Former Braehead Clan favourite Chris Frank would consider coming out of retirement just to play in this weekend’s Elite League play-off quarter-final against Fife Flyers.

The American spent two years in Glasgow with Ryan Finnerty’s team until last summer, when he decided to hang up his skates.

Despite being something of a pantomime baddie for the Flyers faithful, Frank loved coming up against the Kirkcaldy men.

He said: ‘I’ve been following the boys all season and what they’ve been up to. They’ve had a good run to end the season so if I could come out of retirement, I’d want to come out of it to play Fife.

“Seriously though, I don’t regret my decision to retire, but I definitely miss ice hockey and I enjoyed the games against Fife.

“The passion of the both sets of fans was intense and the games were very heated. Those were the contests you wanted to play in, where it always felt like there was something on the line.

“You’re playing for yourself as well your teammates and the fans, so getting to play for Braehead in those games was always a good time for me.

“As much as I enjoyed playing at home, I would definitely say my second favourite place to play was at Fife because of the chaos both sets of fans brought.

“It was entertaining and I felt like I should have been the one paying to watch the entertainment of the crowd, more than them paying to watch us.”

Since quitting last summer, Frank now works for a pharmaceutical company in his native Seattle and he says he’s kept an eye on his old team’s progress this season.

The former defenseman believes Ryan Finnerty and his team deserve a lot of credit for the way they bounced back to take the Conference after injuries through February cost them a run at the league crown.

He added: “These two games are massive coming up and I’m sure Fife have a bitter taste in their mouth after thinking they had the Conference wrapped up and missing out.

“The boys definitely battled and persevered and got the job done and in that tough stretch in February, there was a lot of criticism flying around from all around the league, but they had to keep battling.

“Then they finished with that great run of wins in the end, finishing third and just a few points away from the top position.

“To have that criticism on you then finish as strongly as that, they deserve a lot of kudos.

“They’ll be a much stronger team for that experience and go into these two play-offs games in a strong position.”

(Image permission: Al Goold Photo)