After a season in which the Flames collected a conference title, advanced to the Cup final and the Playoff Finals weekend, there was much hope for more of the same in 2019-2020, but in the end the term would forever be remembered as the one cut short by the Covid-19 Global Pandemic.
The off season lead up had great success with the additions of Canadian puck moving Defenceman Jordan Rowley and long time GB blueliner Steve Lee. Up front, Canadian skater Cam Braes and British trained forward Owen Griffiths joined the mix of a heavy number of returnees from the Cup and Playoff threatening side from the year prior.
The new schedule got off to a bit of a bumpy start with a League and Cup defeat before a Cup win over Coventry Blaze counted the first points in the opening 3 attempts. Flames collected just 3 wins in 8 tries across September, but better days were ahead with 7 October wins from 9 games including more Cup success over Coventry, and a pair of wins over Cardiff Devils, that helped Spectrum’s men top their Cup group. Around the same time, the Flames bolstered their netminding options with the addition of former Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Wouter Peeters who would finish the season as part of a trio that included returning players Travis Fullerton and Mike Will.
Cup success set up a 2 leg aggregate goal quarter final against Nottingham Panthers, but despite a 2nd leg 5-3 home ice win, it was not enough to overcome a poor start in the opener that eventually timed out on a 5-1 defeat, ensuring the leg 2 win would only tighten the combined gap with the Flames ultimately bowing out after an 8-6 loss across 120 minutes. The disappointment of that set, however, couldn’t dampen a terrific October, November, December stretch in which Surrey’s side won 16 of 20 games, which included a 7-game league winning streak.
The addition of Canadian forward Braylon Shmyr in the New Year, and the release of Braes, were the final roster transactions before a mix of results ensued in January and February. However, there was a moment of history with their first ever win at Belfast thanks to a 5-4 overtime success on February 29th. That preceded an exciting come from behind home ice 5-4 win over Sheffield Steelers less than 24 hours later to end the season on a high note, in what we would all discover later would be the final game of the season thanks to serious world health issues that overtook what promised to be an exciting playoff run.
