Lucas Chiodo (r.) has said goodbye to Meran. © Sarah Mitterer

All former Merano residents under one roof

It's one of the strangest transfer stories of the summer: three of last year's HCM cracks will be skating together on the ice next season - under the leadership of a coach who hasn't made any friends in the Passer city.

August 09, 2023

From: sportsnews

In May, Tom Coolen was introduced as the new coach of HC Meran, and less than two months later his departure was announced (SportNews reported). To the Eagles' astonishment, the Canadian had agreed on a commitment with the Fife Flyers in Great Britain at the same time. And that's exactly where Coolen has lured a whole bunch of former HCM cracks.

Coolen can rely on Ben Hawerchuk, Stephen Desrocher and Lucas Chiodo in the future. Striker Hawerchuk was supposed to be a top performer in the Passerstadt a year ago, but returned to his home club in the North American ECHL after just five games and five scorer points. Desrocher also only made a handful of appearances in the Meran defense before he had to miss the decisive championship phase due to injury. Chiodo, on the other hand, moved from Vipiteno to Merano in 2022 and collected 35 points in 42 AlpsHL games.

Incidentally, Desrocher will play alongside another well-known face in the Flyers' defense: Last year's Ritten defender Aleksi Mäkelä has also recently been under contract with the first division club from the Scottish port town of Kirkcaldy.