Blake Pietila arrived in town on Thursday to meet his new team-mates ahead of this weekend’s opening league double header against Sheffield Steelers.

The 26-year old from Howell, Michigan, is the fifth goalie on the roster, along with Dominik Groh, Jordan McLaughlin, Ben Keddie and this week’s other addition, 18-year old Max Van Mullem who signed on a two-way deal with Streatham Redhawks.

Tim Wallace, head coach, said “Blake is a great goalie with strong fundamentals and quickness. He’s been highly regarded as an elite goaltender and a great teammate over the past few years. As our schedule gets busier, he’ll give us valuable depth and competition within our goalie group. I’m glad we were able to make this happen.”

Flyers have run with dual import netminders over the past few seasons with Shane Owen and Christian Purboo sharing the duties last season.

Purboo is currently in Fife studying at the University of St Andrews after plans to attend last season had to be put on hold as classes and training times clashed. Previously, Owen was joined by Janis Voris.

Pietila.joined following a season with Sparta Sarpsborg in Norway, where he made 39 regular-season appearances.

He has also iced across North America and Europe, having played in the NCAA, HockeyAllsvenskan and Norway’s top flight.

Pietila’s reputation was built during an impressive five-year career with Michigan Tech, where he established himself as one of the standout goaltenders in NCAA hockey.

Across 141 NCAA appearances, Pietila posted a .921 save percentage, along with 17 shutouts, and was named named CCHA Goaltender and Player of the Year in 2022-23, while earning a place on the CCHA First All-Star Team.

He began his pro career in North America before making the move to Europe, and spent the 2024/25 season with Kalmar HC in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan.