Cardiff have cause for optimism

CARDIFF, UK – Cardiff ENL Devils put an end to a winless streak of six games last weekend with a 6-3 win in Bracknell. Prolific scorer Luke Piggott tells Pro Hockey News, that the team is ready to turn a corner.
The night previous to the Devils win over Bracknell Hornets, had seen Mark Cuddihy’s side slump to their fourth home loss of the season, with Oxford City Stars the latest beneficiaries of a curious loss of form on home ice for Cardiff.

Last season the Welsh side went unbeaten the whole of the regular season at home, but this year has been different. The victory over the Hornets on the road may have been achieved far from their traditional fortress; however it was not totally unexpected.
“Over the last couple of weeks Cudd (Mark Cuddihy) has been implementing some new systems to try and improve our game” explained Devils forward Piggott, who hit a hat-trick against the Hornets on Sunday.
“We used some of these against Bracknell and created some great scoring chances and we took them well. Plus it always helps when your goalie has a good game and Mike Brabon has been awesome in the last three games”
Brabon was a big reason the Devils did so well last season, as they secured a runners-up medal in 2009/10. The volatile goalie was a key guy on the roster alongside tough defenseman Gareth Dixon, top scorer Steve Fisher and skipper David James. Pre season departures included Fisher and also Corey Watkins and Piggott admits losing the duo has been detrimental to this year’s campaign, amongst other factors.
“Fisher had a great eye for the goal and obviously we are missing his scoring ability” said the 24 year old, who made his senior debut for Cardiff in 2004/05.
 
“Corey was a fantastic agitator and really helped the boys get up for a few games last year just by finishing some big checks and so far this year we’re missing that edge a bit. Missing these guys and the fact that the league has improved in quality yet again this year means we have had to change our game plan a bit”
“We have needed to be more professional, stick to proper systems and it has taken us a few games to get used to the discipline needed to do that, but I think we are finally getting to grips with it now and realise that if we all buy into the game plan then we will get results, it seemed to work perfectly for the game against Chelmsford where we pulled off a hard earned draw”

“I think one of our biggest problems has been taking too many penalty minutes, when we play five on five with our aggressive hard hitting hockey I believe we can match any team in this league”
The aggressive hard hitting hockey is a trademark of the team and their fitness has been boosted even further courtesy of a sponsorship deal with Fit Space Gyms, known locally as ‘The £10 gym’ as that is the monthly rate they charge. Not only do the whole squad get free membership but they also attend circuit training each week with a dedicated personal trainer, not bad for an amateur hockey team.
Piggott has stepped up to the plate in the scoring stakes so far this season with eighteen goals already this year, following on from the thirty one he scored last season in thirty three games. Along with Tim Burrows, he is the ENL Devils biggest scoring threat, but doesn’t always grab the attention those kinds of numbers should bring.
“Many will tell you that I don’t score many ‘pretty goals’ and my philosophy in each game is just to work as hard as I can and the goals will come” said Piggott, who currently sits in the top ten scoring charts of the ENL South. “I think lots of teams sometimes try to over-play the puck and I think sometimes the best play can simply be a shot on net”

The ENL Devils have traditionally been a popular hunting ground for not only the Elite League Devils but also for other EPL and ENL clubs. With an improving scoring record year on year, Piggott’s form will naturally raise interest, however the current ENL Devils number 21 has a long term focus.
“To be honest I have never stepped up a league basically because I haven’t had any offers” laughed Piggott. “But I have pretty strong roots in Cardiff now, I own a flat here and I am still studying towards my PhD in Medical Biochemistry, so moving away wouldn’t really have been an option for me anyway”
“That limits the teams I could potentially play for in the EPL, it was great to get the experience of guesting in three games for the Romford Raiders last year and I got to train with the Basingstoke Bison over this summer”
“They are a great group of guys to play with but their roster is so strong this year and there just wasn’t any room for me there. Its hard to get your foot in the door too, even when you score points like Fisher did last year only a couple of teams enquire about you”
“Its also hard as the local professional club here is an Elite side and the jump from ENL to Elite is huge, not many guys make that transition. Hopefully this year I can put up some good numbers and get some training time with the Devils and then next year (which will be my thesis writing year of my PhD) when I will have more free time, I can look to see what options I have”
Surprisingly it was Basingstoke and not Cardiff where Piggott played his junior hockey and this makes Piggott a rarity amongst the team who are almost exclusively Welsh and Cardiff bred. Sting famously sang a song about the differences an Englishman can face whilst abroad – in his case New York, however Piggott has to blend in to a completely different environment with all its challenges… Wales.

“The only bit of “English baiting” comes at Six Nations time as rugby is really the only sport that Wales are actually any good at” said Piggott. “The Welsh like to pretend they all hate the English but in reality I have never felt anything but accepted during my time here”
“The Welsh people are probably some of the most passionate people you’ll ever meet too, they take a lot of pride in their nationality which I think is great, I really don’t buy into the whole GSTQ national anthem argument, I’m English and I have the Welsh anthem at the start of each home game and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, its a great anthem”
“I have played at a couple of clubs in my time and I have never enjoyed playing the game as much as I have at Cardiff, the team is great group of guys and it makes life on the ice so much easier when you are playing with a group of lads that are essentially your best mates because then your all playing the game for the team and I think that alone is what wins us a lot of games each season”
Piggott is not the only English man playing for the ENL Devils. His brother Ross is a   goalie with the club and the pair have a friendly rivalry. The main question is of course who would come out top if the pair faced each other over five penalty shots:

“Well since Ross had the bad knee injury last year I would say I would win” declared Luke. “I only really have three moves that I do on penalty shots, so before his injury I had taken so many on him over the years that he knew exactly what I was going to do so he would probably have won”
“It was good though as it meant I have had to try new moves to see how I can beat him, we are pretty competitive with each other”
That competitive spirit will no doubt be on show again in two weeks time as the Cardiff ENL Devils take on the Bristol Pitbulls at Cardiff Bay Arena. Former Cardiff players Michael Crisp and Alan Armour will be in opposition colours so it should be an intriguing clash.
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
All pics courtesy of Tim Bowers