CARDIFF,U.K- For too long the rivalry between these two institutions of UK hockey has laid dormant. This season, that all changed as the Cardiff Devils and Sheffield Steelers played out a hugely heated six game regular season series. 
Now, the teams will meet a seventh and final time in the playoff semi finals this Saturday (April 4), with a place in the final on the line. Unlike most other playoff competitions, the semi-final and final in the UK Elite League is decided at respective one-off games at a final-four weekend at one venue; the National Ice Centre in Nottingham. This format does not place the gruelling demands of a seven game series on the players, but in many ways it makes the pressure even greater as the players must put it all on the line over 60 minutes. The Steelers are hot favourites having already won the coveted league championship, but the Devils will be confident of an upset having ended the regularly season with a six game winning streak. They followed that by disposing of the Belfast Giants, (a team tipped to win the league championship before running into injury trouble) over two games at the quarterfinal stage. In beating Belfast, the Devils have extended their record of reaching every final-four weekend in Elite League history. Without doubt, the knowledge that they would face the Steelers in the semi-final provided even more motivation. The Steelers and Devils have the top two defensive units in the league, leading many to predict a close contest with the strongest defence deciding the result.
In form netminer Jody Lehman (Photo by Mark Tredgold)
Both teams have excellent goaltending. Peter Aubry of the Devils (2.44 GAA, 92.2sp) and Jody Lehman of the Steelers (2.16 GAA, 92.9sp) are statistically the top two starting goaltenders in the league. There really is little to call between the two defensive units with both taking care of business at both ends of the ice. For the Devils, the underrated Mike Hartwick will be called upon to shut down the Steelers’ top offensive threats as will Sheffield’s Steve Munn at the other end of the ice. The hugely talented Tyson Teplitsky and Rod Sarich will lead the transition for the Devils and Steelers respectively, while the Devils will also be hoping Wes Jarvis can continue his impressive offensive form that saw him record his 19th goal of the season in the playoff quarter final. Doug MacIver will prove a key penalty killer for the Devils against what is a potent Steelers powerplay on big ice. It’s the powerplay that could hold the key against these miserly defences. The Steelers have enjoyed success on big ice, which the Nottingham arena will provide, while the Devils powerplay has struggled for much of the season. However, those worries appear to be gone, as the Devils exhibited one of the league’s top powerplays through the back end of the regular season. Fixtures that were lost by the odd goal earlier in the year have begun to swing the Devils way thanks to their powerplay success.
Devils powerplay threat Mike Prpich (Photo by Helen Fryer)
A key reason for that has been the arrival of former Tampa bay Lightning forward Matt Elich. Elich has brought control and patience to the Devils powerplay, but also added an extra puck-carrying option alongside Tyson Teplitsky. The Devils also boast the league’s second most successful powerplay scorer in Mike Prpich. Prpich has 15 powerplay goals, second only to Manchester Phoenix’s David Alexandre Beauregard. If a clear winner does emerge in advance of the final buzzer, fans can look forward to the possibility of some scores being settled. The winning team will face either the Nottingham Panthers or Coventry Blaze in Sundays’ final. Contact the author at
Aled.lloyd@prohockeynews.com Related
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