challenge Cup action to the Kingdom.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 4th FIFE FLYERS v BELFAST GIANTS @ FIFE ICE ARENA – FACE OFF 7.00pm
Introducing the opposition – One to Watch!
The Flyers were put to the sword in their last outing against the Giants in Belfast and the man who piled on most of the misery was Patrick Grasso who bagged a hattrick, the 13th treble that the Giants have scored against the Flyers in all EIHL competition. The Giants dipped into their pool of Friendship Four alumni once more over the summer to add what is surely going to be a significant piece of their offensive puzzle. The 29-year-old American winger, whose cousin Patrick Mullen played for the Giants in the 2019/20 season, makes the switch to the SSE Arena after splitting last season between Austrian outfit Innsbruck and Swedish Allsvenskan side Västerås IK. A gifted scorer having netted at least 21 goals in each of his last four seasons Grasso is no stranger to Belfast having played in the 2019 Friendship Four for the University of New Hampshire.
An All-Rookie in his first season with New Hampshire after putting up 20 goals and 33 points in 40 games, Grasso would establish himself as a key member of the Wildcats during his five years with the team, which included being named alternate captain in his final two years. And that scoring touch would continue into the professional ranks, the Iowa native turning his hand to the full-time game in 2021 in a season split between the AHL’s Utica Comets and ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder, the latter of whom he would excel for in scoring 26 goals and 50 points in 68 games. Grasso would continue to thrive in Adirondack over the next two years, earning brief call-ups to the AHL’s Comets and Cleveland Monsters and being named the team’s captain for the 2023/24 season, and he would be named to the ECHL All-Star Team in 2024 after a 21-goal, 33-point season. That earned him the move to Austria where he had an outstanding first season in Europe, notching 21 goals and 35 points in 45 games for a struggling Innsbruck side before finishing the year in Västerås.
Last Challenge Cup Visit from Giants
GALLERY
Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young
Overall Home Challenge Cup Record Against Giants
P 17 W 2 D 1 L 13 OTL/SOL 1 F 28 A 63
Number Crunching
This will be the 36th meeting with the Giants in Challenge Cup action, the most for the Flyers against any other team in the competition.
The Flyers win percentage on those games is 14.29%.
The Giant are unbeaten on their last six visits in all competitions to the Fife Ice Arena.
The Flyers last win on home ice against the Giants was on 24th March 2024 when a double from Troy Lajeunesse and one from Vitalijs Pavlovs took the game beyond 60 minutes before Teemu Pulkkinen popped up with the winner for Fife.
The Giants have yet to score a road powerplay goal.
The Giants when leading after 2 periods are a perfect 4 for 4 on the season and the Flyers when behind after two periods a are 0 for 4 this term.
Giants Jordan Kawaguchi who had 2+4 in the last game against the Flyers has the most points in any game so far this season.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 5th MANCHESTER STORM v FIFE FLYERS @ PLANET ICE ALTRINCHAM – FACE OFF 5.30pm
Introducing the opposition & One to Watch!
The Manchester storm have had a somewhat sticky start to the season and after winning their opening match they have dropped their last 6 which includes two overtime losses. The early points leader for the Storm coming into the weekend with 2 goals and 4 assists is Brady Gilmour. The 26-year-old centre, born in Cobourg, Ontario, arrived in Manchester this summer following a season split between Austria’s Pioneers Vorarlberg (ICEHL) and Germany’s EHC Freiburg (DEL2). A former sixth-round NHL Draft pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2017, Gilmour developed through the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, amassing 134 points (57G, 77A) across four seasons. He later starred at the University of New Brunswick (USports), winning national titles and earning a reputation as a dependable two-way centre. In 102 USports appearances, Gilmour recorded 113 points (30G, 83A), including an impressive 41 points (12G, 29A) in just 30 league matches during the 2023–24 campaign — a performance that earned him First All- Star Team honours, along with a host of individual and team accolades that season. Gilmour began his professional career in North America with the Toledo Walleye (ECHL), before moving to Europe, where he registered 21 points in Austria’s ICE Hockey League. After joining EHC Freiburg in mid-February, he made an immediate impact — scoring the overtime winner on his DEL2 debut.
Last League Visit to Storm
GALLERY
Pic Credits – Manchester Storm
Overall League Away Record Against Storm
P 20 W 6 L 14 F 52 A 74
Number Crunching
Last season the Storm and Flyers split their 6 league meetings with three wins each. The Storm getting one extra point from an overtime loss at the Fife Ice Arena on the final weekend of the season.
One of those three wins for Fife was at the Storm Shelter and is their only win in their last 7 visits.
Phelix Martineau with 5 goals was the Flyers top scorer against the Storm last term with Loren Ulett going one better for the Storm in their matches against Fife.
The Storm and Flyers games have been evenly matched throughout the EIHL era with the Storm just holding the edge with a 30-28 record and scoring two more goals in those match ups.
Coming into the weekend the Storm have not been ahead in any of their last 3 matches and have not lead in 4 of their 7 played. They have spent 15% of their game time with the lead so far which is the lowest of all teams and in comparison the Flyers have spent 29% of their game time with a lead.
When conceding the first goal the Storm are 0 and 5 on the season and the Flyers are 0 and 4.
The Storm have given up 3 short handed goals which leads all teams.
Click the image below for your downloadable gamesheet for Saturday’s game against Belfast Giants .
