Glasgow Clan 2-1 Fife Flyers
Elite Ice Hockey League Challenge Cup Group B
Braehead Arena
Friday 5th October 2018
It’s been a while since I’ve been to an ice hockey match, but after a season where the performances on the ice didn’t merit my hard earned cash, the Clan look like they are going to be at least competitive this year. A Friday night fixture against a bitter rival seems like the perfect time to get back.
The Venue
Braehead Arena was built in 1999 alongside the larger Braehead shopping centre onto which it is attached. It has a full capacity of 5,200, although this is reduced to around 4,000 for ice hockey. The arena is largely used for ice hockey, being home to both the Glasgow Clan and Paisley Pirates and being the former home of the now defunct Scottish Eagles.
Although the arena is primarily used for ice hockey, it is a fully multi-purpose venue that has also hosted professional basketball, professional wrestling, boxing, ice shows, curling and large scale concerts. It is also home to an annual comic book convention and is open to the public as a skating rink. Sightlines for hockey are excellent from just about everywhere, and it almost feels like a purpose built hockey arena.
The Competition
The Elite ice Hockey league is the highest level of ice hockey in the UK and is the only fully professional league in the country. It contains 11 teams, divided into three conferences, with a playoff tournament to crown a champion at the end of the season.
The Challenge Cup actually pre dates the EIHL, first being played in 1997 by the Ice Hockey Superleague teams. the competition currently sees teams play in a group of either 3 or 4 teams, playing each team home and away before successful clubs reach the knockout stage.
The Teams
Glasgow Clan (who were known as Braehead clan before a rebranding this summer in order to appeal to a wider demographic) were formed in 2010, as the EIHL looked to expand into the West of Scotland, who had been left without a professional team since the demise of the Scottish Eagles in 2002. The Clan began play in the 2010-11 season, and reached the playoffs, before being knocked out in the quarter finals. Since the league went to a conference format in 2012-13, the Clan have won the Gardiner Conference on four occasions, but have never gotten past the playoff semi-final stage, with a solitary third place finish in 2013-14. The team missed the playoffs for the first time last season, and a full scale clearout was undertaken.
Hugely successful Scottish coach Pete Russell was appointed as coach for the 2018-19 season, and began the rebuilding process by re-signing several fan favourites who had left under the previous regime. Their Challenge Cup campaign has begun on the road due to Disney on Ice taking over Braehead Areana and they have just a solitary point after a shootout loss away to Fife. Three home wins could still see qualification for the knockout phase depending on other results. They have four points from five league games so far, with all games once again having been played on the road.
Fife Flyers were formed in 1938 and are currently the oldest professional ice hockey club in the UK. They joined the EIHL in 2011 and have a long list of honours including two British National league titles and two Celtic League championships. They were also British Champions on five occasions in previous league setups. They have won an impressive array of trophies over their 80 year history (at least 50 going by Wikipedia) and are based out of the Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy. They won the Gardiner Conference last season but lost in the League Play-off semi-finals.
Canadian Todd Dutiaume has been head coach since 2006, initially as player-coach. He first joined the club in 1999 and is celebrating his twentieth year in Kirkcaldy. They finish their Challenge Cup group campaign this evening and have five points from their five games thus far. Their league campaign has started well with seven points from four games played, and they sit in third place in the early table. The two sides tonight share what is known as the fiercest rivalry in Scottish hockey.
The Game
Clan started strongly and were the better team for the majority of the first period, save a two minute spell early on when Vaclav Stupka was sent to the penalty box for interference. The first Clan penalty kill of the game held strong, and they continued to dominate once they were back to full strength on the ice. Clan were dominating possession and looking the stronger side, but the Flyers were dangerous on the break, and Joel Rumpel in the Clan goal had some smart saves to make. With just 22 seconds remaining in the first, Clan took the lead. The puck broke to Gerard Hanson, who fumbled his fist effort but managed to poke the puck past Shane Owen at the second attempt to seal the lead at the first interval.
The second period was a spicy affair with end to end action broken up by several penalties, mostly to Clan players. The Flyers, despite still looking dangerous on the break couldn’t find a way past Rumpel, and the Clan’s penalty kill unit was on top form throughout as it remained 1-0.
The third period continued in much the same vein, with the Flyers pushing for the equaliser, the Clan having plenty of chances, and some penalty minutes for the hosts as tempers flared. Victory looked to have been sealed with a little over nine minutes left when Craig Peackock released Josh Gratton who struck a fantastic shot past Owen to make it 2-0. Less than three minutes later, Paul Crowder had pulled one back for the visitors in the aftermath of what looked like a clear missed holding call on the Fife forward. The goal set up a frantic finish, with Flyers goalie Owen being pulled for the final 90 seconds to give a man advantage on the ice. Despite this, Clan held firm for their first Challenge Cup win of the season.
The Pies
It’s quite expensive to eat at Braehead Arena, although it doesn’t seem to stop people, given the amount of time that hot dogs can be smelled during any given game. We didn’t partake in food at the arena, so I’m going to talk about “Chuck-A-Puck.” During the second interval, the crowd are invited to throw pucks that they have purchased for £1 a pop at Clangus, the Clan’s hard dancing anthropomorphic Highland Cow mascot. The closest puck to Clangus wins a £50 merchandise voucher. It’s quite a spectacle, and one of Kaitlin’s favourite things about a hockey game!
Admission: £20
Programme: None
Pie: Hot Dog £4
Bovril: Coffee/tea: £2. Soft Drink: £2. Beer: £4 can, £4.50 draft pint
Attendance: 3,365
Pies on the Terraces 