McKenzie on 600 games, turning a corner, and fans sticking by the Flyers

Photo: Flyers Images

Sunday night was a milestone evening for forward Bari McKenzie who played his 600th game in the Premier Sports Elite League - and celebrated it with his Fife side beating Cardiff 3-1.

“It really doesn’t feel like I’ve played 600 games in this league,” began the Scottish forward. “I remember my first game like it was yesterday, and it’s been a rollercoaster. We’ve had ups and downs, but I’ve enjoyed every second of it and wouldn’t change anything for the world.”

McKenzie’s landmark game was made all the more special by his Fife Flyers’ side beating Cardiff 3-1. "We played really well. People can say it’s been a tough start to the season for us, albeit we did make the Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals, so did hit one of our goals,” explained the 35-year-old. “We knew Cardiff were a strong team having played at their rink already, but Fife is a fortress and we’re really tough to beat here. We played a really strong game, knew we’d come under pressure, but defended well with guys blocking shots. Shane Owen fantastic again and it was great to get the win. We’re now unbeaten I three at home and it’s a streak we need to keep going.

“The team were buzzing for after the game. They all said what a huge achievement it was to reach this milestone and were very proud of me. That felt really special for me as something like this doesn’t happen very often. I think I’m only the third Scottish player to play 600 games in this league as well!"

The Flyers got off to a bad start to the season with eight straight losses until beating Manchester. "To be honest, both Todd Dutiaume and Jeff Hutchins were great during that spell. ‘Dutes’ especially understood the situation we were all in not having been on the ice in a long time. That doesn’t mean to say he wasn’t annoyed at certain things but he understood that it wasn’t like the guys weren’t trying, but being off for so long we were all very rusty.” said McKenzie. "We just had to stay positive and know that this would be temporary, we weren’t going to go through the whole season getting beaten, we just needed a few good performances and some wins. We know we’ve got a good team, it was just about finding a full 60-minute game and now we have those wins are starting to happen."

He continued: "Our defensive zone play has been much stronger. We were working on things like our backchecking, pressure, and individual battles which we were losing a lot of but are now winning more. We relied too much on Shane Owen at the beginning of the season, and, while people might say we still do, I think the shots we’re giving up now are mostly from the outside instead of being point-blank chances.

"But in general, I think it was just about our levels of fitness. I hadn’t been on the ice for almost two years and you can train and skate as much as you like, but you need on-ice conditioning from playing. Personally, it took me a good month to start finding my feet better."

The run of wins has also been special for the fans, who McKenzie was quick to pay tribute to. "Our fans are very loyal in Fife. If I’m a fan of a football team, I can have an opinion on how they're playing, and ours are entitled to vent their frustration when we’re not winning. But they have our back, they’re great supporters and they kept turning up and stuck with us," he acknowledged. "When Fife is busy and our fans are behind us, it’s the best atmosphere in the league - they’re on top of you, and it’s so loud in there!'

Looking ahead, what are the Flyers' aims now the opening seven weeks are behind us? "At the start of the season, I was asked what our goals were, and I said 'qualifying for Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals' which we've now done. The next step is to make the playoffs because in the last season that COVID cut short we weren't going to, so we need to target that," McKenzie explained.

"If we can win the majority of our home games and go .500 on the road we’ll put ourselves in a good position. I'm not saying it is going to be easy, but we have to set a goal to try and get up the table. We’ve finished in the top five in my first season in Fife, but we need to put ourselves in a good position to get a good playoff draw because after that, in an aggregate series, anything is possible."