Fife Flyers Canadian forward departs club midway through injury spell

The Canadian skater departed the Kirkcaldy dressing-room with immediate effect, midway through a month-long spell on the sidelines through injury.

Hawerchuk was one of a raft of new signings made over the summer by head coach Tom Coolen, and iced in 18 games before being sidelined by an unspecified upper body injury at the end of November. He was on the Injury Reserve (IR) list which meant he could not play for 28 days - effectively ruling him out of the entire December programme.

The club said the Canadian forward informed them he was retiring from the professional game. Now back in Canada, his name figured on the scoresheet with Stratford Fighting Irish who play in the semi-pro Western Ontario Super Hockey League. According to the league and club websites, Hawerchuk netted a hat-trick in a 7-1 road win over Alvinson on Saturday. His move to the club was also posted on the Elite Prospects ice hockey database.

In a short statement, the club said: “Fife Flyers can confirm that Ben Hawerchuk has left the club with immediate effect. After receiving an injury and being placed on IR list, Hawerchuk returned home to recuperate where he recently informed the club that he was retiring from the professional game. We thank Ben for his contribution to the team this season and wish him all the best for his future endeavours.”

Hawerchuk’s place been covered by the vastly experienced Vitālijs Pavlovs, who may now find the door open to a permanent slot on the roster. A native of Riga, Latvia, he iced in the KHL with Dynamo Riga, and has also played in the ECHL with Colorado Eagles. Pavlovs has also made 154 appearances for the Latvian National team at various levels where he worked with Coolen who was assistant coach.