Fife Flyers netminder Blair Daly took time out to help share his thoughts on the season so far; the changes in training, and reveal who is the biggest character in the Flyers dressing room.
Having just finished a hard shift at work, Blair sat down to share his thoughts on how he has been enjoying the new challenge of playing in the Rapid Solicitors Elite Ice Hockey League, and explained just how the training sessions have changed, and how there is no chance for some guys to slack off, now that Flyers in playing top level hockey once again.
“Lots has changed. We know that we are behind the other teams, we came in to the league late and we are the new boys, so it was always going to be a case of catching others up.”
“Our training is far more intense these days, before it would have been possible to slack off a bit and not give your all week in week out, but there is no hiding this season. We are facing opposition each week who play at a whole new level that we haven’t experienced in the past 5 years, everyday we have to put in 110% effort.”
“Training is a lot faster, and not just in terms of speed. We have to be quicker with our decision making, that is something we need to get to grips with. In the past we have had 4 or 5 seconds on the puck before we have needed to make a decision but now players are on you within that time, we need to make those decisions within 1 or 2 seconds or we will lose the puck.”
As the announcement came through that Fife Flyers had been accepted in to the EIHL, their British contingent recognised that they would have to make an even bigger commitment to show they were willing to do what it takes to play in the team within Britain’s top League.
“There is nothing set in stone about us having to take time to head to the gym and work on the weights and cardio, but we know if we want to be able to cut it in this league that was something we were more than willing to do. Yes it is hard for us, we also work full time, but it was something myself, and the other boys, were more than willing to do.”
This season has seen Blair working with an import netminder at Fife for the first time in his young career, and he has loved every minute of it.
“Garrett [Zemlak] has had a huge influence on my development. Someone with Garrett’s experience will always be a help to a young British netminder, he has been able to give me a lot of pointers, such as helping me with my positioning at key times. The last few seasons it was easier because if you were not in the right position you could still take an extra second to adjust and not be caught out, now that isn’t possible, if your not in position, you are going to be caught out.
“Unfortunately, with Garrett being injured over the last couple of weeks, we haven’t had the chance to work as closely, but he has said that he has a few things he wants us to work on when he is back on the ice training with the rest of the team.”
In fact, Garrett has taken the first steps to returning to action for Fife, returning to the ice for training on Wednesday evening, but is unlikely to feature this weekend.
Flyers have endured a difficult opening to their inaugural Rapid Solicitors Elite Ice Hockey League campaign, facing the leagues top sides in Coventry, Nottingham, Belfast and Cardiff in 4 of their opening 5 home fixtures. Performances have however, improved each week despite only posting 1 win in their opening 10 competitive games, with the atmosphere within camp still being good.
The team return to the ice this Saturday when they take on Scottish rivals Edinburgh Capitals at Fife Ice Arena, 7:15pm face-off. This weekends sees the team play just one game and the following weekend face 2 away trips. Flyers then return to home ice on the 29th October.
