Saturday 10 January 2015

Challenge Cup Time!

Hello folks!

This week saw the opening matches of the Challenge Cup quarter-finals, with our own Cardiff Devils, as well as the Fife Flyers and Sheffield Steelers, taking the lead in their two-leg series.

Cardiff and Belfast kicked off the festivities on Tuesday, as the Welsh side ventured to the Northern Irish capital to take on the reigning Elite League Champions at the Odyssey Arena. 

Despite missing Matthew Myers and Captain Tyson Marsh, the Devils managed to fight their way through three periods, and the refereeing of Mike Hicks, to come out with a 4-3 win.

After a scoreless first period, Cardiff scored first, through Joey Haddad on the powerplay, to take the lead.  Belfast equalised just over a minute later, through Man of the Match Colin Shields, but even grit and determination was not enough to stop the visiting side from scoring two more second period goals (Lord @ 36:56 and Morrisette @ 39:04), taking a 3-1 lead into the final period.

Cardiff continued their plight early in the third, with a second goal from Jake Morrisette to increase the Devils’ lead to three goals.

However, we all know that Belfast are not a team to lay down when the going gets tough, and the home side fought back gallantly (not a word I would use to describe Darryl Lloyd but eh).  They managed to score two goals in two minutes to bring the deficit back within one, the first of the two coming off a beautiful stretch pass from Calvin Elfring that bypassed every Devils’ player on the ice!

Of course, there had to be some drama with Hicks at the whistle – there is always is, right?  Tuesday night saw Cardiff on the penalty kill for most the final ten minutes, giving the Giants an incredible opportunity to push the game into overtime.   As a result, Doug Clarkson will miss tonight’s game against the Coventry Blaze, after being assessed a five-minute major for Spearing and a Game misconduct.  The DOPS’s decision and explanation on this ban can be found here: http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/ban-for-clarkson-p195694

Meanwhile, while I was having a panic attack as Belfast shot chance after chance into the glove, stick or body of wonder man Ben Bowns, our boys fought hard to keep their lead.  I can safely say I have never been so happy to hear the final buzzer! 

Although I was slightly disappointed we didn’t get to the see the Bownsy Wave…

Wednesday night saw a 6-4 win for the Fife Flyers over the Nottingham Panthers at the National Ice Centre, with the Scottish side icing five different scorers!

And, to round off the Challenge Cup games for this week, Gerad Adams and his Sheffield Steelers crossed the Scottish border to face off against the Dundee Stars, bringing home a 3-0 win to give them the advantage going into their second leg.

This coming week will see the second leg for both Sheffield vs Dundee and Cardiff vs Belfast, as well as the first leg for Coventry vs Braehead – all games taking place on Wednesday at 7:30pm.

But, tonight, we Devils’ fans will watch our boys face off against the Coventry Blaze tonight at the BBT (FO 7:30pm) before they travel up to the NIC tomorrow for an early 4pm FO against the Nottingham Panthers.  Good luck in both fellas, and safe trip to all of the Red Army making the long trip North tomorrow!


Happy hockey folks!

Sunday 4 January 2015

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, folks!  Hope you all had fab time, cheering in 2015!

But to us hockey fans, the New Year does not start in January, as it does for those unfortunate many that do not follow our wonderful sport.  No, for us, the New Year starts in the Autumn, when it is just starting to get cold and the trees are orange (but not that nasty shade of orange that the Squeelers wear!!).

Now that the ‘actual’ New Year has come around, perhaps it’s time to look back on how far we’ve come.  So much has happened, both in terms of hockey and in life in general, since the start of the season that it is almost unbelievable that only three months has passed since the 2014-2015 season started.

Down in Cardiff, we were greeted with the welcome news that our precious club was to be rescued by Steve King and his partners from the hockey homeland.  After a terrible season the previous year, we were all looking forward to what this new conglomerate could bring to the Bay!  With the involvement of Todd Kelman and the promotion of Andrew Lord to player/coach, things were certainly looking up for us.

And what a team we have!  While familiar faces such as Josh Batch, Tyson Marsh and Mark Richardson all remained with the club, Lord and Kelman, with the help of long standing Bench Coach and former Devils’ player Neil Francis, worked tirelessly to bring new talent to the Welsh Capital.

Amongst the newcomers were now-crowd favourites Doug Clarkson and Trevor Hendrikx, as well as sharp shooters Brent Walton (and his little one, Colby, too) and Joey Haddad.  To help Richie and Batch on the blueline, Carl Hudson and Andrew Hotham (my personal favourite!) were drafted in.   And last, but certainly in no means least, GB netminders Ben Bowns and Mike Will were fitted between the pipes, bringing not only immense skill and dedication to this outlook, but also the Bownsy Wave!!! Where would we be without that after a hard-fought win?!

Now, of course, there are several other guys who joined the team, as well as several who remained from previous years, but if I got started on talking about them all, we’d be here all day!  I could go on for days, and that’s just talking about what great guys they are – without even mentioning their hockey talent!

Of course, we have to remember those we’ve lost – although most of them have hung around the league!  At the beginning of the season, we welcomed back Gerad Adams and Phil Hill back to the Tent, with their new Sque- I mean Steelers team.  Crowd favourites such as Chris Blight,

A lot of critics were cautious about this new team of ours, but the boys have certainly proved, week in and week out, that we are here to stay.  Just like in days gone passed, the BBT is once again a placed to be feared by visiting teams!  No longer can the likes of Adam Keefe and Darryl Lloyd (yuck!) come waltzing into our place and push us around; Heno has certainly seen to that!

With loud renditions of ‘you got battered’ ringing throughout the bay, I can truly say I am proud to be a Devils’ fan.  Our boys stand up and take names wherever they go.  And the Red Army are behind them 100% of the way.

At this point, I’m pretty sure Coventry’s Brian Stewart gears up extremely reluctantly before every Devils’ game, no matter which Planet Ice arena they are playing in – he must be havin nightmares of @WildthingJ74’s ‘stewwwwwwart’ taunts by now!

Now, as we move forward into 2015, with wins against both the Hull Stingrays and the Fife Flyers in our opening games of the New Year, our team sits joint 2nd in the League, with three games in hand over the league leading Braehead Clan .  With our guys proving there is nothing they can’t do, there are no words to describe how excited I am for what is to come!



Happy New Year, folks!  Hope you all had fab time, cheering in 2015!

But to us hockey fans, the New Year does not start in January, as it does for those unfortunate many that do not follow our wonderful sport.  No, for us, the New Year starts in the Autumn, when it is just starting to get cold and the trees are orange (but not that nasty shade of orange that the Squeelers wear!!).

Now that the ‘actual’ New Year has come around, perhaps it’s time to look back on how far we’ve come.  So much has happened, both in terms of hockey and in life in general, since the start of the season that it is almost unbelievable that only three months has passed since the 2014-2015 season started.

Down in Cardiff, we were greeted with the welcome news that our precious club was to be rescued by Steve King and his partners from the hockey homeland.  After a terrible season the previous year, we were all looking forward to what this new conglomerate could bring to the Bay!  With the involvement of Todd Kelman and the promotion of Andrew Lord to player/coach, things were certainly looking up for us.

And what a team we have!  While familiar faces such as Josh Batch, Tyson Marsh and Mark Richardson all remained with the club, Lord and Kelman, with the help of long standing Bench Coach and former Devils’ player Neil Francis, worked tirelessly to bring new talent to the Welsh Capital.

Amongst the newcomers were now-crowd favourites Doug Clarkson and Trevor Hendrikx, as well as sharp shooters Brent Walton (and his little one, Colby, too) and Joey Haddad.  To help Richie and Batch on the blueline, Carl Hudson and Andrew Hotham (my personal favourite!) were drafted in.   And last, but certainly in no means least, GB netminders Ben Bowns and Mike Will were fitted between the pipes, bringing not only immense skill and dedication to this outlook, but also the Bownsy Wave!!! Where would we be without that after a hard-fought win?!

Now, of course, there are several other guys who joined the team, as well as several who remained from previous years, but if I got started on talking about them all, we’d be here all day!  I could go on for days, and that’s just talking about what great guys they are – without even mentioning their hockey talent!

Of course, we have to remember those we’ve lost – although most of them have hung around the league!  At the beginning of the season, we welcomed back Gerad Adams and Phil Hill back to the Tent, with their new Sque- I mean Steelers team.  Crowd favourites such as Chris Blight,

A lot of critics were cautious about this new team of ours, but the boys have certainly proved, week in and week out, that we are here to stay.  Just like in days gone passed, the BBT is once again a placed to be feared by visiting teams!  No longer can the likes of Adam Keefe and Darryl Lloyd (yuck!) come waltzing into our place and push us around; Heno has certainly seen to that!

With loud renditions of ‘you got battered’ ringing throughout the bay, I can truly say I am proud to be a Devils’ fan.  Our boys stand up and take names wherever they go.  And the Red Army are behind them 100% of the way.

At this point, I’m pretty sure Coventry’s Brian Stewart gears up extremely reluctantly before every Devils’ game, no matter which Planet Ice arena they are playing in – he must be havin nightmares of @WildthingJ74’s ‘stewwwwwwart’ taunts by now!

Now, as we move forward into 2015, with wins against both the Hull Stingrays and the Fife Flyers in our opening games of the New Year, our team sits joint 2nd in the League, with three games in hand over the league leading Braehead Clan .  With our guys proving there is nothing they can’t do, there are no words to describe how excited I am for what is to come!
  

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Cardiff Devils vs Belfast Giants (L) 06/12/2014, Cardiff Devils vs Belfast Giants (L) 07/12/2014

Devils 4, Giants 1 - Final (Saturday)

Devils 5, Giants 3 - Final (Sunday


Four points… against Belfast… the defending Elite League champions… enough said, right?

.
.
.

Only kidding!  Nine goals, 4000 spectators and no Mike Hicks!  Can things get any better for us Devils’ fans right now?! 

I was definitely one happy member of the Red Army as I watched our guys claim four precious league points from the defending League Champions, the Belfast Giants.  Now, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly nervous before Saturday’s game but the Devils certainly pulled out all the stops to demonstrate just how serious they are about their Elite League campaign this year!

Saturday night saw a complete Cardiff Devils’ roster face off in front of a crowd of more than two thousand fans, as the Red Army came out in force – probably because they heard about the clappers being given out on entry!! (Yes, I’m secretly jealous I didn’t get one!  The downside to watching the webcast instead of making the two-hour journey to the Bay!) 

Surprisingly, we had no fighting majors recorded this weekend – unfortunate I know!  Last time we engaged in a double header against the reigning champions, over in the Land of Guinness, we saw Josh Batch giving Giants’ captain Adam Keefe a taste of his own medicine, drawing blood from the pain we all hate to love.  While both sides seemed just as physical this time round, tempers were mostly in control.

Despite that, we did see a bout of handbags in the opening period, after a hit from Trevor Hendrikx (who else, eh?).  We had some hugs and a little of dancing side to side between Hendrikx and Kompon, before ex-NHLer Kevin Westgarth got himelf involved.

Now I was sure Westgarth was going to get third man in; considering I’m usually rubbish at spotting third man in, I thought it was completely obvious!  But, alas, our refs apparently did not think so… In fact, Westgarth was treated to a four minute roughing penalty, while Josh Batch, who jumped in to defend his defensive partner, sat for two.

Shortly after, alternate captain Jake Morrisette officially opened the scoring at 18:48, with his twelfth goal of the season.  I say officially, because the Giants were unfortunate to have a very early goal disallowed.

After a hard fought first period, the Devils’ carried their one goal lead into the second, where they managed to double their lead just over half way through – coming from Joey Martin, who also scored his twelfth goal of the season!

Colin Shields managed to pull one back for the visiting side, assisted by Robby Sandrock and Craig Peacock, at 31:44.  This seemed to revive the Irish side slightly, finishing the period strongly.

Going into the third, tensions were high.  With the BBT rocking, both sides were definitely putting on a show, especially between the pipes.  While the two teams battled in the neutral zone, Ben Bowns and Carsen Chubak stood on their heads in a competition to see who would be the first to fall.  As seems to be the way when these two teams come together, it was the visiting fans that were to be disappointed.

His offense struggling to come up with the goods, it was up to Carsen Chubak to keep his team in the game and for the most part, he did extremely well.  But as the game wore on and legs began to fail, Chubak slipped and Matty Myers was there to take advantage, not once but twice!

With Sawada and Hendrikx in the box after another round of handbags, things were heating up.  But Myers was unfazed as he shot the puck past the Giants’ goaltender, first on 4-on-4 play and again ninety seconds later whilst on the man advantage after Robby Sandrock was sent to the box for high stick.

After such an explosive ending, is it any wonder that the BBT was mayhem on Sunday, with even more of the Red Army piling in to see all of the action?!

Like Saturday, it was unclear before faceoff, which way the game was going to go.  Many expected the Giants to come fighting, desperate for revenge after falling 4-1 the previous night.  However, it was the Devils that came out raring.

And raring they were!  With just four and a half minutes played, Joey Haddad added his thirteenth goal of the season to give his team the early lead.  While the game had been end to end for the opening minutes, the Devils had been pressurising Chubak and it was only a matter of time before he let one slip.

Not even a minute later, Jesse Mychan, with his family watching all the way over in Canada, had a brilliant breakaway opportunity to double the lead, but was interfered with, earning himself a penalty shot!  Unfortunately Chubak read him like a book and was able to get down before Jesse could shoot the puck through his legs.

But never mind – Brent Walton, who was one of four players sitting on twelve goals for the season so far, could not be out done by Haddad and also added his thirteenth goal to give the Devils’ a two-nothing lead with only five minutes played!

With things looking bad for the visiting side already, Coach Thornton used up his time out early, giving his players a quick break to evaluate their position.  But it must have been hard to make himself heard as the volume continued to increase as the Red Army got into full swing!

Frustrated as they were, the Giants were struggling to find the offensive strategy to decrease the deficit.  Most of their shots were coming from outside of the zone and even Adam Keefe could not goad Jesse Mychan into a bit of rough and tumble – Jesse just laughed!

Normally both extremely physical teams anyway, it seemed impossible for the hits to get bigger, harder or even more bruising!  Belfast were definitely taking out their frustration on any in black that moved, but the home side was not going to take it lying down – big checks were coming from every line on both sides and it was extremely surprising that we did not see any gloves flying from either side.

But the Giants’ desperate efforts were rewarded with just over seven minutes left in the opening period when, with Andrew Hotham in the box for slashing, Ray Sawada managed to push the puck under Bowns to make it a one-goal game.  There was some controversy over the goal, with the assisting player, Kompon, playing the puck with a broken stick, but Matt Thompson gave a good goal.

It seems all the Devils’ wanted in the scoring action tonight, as Joey Martin added a third Devils’ goal, at 16:37 (with Darryl Lloyd in the box – surprise, surprise), giving him thirteen goals for the season so far!  When they say hockey teams are close, it seems they do actually do everything together!

To round off an extremely eventful period, Adam Keefe managed to grab another goal for his team, giving them a slight confidence boost going into the second period of what has become an extremely close game.

It was this confidence that saw them camped out in the Devils’ zone at the beginning of the second period, forcing long shifts for both Hendrikx and Batch and Bowns to put on the show of his life!  We definitely saw some highlight-reel material from both goaltenders this weekend.

With the pushing and shoving at an all time high, it was only a matter of time before someone was sent to the box.  And there were several penalties that went by without any definite chances for either side.  It wasn’t until Brockwell was sent to the box for delay of game with just over ten minutes left to play that things got interesting.

With only one goal in it and both sides playing a tight game, it was definitely the case that the next goal was crucial in turning the tides.  And unfortunately for the ruckus that was the Red Army, Jeff Mason managed to slot on in shorted handed to give the Giants the boost they needed, tying the game for the first time.

Tensions continued to build as the second ticked away but the score remained the same going into the final period. 

But despite a show of tired legs at the end of the second period, the Devils were certainly not down and out!  With just a minute and sixteen played, Andrew Hotham added his eighth goal of the season to give the Welsh side the lead once more.           
And to finally round off the scoring for the evening, with a beautiful sniper shot from the wing, player-coach Andrew Lord showed us all how it is done, celebrating the win by pulling on the emblem on the front of his jersey!  Team pride is definitely what we like to see!!

With the fifth Devils’ goal coming with over ten minutes still to play, the Giants were desperate to get themselves back in the game.  Tempers were running high as Giants swiped at Devils and at themselves!  Things only got worse as they had their second goal of the weekend disallowed for offside.

After using his timeout so early in the game, all Steven Thornton could do was stand behind the bench and watch as his player desperately tried to decrease the deficit.  He pulled Chubak with less than two minutes to go, giving his side the extra man but the Devils had the crowd on the ice with them and nothing was going to get through.

Unfortunately for Darryl Lloyd, our boys in black were certainly feeling the energy in the BBT, as Tyson Marsh ploughed the Belfast no. 72 into the boards.  Lloyd was slow to get up and had to be helped from the ice, although he did leave on his feet – So did Tyson, for that matter, when he was given a 5+Game for boarding.  Hopefully we won’t see too many repercussions from that, and we hope that Darryl Lloyd is okay.

Despite the Giants’ six on four advantage for the final thirty five seconds, the game was finished and the Red Army cheered for a fantastic four point weekend!!

So after an amazing weekend against the defending Elite League Champions, the Devils now look ahead to next weekend, as they face off against two of the top teams in the league this year.  Friday night sees a 7:30pm game against the Sheffield Steelers in Tin Town, before they return home to rest up on Saturday to face off against the league-leading Braehead Clan on Sunday!

Make sure you don’t miss a minute of the action this weekend! 

Unfortunately for me, this is my last post until after Christmas now, so I certainly wish you all a Happy Hockey Christmas!!! 

Let’s Go Devils!!


Monday 1 December 2014

Cardiff Devils @ Braehead Clan (L) 29/11/2014, Cardiff Devils @ Dundee Stars (L) 30/11/2014

Devils 3, Clan 7 - Final

Devils 3, Stars 1 - Final

Hi guys and girls!

What a topsy turby weekend, eh?  Our lads were off above the border this weekend past, facing off against the Braehead Clan and Dundee Stars with a large Red Army presence singing loudly behind them!

Not only have we seen fabulous Facebook pictures but we also had a fabulous scoreline against Dundee on Sunday, both of which almost managing to clear up the stink from an unfortunate loss on Saturday in Glasgow. 

After an amazing eighteen-goal weekend last weekend, we were all (or at least I was) shocked to see our boys go down seven goals to three against Ryan Finnerty and his Braehead Clan. 

Stefan Meyer, Derek Roehl and Neil Trimm started off the scoring for the Scottish side in the first period, with both Meyer and Trimm scoring on the man advantage.  They also rallied to add two more as the second period ticked on, before the Devils got themselves into gear.

With Meyer scoring his second at 27:42 and Scott Pitt added his first of the night five minutes later, a fire was lit beneath the visiting side, with captain Tyson Marsh opening the Welsh scoring at 35:33, assisted by Brent Walton and Mark Richarson.  Richie followed this up with a goal of his own a few minutes later to keep the deficit at three going into the third.

The Braehead scoring continued in the opening minute of the final twenty, as Derek Roehl added his second of the night, increasing their lead to four goals, just thirty five seconds after the start of the period.

Andrew Hotham continued to give the travelling Red Army hope of a comeback, as he fired one home to decrease the deficit once again with just over ten minutes left in the game, but Scott Pitt put any chance of a Welsh win to bed with his second goal just 15 seconds later.

With sore heads and heavy hearts, the Red Army toddled on to Dundee, where those of us that were left at home were treated to a free webcast!  I was certainly excited at this prospect and have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the webcast; the commentators were top-notch and I can’t wait to see more later on in the season.

Like in Braehead the night before, the Stars organisation allowed the singing of the Welsh national anthem; in both rinks, this was certainly a gesture that did not go unappreciated. 

The boys were certainly fired up for their final game of the weekend and, despite missing player/coach Andrew Lord and (I think) Trevor Hendrikx, the Cardiff Devils were taking no prisoners.  Also missing from the ice for the home side were Chris Blight and John Mitchell.

Joey Martin kicked off the scoring for our boys in red, with just over ten minutes played.  Despite good forechecking on both sides, the score remained at 1-0 going into the second period, where Igor Gongalsky added an equaliser for the home side whilst on the powerplay at 21:50.

It was all tied up at one a piece going into the final period and it was clear that the next goal was crucial.  And that goal came with ten minutes left, a beautiful coast-to-coast bruiser scored by our very own Joey Haddad!

With momentum in our favour, it wasn’t surprising to see the amount of Devils’ shots increase.  Stars’ netminder Marc Cheverie certainly deserved his Man of the Match award! 

Finally, alternate captain Jake Morrisette added that all important goal to seal the Devils’ win with just over two minutes remaining – giving the Red Army something else to sing about on the way back down to Wales!

Bringing home 2 points this weekend, the Devils now look forward to the coming challenge – a two-game home stand against Adam Keefe and his Belfast Giants.  It’s sure to be a hell of a weekend, and will unfortunately be my last weekend before Christmas!  It will certainly be a hell of way to (temporarily) sign off!

So get your jerseys dusted off and get down to the Bay, because our guys are going to need everyone pulling for them!


Let’s Go Devils!

Monday 17 November 2014

Cardiff Devils @ Nottingham Panthers (L) 15/11/2014, Cardiff Devils vs Dundee Stars (L) 16/11/2014

Devils 3, Panthers 2 - SO Final

Devils 5, Stars 4 - Final

Hello, hello!

Our boys went North and back this weekend, as they faced Nottingham in the NIC on Saturday night before travelling home to square up against the Stars on Sunday.  It has definitely been a tense weekend to be a Devils’ fan but the guys pulled it out of the bag and have rewarded us with four points!

Saturday night saw the return of Chris Culligan, who missed last weekend’s home game against the Belfast Giants, and Joey Martin, who missed the entire weekend due to illness.  The only Devil still missing from the line-up in Carl Hudson, out with a hand injury – which we all hope is healing nicely!

The numbers show a relatively calm game in the NIC, both sides scoring two goals a piece and only accumulating 14 PIMs between them throughout the entire 65 minutes of play! 

Bruce Graham opened the scoring for the home side with a powerplay goal at 14:50, with Joey Haddad in the box for holding.  But the visitors fought back with a goal of their own, from MOM Brent Walton at 18:37.

Walton has been on fire recently, picking up the man of the match award for both games this weekend.  With 10 goals and 11 assists (21 points), Walton leads the Devils in scoring in all competitions.  Soft hands and sharp shooting make this guy one to watch – even if he’s slightly shorter than the opposition!

And, on a side note, did you see Brent and his little boy on the ice last Sunday? Can you say adorable?!  Swoon!  But I digress….

The Devils’ no. 18 also helped himself to his second goal of the evening just three minutes into the third period.  The goal, assisted by no. 80 Jesse Mychan, brought the Devils level on the scoreboard, after Panthers’ captain David Clarke put his side ahead just after the halfway point in the second.

With the score tied at two a piece, the NIC was definitely a very tense place to be for the final 10 minutes of the game…. You could cut the tension with a skate blade!  But alas, both Ben Bowns and Mattias Modig (standing in for Craig Kowalski while he’s out with an injury) were standing on their heads to keep the score level and regulation finished with no further goals.

Off into overtime we went, and despite effort after effort for both sides, the score remained level; the shootout would decide who got that all important extra point.

Up first for the Devils was shootout wiz Jake Morrisette.  It has been said by many this year (even Coventry commentators!) that Jake is the go-to guy for shootouts and he demonstrate why perfectly on Saturday night, slotting the puck past Modig and giving his side a 1-0 as Bruce Graham came up to bat.

Unfortunately for Panthers’ fans, Graham was no match for Bowns and things only got worse for the home side as Joey Martin showed their team how it was done.

With the Devils up 2-0, Chris Lawrence had to score to keep his side in the game – which is exactly what he did.  Brent Walton missed his shot and it was all on the shoulders of Evan Mosey to force another round of shots.

But Benny Boy stood tall and carried us home with that extra point!

The Dundee Stars were in town on Sunday night, lead by captain and former-devil Chris Blight.  Also coming home to the BBT was Brad Plumton, a fan favourite from his time in the Bay, and Bari McKenzie. 

Despite currently sitting bottom of the league, with only two wins in twelve (before last night’s game), the Stars came out flying.  Their forecheck was strong, constantly chasing down any opportunity in the Devils’ zone – resulting in an early goal!  John Mitchell, an American with extensive AHL experience, added the Stars’ first goal after just a minute and eleven seconds – demonstrating that the visiting team were not going to roll over.

But coming into the BBT is tough – small ice pad, big guys, it’s always going to be a little rough.  Not twenty seconds after they got on the scoreboard, the Stars wee in the box, Igor Gongalsky being called for tripping.  With a man short, they did well to keep the lead, especially with guys like Trevor Hendrikx hitting anything that moved!

In fact, the fan favourite with the seventies’ tache (check out his movember effort if you haven’t had the pleasure yet, it’s brilliant!) found himself in the box a couple of times (in the first period alone) for roughing up the opposition!

On the plus, the main man of the period was definitely, although not surprisingly, Brent Walton!  Added his third goal of the weekend, the no. 18 brought the score level with just over five minutes left before the break.

He then went on to be called for clipping with only 25 seconds remaining… I have to be honest; I had to look this one up.  This is what Wikipedia had to say: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(ice_hockey). 

But into the second period we go, with the Devils’ on the penalty kill for a minute and thirty-five.  The special teams have been doing extremely well this year and our penalty kill successfully fought off the Scottish advantage.

While this an amazing feat, it is definitely the powerplay that deserves special mention, especially the Marsh-Lord-Walton-Morrisette-Martin unit!  For the first two Devils’ goals, both on the powerplay (2nd at 28:13, scored by Joey Martin), this unit pushed the Stars to the limit, creating chance after chance.

Unfortunately, just two minutes later, Dundee managed not one, but two quick goals of their own from Shane Lust and Jeff Hutchins to push the visitors ahead going into the third period.

This game, however, was not just about scoring.  From the very beginning, the game had a tension surrounding it that you would expect when playing the Arena teams – it was the kind of atmosphere we welcomed (and I use the term loosely) Belfast with last weekend!

Now I can’t think of anything that might have sparked this animosity, whether it be the Stars frustration after a disappointing loss the night before or what, but everyone came out swinging and carried on for the entirety of the game!

Last weekend we were treated to Josh Batch showing Adam Keefe how we tango; this week, it was Hendrikx’ turn!  Early in the first, Trevor went toe to toe with James Isaacs as he came off the bench – fists getting acquainted as they tangled in a line change.  Ref Matt Thompson, in his second appearance at the BBT this season, seemed to be watching a different altercation though, as he assessed the culprits roughing penalties.

Later on, in the second period, we were treated to a ‘handbag convention’ – quote courtesy of the MNL – before Hendrikx heavily persuaded Brad Plumton to take a spin.  While this round seemed more tame than Trevor’s opening dance, possibly because Plumton didn’t see too involved until he had Hendrikx’ fist in his face, Thompson assessed the guys for five minute majors and play continued.

From gloves off to in the glove, both goaltenders had a good night on Sunday.  While Marc Cheverie had to go fishing five times throughout the course of the game, he also had a fantastic second period – which could be reason for a tired third.  Throughout the second twenty-minute period, Marc Cheverie faced 22 (!) Devils’ shots and only let one passed him!  I’d say he either deserves a hand, or we need to practise our accuracy…. Probably both.

But fluster he did, and the Devils’ were able to sneak three goals passed the Canadian tender, the first while on the powerplay with Plumton in the box for interference.

While the Stars were able to add a fourth to their tally early on in the third, the Devils’ managed to hold them off and treated the crowd to a 5-4 regulation win.

Four points in the bag this weekend, we now look ahead to next week.  Saturday sees a(nother) trip up to the SkyDome, to take on the Coventry Blaze.  Red Army Travel is running a bus up, but seats are limited so make sure you secure your place quickly.

Sunday sees not only the Edinburgh Capitals coming to town, but also the retirement of Jason Stone’s jersey to the (temporary) rafters.  You can get your tickets online or by calling the box office, so get yourself down to the Tent to honour a Devils’ legend!

See you soon, Devils’ fans!  Let’s Go Devils!





(As a side note, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who reads every week – I have just reached 4000 views!  So thank you very much!!!!)

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Cardiff Devils @ Belfast Giants (L) 08/11/2014, Cardiff Devils vs Belfast Giants (L) 09/11/2014

Devils 4, Giants 7 - Final (Saturday)

Devils 3, Giants 2 - Final (Sunday)



To the Land of Guinness we go….

Hello Devils’ fans!

This weekend brought Adam Keefe and his Giants into the ring against our Cardiff Devils, with Keefe showing off his shiny new toy, former-NHLer Kevin Westgarth.  With both games standing room only, we were definitely treated to a show!

Saturday night saw an unfortunate loss for the boys in red.  Despite two powerplay goals and a lucky bounce on the penalty kill for Jesse Mychan, the Devils fell 7-4 in the O.

Things started slowly for the Devils, with number one pain Darryl Lloyd lighting up the scoreboard for the home side less than five minutes into the game.  Despite outshooting their rivals and going on the man advantage at 13:07 (with David Phillips in the box for holding), the Devils were not able to levelled the score until 17:57, when, with Dougie Clarkson in the box for elbowing, Jesse Mychan was in the right place at the right time, batting home a miss-pass from Robby Sandrock.

The big news this past week has been Giants’ new signing Kevin Westgarth.  The Windsor, Ontario native has spent most of the past five seasons playing in the top flight, icing for 169 NHL games in his career.  Coming from the Calgary Flames last season, Westgarth has also played for current Stanley Cup Champions the LA Kings, as well as the Carolina Hurricanes.  From a girl’s prospective, I am very jealous!  Imagine spending all that time with those Staal brothers…!

But anyway, there was certainly a lot of hype surrounding the Canadian’s debut – and what an impression he made!

Just four minutes into the second period, the new number 15 took a lovely pass from Ray Savada before shooting the puck glove side on Benny Bowns to give the Giants a 2-1 lead.

Recently, I have discovered the wonder that is HTMI cables and am now forcing my entire family to watch the joy that is the Cardiff Devils on the big TV in the living room.  Good job too, because my laptop screen would not have done Josh Batch justice in that second period on Saturday night!

With a right and a left and another right, Josh had me on my feet in my living room, cheering as he showed Adam Keefe he could not push us around anymore.  For the past couple of seasons, Keefe has been the guy we all hate to love – coming into the BBT and showing us who is boss.  But from the looks of things on Saturday night, our young Brits are not going to stand for it anymore.

All I can say is, well done Batchy!

Despite spirits being lifted as the blood fell from Keefe’s eyebrow,  the Devils suffered through two quick Giants’ powerplay goals as Tyson Marsh sat for slashing.  Unfortunately for Bowns, the second goal (from Saurette at 29:00) saw him out of his net trying to retrieve the puck – which took an unlucky bounce and ended up at the end of Saurette’s stick in front of an empty net. 

But we are never down and out!  After a horrible hit from behind on Andrew Hotham, Darryl Lloyd was awarded a 5+game, giving the Devils a five minute powerplay.  Man of the Weekend (forget man of the match! Although he did win that twice this past weekend…) Dougie Clarkson took full advantage and shot the puck home to lessen the deficit to two!

The Department of Player Safety reviewed Lloyd’s penalty and he was served with a one-match ban – leaving him out of Sunday’s rematch.

(Any information on the decision and a video explanation can be found here: http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/one-match-ban-for-lloyd-p194631)

Ray Savada continued the Giants’ scoring streak at the beginning of the third period, assisted by Robby Sandrock and Mark Garside with just twenty six seconds played.

Captain Adam Keefe, Barbie plaster on his brow (kidding!), also pushed one past GB netminder Ben Bowns, forcing Bench Coach Neil Francis to pull the goalie and replace him with backup Mike Will – making his season debut for the Devils.

Despite the 6-2 deficit for the visiting side, our boys were determined to have one more go.  With less than ten minutes left in the game, no. 93 got his second goal of the night, while Calvin Elfring sat for delay of game, before Captain Tyson Marsh added the Devils’ fourth goal just a few minutes later.

With four minutes left to play, there was certainly time for the Welsh side to turn things around – we’ve seen them do it!  But, while the Devils’ did outshoot the Giants in the final period, the bounces were not going their way and Kevin Saurette finished off the game with an empty net goal with just over a minute left to play.

On the bright side, Mike Will finished the game with a 1.00 SV%.... Silver linings eh?

With only the plane ride home to dwell, 6pm Sunday came around quickly and everyone was ready for some revenge. 

Both teams were icing short benched – Hudson, Culligan and Martin missing for the Devils, and Kompon, McCutcheon, Murphy and Lloyd missing for the Giants – but this certainly did not effect the intensity of the game!

As always, the Devils’ opened strong, throwing hit after hit – if it moved, it was going to be buried into the boards!  With his strong lead from the front ethos, Coach Andrew Lord demonstrated that we would not be giving an inch, let alone a mile!

Unfortunately, Darnell (our lovely ref for the weekend – not!) took offense to a couple of Lord’s hits and he found himself in the box twice before they’d even played more than half a period! 

While the rest of the first period was relatively quiet – despite the high intensity of both teams – but all that tension came boiling over the top at the beginning of the second. 

Kevin Westgarth was warmly welcomed into the BBT, by the Devils’ captain Tyson Marsh’s right hook, after Westgarth laid cancer-fighting Dr. Luke Piggot into the boards with a particularly hard hit.  While no. 15 is considered to be one of the toughest guys in the game (meaning that Lloyd has got someone to watch his back when he upsets people now), there was no way Marsh was letting him off for that one.  Westgarth had already tried to nail the Devils’ defenseman a couple of times without success, adding to the tension between the two Canadians.

Most would give the win to Westgarth for this one, but Tyson should definitely get major points for defending the doctor!

With tensions slightly satisfied, it was back to business.  Like the previous night, Belfast took the lead, with a goal from none other than Kevin Westgarth himself – his second goal of the weekend – at 33:31.

But the Welsh side had the crowd on their side, and Matt Myers rewarded the fans with an equaliser, nineteen seconds before the period break!

Things were neck and neck going into the final period and both teams were desperate to get that go-ahead goal!  Hell, I was desperate for that go-ahead goal!

I was quite impressed that I didn’t throw my dinner all over the floor when Joey Haddad sent the puck flying behind Andrew Dickson (who looked slightly nervous as he tripped onto the ice at the beginning of warm-ups – and yes, he literally tripped over as he stepped onto the ice!  The game hadn’t even started and he was giving the Red Army ammunition!), giving the Devils’ their first lead of the game.

And you know I could see Doug’s smile from Hereford when he added the Devils’ third goal of the night, and his third goal of the weekend!!  Despite taking a lot of criticism at the beginning of the season, Doug Clarkson has really stepped into his role in the BBT and now has seven goals so far this season, whilst demonstrating he will not be pushed around!  In my opinion, he definitely deserved the MOM awards this weekend.

3-1 up and it was looking good for the Devils coming into the second half of the final period; Bowns was holding his own and the forecheck was strong. 
Despite Devils’ pressure, David Phillips managed to slip one past Bowns to bring Belfast within and suddenly it was all about defense!  Both Josh Batch (roughing @ 454:48) and Trevor Hendrikx (cross-checking @ 58:54) took unfortunate penalties in the closing minutes and in the final seconds and Dickson was pulled to create a 6-on-4 situation for the Devils. 

All that mattered was blocking shot after shot until the buzzer sounded – I haven’t been that nervous since watching the final seconds of Game 7 in 2009! 

Luckily time ran down, and with it ran the Devils’ with their two league points!

Looking forward to this coming weekend, the Devils’ are off to Nottingham on Saturday, where they face a Panthers’ team sans Nathan Robinson after his departure this week. 

Sunday sees the return of Chris Blight and Brad Plumton as the Stars come to town.

With the wonders of the Internet, there is no reason to miss either fixture!  Make sure you’re watching!!!

Let’s Go Devils!


Tuesday 4 November 2014

A Weekend To Remember - Cardiff Devils vs Nottingham Panthers (L) 02/11/2014


Hello from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!!


It was has definitely been a weekend to remember, for me at least.  Four flights, two hockey games, a basketball game and a 26.2-mile run (not that I did any running of course!) - all in the space of four days!

Friday morning saw an earlier start as I travelled down from Hereford to London in time for my 13:15 flight to New York City.  A good friend of mine ran the NYC Marathon yesterday, smashing her personal best.  She is currently raising money for Cancer research, namely Breast Cancer – which I’m sure most Devils’ fans will understand at the moment – and is running twelve marathons in twelve months; Sunday marked the completion of number ten!

(If anyone would like to know more about Bexx and her inspiring quest, all information can be found here: www.teamrun12.co.uk)

Saturday, a day off for our Cardiff Devils, saw yet another early start as I boarded a plane to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Off to the land of Steel to watch my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins face off against the Buffalo Sabres, it is impossible to describe how excited I was.  While I don’t mind the Rangers and would have been perfectly happy watching them at Madison Square Garden, it was definitely a treat to see my favourite team live, especially in a brilliant 5-0 victory.

The 18000+ fans in the Consol Energy were treated to goals from Chris Kunitz (2), Patrick Hornqvist, Blake Comeau and Evgeni Malkin and cheered (albeit surprisingly quietly considering the amount of people in the building) Marc-Andre Fleury to his third shutout of the week (Yes, I mean week!!!) and 31st shutout of his career.
From the opening puck drop it was clear that the Penguins were leagues above the Sabres, and I’m not just being biased.  To watch Sidney Crosby on the ice is incredible; the way he reads the ice and can instantly decide which is the best play is breath taking.  He may get a lot of stick from a lot of people, but he is definitely, in my eyes anyway, the greatest player in the world.

Kunitz opened the scoring for the home side at just over four minutes into the first period, tallying his sixth goal of the season.  Despite relentless attempts on goal (and some more measly shots by the New York State side), the score remained the same through to the second period, when Comeau and Hornqvist added two more, both within five minutes of each other.

Pittsburgh’s number 17 doubled the Pennsylvania side’s lead at 31:54, with the help of Geno and Pascal Dupuis – the assist helping Geno increase his points steak to 10 games!  All I can say is that I’m glad he’s not doing a Crosby and growing a caterpillar on his lip to commemorate the occasion – that was a scary time for everyone!

Patrick Hornqvist got his name on the score sheet for the second time, after assisting on Kunitz’ goal from the first period, at 36:09, adding the first of the Penguins’ three power play goals of the night – a result of a silly Bench minor for the Buffalo Sabres after they were caught with too many men on the ice at 34:50.

Now considering that the majority of the 18000+ people in the building were Pens’ fans and that the Pens were up 3-0 going into the third period, you would think that the CEC would have been rocking.  Don’t get me wrong; there was some noise.  But I can come away from the BBT with ringing in my ears and a headache (in a good way) that can last for days… with six times as many people I should not have been able to hear for at least a week!  It pains me to say I was slightly disappointed that this was not the case.

I guess you can’t beat the atmosphere in the Tent even if you’re watching the best hockey league in the world!  Although, we don’t have human bowling in our period intermissions (cough cough)…

To add to the excitement of the game, Chris Kunitz added his second goal of the game just two minutes into third period, after Mike Weber was sent to the box for roughing.  Geno rounded off the scoring at 53:11 with another power play goal, after Tyler Ennis was sent to the box for interference at 52:22. 

The most surprising, and shocking, part of my time in the Consol Energy Centre was that, with less than five minutes to go, half the crowd left!  Sure I’ve seen ‘fans’ (and I use the term loosely) leave a game if their team in losing and there is no possible way they could turn it around.  To me, there is no valid reason to leave a game early (unless you have a medical emergency of some sort of course!) and I shake my head at those who don’t support their team through thick and thin, but this really takes the cake.  I have to wonder how these amazing hockey players feel, looking into the stands on a break in play to see, despite the incredible performance they have given, that half their fans are leaving before the score is even finalised!  I would happily take their place watching the greatest show on earth (after the Cardiff Devils obviously!) every week if they don’t want to stay for the whole game!

But on the whole, I had a good time in Pittsburgh and even got to try a Pittsburgh-style salad – which is a salad with French fries!!  Definitely wouldn’t mind if these made it across the pond!
Sunday saw not only yet another flight, back to NYC, but also the Nottingham Panthers travelling to the BBT.  With daylight savings ending at two AM on Sunday morning, faceoff for the game was at 13:00 EST (6pm for everyone at home), right in the middle of the NY marathon!  While I had planned to find a quiet corner in the hotel and watch the webcast, I found myself following the game on Twitter from the roadside on the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan, in between subway journeys to the different mile points!

The only Devil missing from the line-up was Carl Hudson (hand) but the Panthers made the trip with a severely depleted bench; among the missing Panthers were Max Parent, Charles Landry and Craig Kowalski, with Mattias Modig filling in for the injured goaltender.

The game started with a bang, as normal, after Andrew Lord created a Panther-shaped hole in the boards, drawing a retaliation penalty from Greg Jacina in the process. 

With Jacina in the box, that left a gap for Jake Morrisette to open the scoring at just thirty seconds into the game!  With the Devils playing their aggressive game, things can only go up, right?

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Just before the ten-minute mark, the Panthers drew equal – the goal coming from left wing Robert Farmer.  To add insult to injury, Robert Lachowicz added a second just two minutes later, with Steve Lee in the box for kneeing, after picking up a failed clearing pass right in front of Bowns.

Safe to say that Lord is beating himself up for that one….

Luckily, Joey Haddad managed to pull one back… that is, until Darnell got involved!  About halfway through the second period, Devils’ fans and players alike were celebrating the second goal for the home side when Darnell called no goal.

After video replay, which clearly shows the net moving as if the puck had struck the back, but the call on the play stands and the scored remained at 2-1 Panthers. 

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, the ‘non’ goal can be found here: http://vimeo.com/110731310 

But still the Devils continued to push and push, throwing 29 shots at Modig.  Nothing seemed to do the trick and so the game finished with a disappointing 2-1 loss for our Cardiff Devils.

Despite the loss, there was a silver lining in Cardiff on Sunday, with the ‘Pink out the Rink’ campaign raising  £2500 for Breast Cancer Research.   My pink Devils’ breast cancer t-shirt is waiting for me at home!!

After thoroughly catching up on the going-ons in the Welsh capital, it was off to Madison Square Garden for me.  First Knicks home game of the season apparently and we were right up in the rafters! 

Now I know next to nothing about the NBA and basketball in general, so Sunday night was definitely an experience!  The place was full to the brim and we had some funny diehard fans sat behind us – reminded me an awful lot like Blocks 2 and 3!!

I could go into details, but honestly don’t know them!  There were lots of dancers and shooting of t-shirts out of canons, a tremendous amount of time-outs and a star-studded crowd (most of which I had never heard off!).  All in all, it was a good night and the Knicks won to top it all off!

While we suffered a disappointing loss on Sunday, we now look ahead to a home and away series against the Belfast Giants this coming weekend.  Be there or be square!!

Now, I’m off to get some sleep!  See you all soon, Devils’ fans!

Monday 27 October 2014

Cardiff Devils vs Coventry Blaze (L) 25/10/2014, Cardiff Devils @ Coventry Blaze (CC) 26/10/2014


Devils 6, Blaze 3 - Final (Saturday)

Devils 4, Blaze 0 - Final (Sunday)


Hello guys and girls!  

What a fantastic four-point weekend!  Facing the Coventry Blaze both home and away, our Cardiff Devils managed to bring home points in the League and the Challenge Cup, securing second place in the Challenge Cup group.

Saturday night not only saw an amazing comeback from 3-1 down to a 6-3 win for the Devils, but the news that NHLer, and former Devil, Paul Bissonnette would be rejoining our already talented squad.  Earning himself 21 points in only 11 games for the Welsh side, it is safe to say we were all extremely exciting to hear of his return.

But Andrew Lord and his team demonstrated that if Biz were to return to our ranks, which unfortunately is not the case anymore (http://www.cardiffdevils.com/news/devils-news/bissonnette-deal-is-off/), he would only be a bonus to the skills already being showcased every night in the BBT.

Things started a bang for the Devils as both Trevor Hendrikx and Matt Myers redecorated the boards with Blaze-shaped holes!  The rough and tumble affair could only get better as Brent Walton went short side, top shelf with only three minutes on the clock! 

Unfortunately, despite the quick start, the Devils could not hold on to the intensity for the rest of the first – and found themselves 3-1 down going into the break, after the Blaze saw goals from Ben Arnt, Steven Goertzen and Ryan O’Marra respectively.

But hope was not lost, as forty-four seconds into the second period Andrew Hotham added his first tally of the night, as he came tumbling out of the penalty box, thanks to a delay of game minor at the end of the first.

Joey Martin also added to the scoreboard with the Devils’ fourth shorthanded goal of the season so far, sending the puck between the legs of Stewart – who was definitely getting a warm welcome from blocks two and three!!  I mean, even I could hear the taunting and I was a computer screen away from the action!

The Blaze found their selves with the man advantage again as they opened the third period, tied with the home side at three apiece.  Unfortunately for the visiting team, the Devils are on fire on the penalty kill this season and Andrew Hotham was able slot in a rebound to add his second of the night, and the Devils’ second straight short handed goal – putting their shorthanded tally up to five for the season. 

With Andrew Lord leading from the front on how to deal with the pesky Blaze (and seeming to enjoy putting them through the boards whenever possible!), alternate captain Jake Morrisette was busy adding his seventh goal of the season, tipping the puck passed a very agitated Stewart with just short of twelve minutes left in the game.

To round off the scoring Chris Jones showed off the skills learnt in the Devils’ development programme and picked some Blaze pockets before getting the puck to Joey Haddad.  As with the luck of the Welsh on Saturday night, Joey could not miss and the Devils’ finished out the game with a 6-3 score and retained those all-important League points!

Sunday saw the Devils and the Red Army travelling up to the SkyDome for some Challenge Cup action.  With the Blaze only holding one win in six Challenge Cup games, they were desperate to finish the competition on a high note.

Now we all know that very few rinks can rise to the challenge when it comes to the noise inside the BBT but from what I saw of the webcast on Sunday (which wasn’t a lot as most who tried to watch the game will understand!), the most noise on Sunday was coming from the away block – and for good reason!

Despite being on Blaze turf, crowd favourite Ben Bowns earned himself his first shutout of the year, after the Devils’ cruised to a 4-0 victory over a depleted Coventry side.  After a good start to the season, you have to wonder what has happened to Marc LeFebvre’s side.

The only Devil missing from both weekend games was Carl Hudson, after he suffered a hand injury against Sheffield last Saturday – which, it was announced over the webcast on Sunday, could leave him out for up to 6 weeks.  Bench Coach Neil Francis was suspended for Saturday’s game, while Trevor Hendrikx did not ice on Sunday for reasons unknown.

With only 14 PIMs between the two teams over the entire 60 minutes, the stats almost show a boring game compared to Devils/Blaze match ups in the past.  In fact there were no penalties in the third period at all!

While penalties were lacking – which could be considered an improvement on the silly penalties the Devils’ were taking just a couple of weeks ago – the Welsh side still managed to earn themselves a powerplay goal.  With the tally standing at 23 PP goals so far this season, that means nearly half of all goals scored, in all competitions, this year are on the man advantage.

Definitely an improvement on previous years, eh?

But that comes later.  Almost like déjà vu, Brent Walton opened the scoring just before the first period close – a goal that nearly all viewers at home missed due to webcast technical problems.  As I was one of these unfortunate many, I have been promised it was a very pretty goal, with the feed coming from Josh Batch before Walton found the narrowest channel possible!

The second period saw both Joey Martin and Doug Clarkson increasing the deficit, with Clarkson adding that PP goal.

To round off the game, Andrew Hotham added the fourth just two minutes into the third period – another goal that most of us missed, and didn’t learn about until about 5 minutes from the end of the game!  Safe to say I was glad to get my money back after that technical debacle!

After a thrilling weekend, it’s time to look ahead to next week.  Unfortunately the Devils have only got the one game – a visit from the Nottingham Panthers on Sunday.  It would have been nice to have been welcoming Biz back to the Tent, but never mind!

Make sure you get yourself down to the BBT!!  I’ll be cheering from across the Atlantic, as I venture over the pond to watch my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins this coming weekend – so let’s fill the Tent so I can show the Yanks what a hockey night should really look like!

Let’s Go Devils!


Monday 20 October 2014

Cardiff Devils @ Sheffield Steelers (L) 18/10/2014, Cardiff Devils vs Sheffield Steelers (L) 19/10/2014

Devils 3, Steelers 5 - Final (Saturday)

Devils 5, Steelers 2 - Final (Sunday)



It was a home and home against the Sheffield Steelers this weekend and it was definitely not a boring one!  While most Devils’ fans (and players and coaches) find themselves severely frustrated after the events of Saturday’s 5-2 loss in the Tin town, revenge was served as the Devils’ returned the favour in a thrilling 5-3 Welsh win on Sunday.

Fires were lit early on Saturday after Cardiff awoke to former Devils’ coach Gerad Adams promising to take advantage of our ‘many weaknesses’ – although he was being quoted in The Star, so give it a read yourself at the link below to decide how you think the comment was meant to be taken!


Both sides were definitely out for blood, with Andrew Hotham and Cullen Eddy getting their fists dirty just after the half way point of the first period – both getting in some good hits before Hotham finally took Eddy to the ice.

The frustration continued to build for the visiting team as the Steelers scored two goals in two minutes, both featuring the efforts of top British D-man Ben O’Connor who was lacing up in his debut for Sheffield after signing a short term contract to fill the gap left by injuries to Robert Dowd and Pascal Morency.

Over the course of the weekend, O’Connor had 3 assists and 2 PIMS – demonstrating that the Steelers would be very lucky to extend his contract past these next couple of weeks. 

Colton Fretter also had a good game on Saturday, playing a role in both of the first period goals for the Steelers.

Despite the home side dominating the first period, the Devils’ came out swinging after the intermission break!  After Joey Haddad was sent to the box just four minutes into the period, it looked as if the Devils’ scored in spite of the man disadvantage but ref Mike Hicks waved it off.  Apparently Trevor Hendrikx had taken up residence in the crease – it is hard to tell from the highlights but it was, as usual, a questionable decision.


But our boys fought their way back to a level field after two wonderful goals from Haddad, just as he was coming out of the box, and Joey Martin about six minutes later.

Tempers reached boiling point as the game travelled into the third and final period; with the game all squared up both teams were desperate to get that all important goal and take the lead.  It truly looked like the game could go either way.

Unfortunately Sheffield took the lead early on and some harsh 5-on-3 penalties definitely took the momentum out of the Devils.  In fact, the away side managed to accumulate 64 PIMs in the final period of play, including a tango between Dougie Clarkson and Dustin Kohn, before frustrations boiled over at the final whistle.

There was a certain amount of confusion during the final minutes of the game – with the Devils’ 4-3 down, they were desperate to get that tying goal!  After a large amount of pushing and shoving in front of Doyle’s net (and some extremely blatant missed calls in my opinion), the puck was turned and Mathieu Roy went charging off towards the Devils’ empty net – only to be tripped and awarded an unassisted goal for his efforts.

While Bench Coach Neil Francis was upset (understatement!!) about the call, many on both sides of the ice are being completely understanding about the decision… It’s the events the followed the final whistle that are cause for concern.

After reviewing the video highlights extensively (it was extremely painful listening to David Simms commentary over and over! Pretty sure I was one replay away from my ears bleeding!), I believe we were hard done by in the DOPS’s decision to uphold Trevor Hendrikx one game ban after he received a Match Penalty for a supposed ‘sucker punch’ – Simms’ words, not mine – on Tyler Mosienko.

(The most recent update from the Department of Player Safety on the incident involving Trevor Hendrikx can be found here: http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/dops-info-trevor-hendrikx-p194246)

Jesse Mychan also earned himself a Game Penalty after being undressed by Cullen Eddy as the players all scrambled to be in on the action as the whistle blew, the final score 5-2 to the home side. 

Going into Sunday, the Devils, both on the ice and off, were raring for revenge and the boys did not hold back in their effort to get it!

After a quick initial review, it was stated that Trevor Hendrikx would miss the game as the DOPS upheld the automatic one match suspension that comes with a Match Penalty, with the promise to further review the incident.  The Devils were also missing Carl Hudson from Sunday’s line-up after he picked up an undisclosed injury.

Cardiff born Matthew Myers did, however, return to the line up after serving his two game suspension.

It was certainly a different story in the second match up in as many games for these two sides.  While Sheffield held the upper hand for the majority of the first period on Saturday night, Cardiff came out fighting on Sunday – scoring two goals within the first ten minutes! 

As well as being downtrodden on the scoreboard, the Steelers were also facing a physical beating as the Devils continued to punch Sheffield-shaped holes in the board as they passed.  Both Doug Clarkson and Jesse Mychan received roughing penalties in the opening period but that was only the beginning of the bruises for the Northern side.

The deficit only increased for the Steelers going into the second period, as Mark Richardson added a wonderful power play goal to the tally, helping himself to the Man of the Match as he went.

Seemingly more awake, the Steelers made an attempt at a come back in the third period, with troublemaker Tyler Mosienko scoring four minutes in to the period.

No (attempted) Sheffield come back would be complete without a bit of rough and tumble, or down right dirty play.  Forney found himself inside the penalty box at 46:43 with a 2+10 for check from behind – although it looked like he wrapped his stick around a Devils’ neck and yanked from where I was sat!

With the Steelers’ plight quelled, Brent Walton added his second of the night just after the halfway point of the period to restore the three-goal lead.  Jason Hewitt, the guy we all love to hate, managed to pull one back a minute or so later but the Devils were not letting this one go… Alternate captain Jake Morrisette helped himself to a shorthanded, empty net goal to cement the win and secure those all-important two league points.

After such an exciting weekend, its hard to wait until Saturday for more Devils’ hockey, but that’s when the Coventry Blaze come to town, looking to take two league points home before Cardiff travel up to the Skydome to play it out for crucial Challenge Cup points in their penultimate CC game!

If you can’t make it down to the BBT to cheer on the boys, make sure you’re there in spirit while you watch the game on the newly priced Devils’ webcast!

See you soon, Devils’ fans!