By Luke McGinnis
Scott Dutertre’s men are coming off a massive 6-1 win over the ECDC Memmingen Indians last night on home ice.
“I think we played an almost complete game,” began Dutertre. “I thought the first 14 minutes of the first period we were really pressing, the last six we were a little bit slow and started moving the puck laterally. As the game went along we settled in and we managed to find a way to keep the game simple. We’ve been talking about just getting the puck in areas, it may not be the prettiest play but just getting the puck into spaces and using our speed to skate through and get the puck to the interior.”
Keaton Jameson, Sebastian Bengtsson and Jonathan McBean all scored twice, while Carl Stankowski was sharp between the pipes in his first start for the Stars.
“I’m obviously happy to get off the board at home, it’s preseason but they all mean the same to me growing up here,” said McBean. “I’m really enjoying playing just now, with Ben and Laventure I think we’ve got quite a good thing going so hopefully we can keep doing it and keep turning up every night.”
The Fife Flyers have enjoyed a successful preseason so far, having picked up wins over the Kyiv Capitals and Hull Seahawks at home.
The Flyers underwent a rebuild during the summer after a disappointing 10th-place finish last season.
Notable returnees to the Fife squad include captain Garet Hunt, who led the league in penalty minutes last season, and young British prospects Mason Alderson and Ethan Hadden.
Surrounding them is a core of young players who are embarking on their first year of professional hockey after completing their collegiate careers in North America.
Forwards Lucas Chard, Mike Petizian, Zachary Power and Cole Stewart are all coming from the highly regarded Canadian USports league, while defencemen Joseph Pierce and Isack Bandu are beginning their careers after time spent in the NCAA.
Netminder Dominik Groh looks to provide some stability between the pipes for the Flyers, while veterans Joona Vainio, Victor Björkung, Max Coyle and Mika Partanen provide some experience to a largely inexperienced squad.
Fife’s new head coach Tim Wallace is no stranger to the EIHL either, having served behind the bench for the Nottingham Panthers between 2019-2021.
The Flyers’ leading scorer last season, Keaton Jameson, returns to Fife tonight in a Stars jersey, as does Ben Brown, who spent the previous two campaigns with the Kirkcaldy club.
“Going to Fife is always a good place to play, it’s a derby, but I wouldn’t approach it any differently,” added McBean. “What we’ve been doing so far has worked, so more of the same and hopefully we get the result.”
“We just have to take a business-like approach to what we do. You’ve got to play to the buzzer, it doesn’t matter what you did the shift before you’ve got to worry about the one you’re in at the moment and do your job. It doesn’t matter who we play, you can’t discriminate and do your job,” concluded Dutertre.
