by Ian Fitzell
THE Cardiff Devils continue their defence of the PredictorBet Elite League title in a local derby at home to Coventry Blaze on Saturday in the Challenge Cup, then an away fixture with arch rivals the Sheffield Steelers on Sunday.
Two home games last weekend saw the Devils win a bruising league opener with fellow championship contenders the Nottingham Panthers 3:2 on Saturday evening. The following night they dominated their opening Challenge Cup game against visitors the Milton Keynes Lighting, overwhelming them with a 9:1 scoreline in the first televised game of the 2018-19 Elite League.
Coach Andrew Lord reflected on the Devils Champions Hockey League campaign after Saturdays comeback victory against the Panthers and told IceTimeTV: “We knew that the first game after the CHL would be tricky. . . we’ve got a great group in there and nothing phases us.”
This weekend’s fixtures see the Devils play the Blaze at Ice Arena Wales. The Blaze come to Cardiff with new forward Tim Crowder, brother of last year’s double winning Devil Paul who now plays for the Fife Flyers. Crowder collected two man of the match awards in both of last weekend’s games for the Blaze, his debut weekend for the Midlands club.
Blaze coach Danny Stewart said: “He hasn’t skated for three weeks, then came in Thursday morning and had a skate and then practiced on Friday, and he starts the weekend with four or five points.”
Stewart has also strengthened his backline with the addition of former Nottingham Panthers goalie Miika Wiikman in nets, adding to a defence that includes the returning Kevin Noble and another new comer to the EIHL, 25-year-old Canadian Trey Lewis.
He has also added another Panther in Alex Nikiforuk to bolster the attack following the loss of the influential pairing of Jordan Pietrus and Ryan Dingle.
Recent outings for the Blaze saw them lose to Milton Keynes 4:2 in Buckinghamshire, despite putting 50 shots on the MK goal, but rallying the following night to gain a point in a 4:5 overtime loss to the Nottingham Panthers on home ice. Both sides were beaten by the Devils last weekend.
Sunday sees Lord’s team head to the House of Steel to play the Sheffield Steelers, where head coach Paul Thompson has had to rebuild his side, with only 6 players from last year’s team returning to Yorkshire.
The Steelers have just announced the signing of GB ace Brendan Brooks. The veteran winger turns 40 in November.
Welcome Brendan Brooks to the Steelers by following him @BrendanBrooks49 – he leaves Canada to head to Sheffield later today. pic.twitter.com/1Md5wpUizL
— STEELERS OFFICIAL (@steelershockey) September 21, 2018
Thompson told the Steelers’ website that they had found the opening games tough. “Out of adversity you see the character and I want to see our character come through. We are all in this together, myself and the players. It’s a long quiet bus journey home.”
His comment came after twins Matt and Ryan Rupert left the club following the weekends results, having joined the Steelers from the ECHL’s Indy Fuel in the summer.
Thompson moved quickly to fill one of the spots with the news that the club have signed Brooks, but it is not clear whether he will be in the UK in time for the weekend’s fixtures, but Steelers PR Manager Dave Simms tweeted “The cavalry will be arriving soon we hope”.
Wish the two Rupert brothers well. The cavalry will be arriving soon we hope. pic.twitter.com/zAbqCs9QJy
— David Simms (@Simmsey) September 17, 2018
The Steelers lost their last two games; a penalty shootout to the Manchester Storm in Challenge Cup action in Sheffield on Saturday, followed by a 5-1 defeat to Guildford Flames away on Sunday.
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