Flyers lose bruising Elite Cup final to Clan

Fife coach Dutiaume praises performance despite defeat

BRAEHEAD CLAN 3 FIFE FLYERS 1

Fife Flyers had to be content with runners-up spot in the inaugural Scottish Elite Cup after losing 3-1 to rivals Braehead Clan in a bruising final battle at Murrayfield last night.

Goals in the first two periods from former Flyers star Brendan Brooks, Landon Oslanski and Craig Peacock clinched a second trophy this year for the Glasgow side, who won the Gardiner Conference title last season.

The marathon match, punctuated by several mass brawls which early in the third period saw six Braehead players and five from Fife in the sin bin, had the 1,700 fans on their feet after Fife grabbed a goal back from Ian Young with 13 minutes left.

Coach Todd Dutiaume’s men failed to add to their total despite withdrawing their goaltender Andy Iles to give themselves six skaters in the final minutes.

Debut goal for Stars’ Lawrence

Debutant Chris Lawrence and Johan Andersson netted for Dundee Stars in their 6-2 defeat to Fife, whose marksmen were skipper Russ Moyer, Carlo Finucci, Ricards Birzins, Liam Heelis, Danick Gauthier and Chase Schaber.

Capitals lost 4-2 to Braehead Clan in the other semi-final with Sergei Banashkov and Igor Valeyev netting for the home side and Mike Embach, Jacob Doty, exCapitals player-coach Richard Hartmann and Landon Oslanski scoring for the Glasgow combine

Manchester Storm beat Coventry Blaze 4-1 in an Elite League clash last night while Milton Keynes Lightning emerged 6-3 victors in their match at home to Belfast Giants.

The Canadian said: “Obviously I’m disappointed with the result but not with the overall performance. We were thrilled and I think it shows that we will stand up and be counted this year.”

Dutiaume felt Clan’s goaltender Ryan Nie was the difference between the two teams and added: “I was pleased with our response in the third period and this game indicates that this will be a feisty and tough year.”

EDINBURGH CAPITALS 3 DUNDEE STARS 0

Omar Pacha stressed that Dundee Stars remain a work in progress after his squad finished fourth in the Elite Cup.

The coach saw his men go down 3-0 to Edinburgh Capitals in the third and fourth place play-off after losing Saturday’s semi-final 6-2 to Fife Flyers at Murrayfield.

The Canadian said: “We made three individual errors in front of goal which cost us and we are not finishing in front of the net. We played good hockey but could not find the net but we had chances.

“I’m looking forward to the real start to the season and the key will be putting our chances away. We had a lot today.”

Pacha admitted he is still trying to find the right blend and iced Fife-born back-up netminder Craig Holland in place of former Edinburgh netminder Travis Fullerton.