Flyer planning to ground old mates

Fife defenceman Birzins not fazed by facing former club in play-offs

Ricards Birzins made his Elite League debut for Manchester Storm against Fife Flyers.

Now, three years later, the Latvian defenceman wants to knock his former club out of the play-offs and take the Kirkcaldy club closer to their dream of winning a first play-off championship title.

The 28-year-old from Riga actually made 38 appearances for the English club in the 2015-16 season, scoring seven goals and assisting in 17 other strikes.

The six-footer, who has iced for clubs in Kazakhstan, Belarus, Norway, Italy and in North America, dismissed the suggestion that facing Storm in the quarter-final made it a bigger occasion.

He said: “Every team that I play against I want to win so it’s not a big deal for me having played for Manchester before, but it will definitely be great to beat them in the first play-off round.

“Both teams have showed good results in the regular season and this play-off match-up will be tough.”

The popular player believes the highly-vocal Fife fans can be crucial for the club who are seventh seeds and have not progressed beyond the semi-final stage.

The first-leg in the last eight tie is at Rosslyn Street tonight (7.15) with the return in the Storm Shelter tomorrow (5.30pm).

He said: “Our fans make a big difference in every game. Even if we are down a goal or two in a game our fans just keep backing us and pushing us all the time.

“It gives us that extra step to get ourselves back in the game and take our performances up another level.

“It would be great to have a huge crowd on Saturday.”

American forward Charlie Mosey agreed and said: “A big crowd at home can have a huge influence on the game.

“The players feed off of the crowd’s energy, and it can be difficult for opposing teams to play in a rowdy environment.”

Manchester are 3-1 ahead in wins against the Scots during the regular season.

But 26-year-old Mosey, who has claimed 15 goals and 21 assists in 49 games this season, added: “Manchester are a tough team.

“We know that we can beat any team when we are at our best.

“Our preparations won’t change much compared to a regular season game. The guys know that we need to play at our best and this team is not worried about our previous results against Manchester.”

In last night’s games Nottingham Panthers beat Coventry Blaze 4-3 and Belfast Giants saw off Guildford 6-4.

Fife Flyers: hoping for a big crowd for tonight’s first leg in Kirkcaldy.