We are just over a third of the way through the 2025/26 regular season in terms of calendar time. Because so many early-season games were in the Challenge Cup, most teams are still under the one-third mark in league fixtures played, but by the end of the Christmas period they will be close to halfway.
Here’s how captains around the league assess things so far:
David Goodwin, Belfast Giants: “It’s been a good season for us so far. I feel our group is really finding its identity and starting to grow in confidence. The league itself has obviously gotten better too, and anyone can win on any given night.”
Joey Martin, Cardiff Devils: “I think it’s been going ok, but there’s been inconsistency in our game. It feels like we have a few good games and then we take a step back. If we want to be contenders in this league, we have to be more consistent.”
Kim Tallberg, Coventry Blaze: “I love the guys, and I love our group. There’s a strong belief within us all, but at the moment the results aren’t with us. We had a strong run at the start which set us up in a strong position in the Challenge Cup, which is awesome, but after that we’ve not had a consistent run over 60 minutes. We have good parts, but others we still need to develop on. I believe we will finish stronger than where we are now.”
Drydn Dow, Dundee Stars: “We had a great start in the Challenge Cup and we need to get back to playing that game. We’ve lost a bit of confidence and are fighting it a little bit. It’s consistency more than anything. We’re going through a lot of peaks and valleys right now, whereas if you’re a consistent team you’re giving yourselves a chance every night. Right now we need to get that consistency every night.”
Garet Hunt, Fife Flyers: “I think we’re a pretty close, tight group. Our guys are enjoying coming off a big weekend. We are still in there, and we have to keep believing. If we believe in the process, and stick to it, wins will come. We have to find a way to wear teams down and play that gritty style. We know it’s hard for teams to come in to play in Fife, it was electric in our building against Cardiff and we were feeding off that.”
Deven Sideroff, Glasgow Clan: “We’ve got a tight, committed group and it’s a great environment to be in. The effort’s been there. We’ve dealt with injuries and haven’t had our full roster, and we know our game-to-game consistency needs to be better.”
Matt Alvaro, Guildford Flames: “We’re too inconsistent. We’ve had some good performances but we want to be more consistent and more connected as a five-man unit. We’re a tight-knit group, you can never question the work ethic with our guys. It’s a long season and we’re working on it. I love the spirit in our group, everyone comes to work, and I think that can take us a long way.”
Kyle Locke, Manchester Storm: “We had a lot of new guys here, and through and through these guys are dogs. Everyone is working, everyone is buying in, and I think we have the team here to do some damage: we can win a trophy. I think we have to stick with the systems and just believe in each other, and I think we’re gonna have a great season.”
Matt Alfaro, Nottingham Panthers: “I think it’s good. If you talked to me or some of the guys on our team and told us we’d be battling for first place 14 games into the regular season, and still be in the Challenge Cup, we’d have been happy with that. Every week that’s gone by in the season, we’ve got better. As you can see in the Cup at the beginning of the year we weren’t really playing to our identity, but I think now we’ve found it and we’re winning games – and when we’re not, we’re in them and we’re squeaking out points.”
Robert Dowd, Sheffield Steelers: “I think we’re on a good run of form at the moment, and we’re playing good hockey. Even in the games we’ve lost, I thought we played very well. We’re trending in the right direction. We were a new team at the start of the season and it’s tough to start perfect, I think we’ve built as the season has gone on here and will keep getting better.”
(Photo: Panthers Images)
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