Fife Flyers new head coach pledges to ice a team ‘fans can be proud of’

He brings a hockey CV that spans North America and Europe, but this will be his first time working in UK, and his immediate task will be to build a new team for the face-off in late September.

Coolen will start with a blank canvas, save for returning import, Shane Owen, and he pledged: ''I look forward to icing a team that Fife Flyers’ fans can be proud of - a team that battles every game."

His challenge is to rekindle a team that has finished the last three seasons in the bottom two, and missed out on the play-offs - and make the sport exciting again to win back the crowd which have dropped accordingly. He said: "I am really excited to be going to Fife. I have followed the Elite League more closely over the last few years. I competed against Belfast in the Continental Cup three years ago and am familiar with the caliber.”

Flyers set their sights on a coach with experience, and believe they have got their man.

Tom Muir, director, said: “We are excited to welcome Tom. Throughout our search for a head coach, we knew we wanted someone with previous coaching experience, and Tom comes to Scotland with an extensive amount of experience and a vast network of contacts at all levels. We're looking forward to working with coach Coolen as we continue to build his squad for the upcoming season.''

Coolen’s hockey CV includes over 15 years experience as head coach in various leagues across Europe and North America. He is a two-time winner of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport ‘Coach of the Year’ award, and a three-time Atlantic University Sport ‘Coach of the Year‘ recipient.

He built two national championship teams at Acadia University and five AUS champions at Acadia and the University of New Brunswick. He has also been assistant coach at the national hockey level with the Polish national team in 2017/2018 and the Latvian national side from 2012-2015, including coaching at the 2014 Winter Olympics and three IIHF World Championships.

In 2014-15, Coolen was assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL under Ted Nolan. More recently he has coached in Poland and Slovakia.

His appointment means two of the three EIHL Scottish sides will start the new season with new coaches, and they will go head to head on the opening weekend as Coolen’s Flyers face Glasgow Clan who recently appointed Jason Morgan behind the bench.

Dundee Stars have also replaced their coach, with Jeff Mason moving on after one season to make way for a returning Marc Lefebvre who was last at the club six seasons ago.

The 2023-24 campaign is due to face-off on the weekend of September 23-24. Flyers’ fans will get to see their forest glimpse of Collan’s new roster when he leads them into challenge games against Stars over the September 9-10 weekend, followed by games against Dutch club Tilburg Trappers and Romanian side CSM Corona Brasov the following weekend.