CARDIFF, UK – At the start of the season Prohockeynews.com tipped Cardiff ENL Devils as potential dark horses for the league championship, and the Welsh side very nearly delivered. With a formidable record on their own ice, only the Devils less impressive form on the road left them six points short of the title winning Invicta Dynamos.
Welsh pride (Photo by Tim Bowers)
Steadily building a fan base in the shadow of the Elite league Devils, anyone who has been a regular down at Cardiff Bay has certainly got their moneys worth this year. Free scoring up front and mercilessly aggressive, Cardiff are three hundred penalty minutes ahead of the next highest offenders with a massive 1364 minutes in only 36 games. Despite the controversy of only playing the Welsh National Anthem before games, the team could rightly play the anthemic ‘That’s Entertainment’ by The Jam after pretty much all of their fixtures such is their style.
Olympic commentator and ENL Devil Brent Pope (Photo by Tim Bowers)
A glance at the Devils roster shows the talent that has been at their disposal this season. On the blue line, former Elite league players Brent Pope and James Manson are the first names that stand out to any follower of UK hockey. Delve a bit deeper however and it’s apparent that these two have played less than twenty games each this year. Head Coach Mark Cuddihy admits that at the start of the season, whilst others were concentrating on the title chances of Invicta, Chelmsford and Wightlink, the feeling in Cardiff was one of quiet optimism. Sadly with the ENL Devils being a development team, Cuddihy hasn’t had the full array of talent available each week to fully justify that confidence:
“We were really positive about where we would finish at the start of the season. Ben Davies was signed full time to ENL but he did so well for the Elite team that I only had him for a few games. We looked strong at the back with Shurmer, Manson and Pope but we lost Shurms (to Oxford) and Brent’s commitments to the Elite set up and the DCF meant that we didn’t have him as much as we would have liked,
“We lost five defence men this year and finished the season with only four, and two of them were 16 and 18 so to be honest I am delighted with second place”
Dixon drops the gloves (Photo by Tim Bowers)
Losing out to the Dynamos was disappointing, especially as Cardiff had beaten them twice in Wales. One player who was heavily involved in both of those victories was tough defence man Gareth Dixon. Dixon scored in the second of the Devils two 6-3 wins over the Dynamos in Cardiff, and was also involved in the post match fighting as both teams boiled over at the end of the game. Dixon echoes his coach’s sentiments as to how the season went for the team:
“Overall I would say we had a pretty successful season. In what was expected to be the toughest ENL competition for many years, we weren’t touted by many as title contenders. Had it not been for an administration error and some bad play on our part in the final few weeks once the title had been all but decided, we would have snuck it, “On the plus side, we continued to develop our young team and the number of guys we had called up to EPL and Elite level shows the work everyone is putting in is paying off, and they are improving year after year. Looking back now I think this year we possibly underachieved given the way we were playing during the middle of the year”
Making friends with the Mo%27s (Photo by Tim Bowers)
Finishing as runners-up in the league left Cardiff in what was arguably the easiest play-off group, as they avoided Invicta and Bracknell who finished first and third respectively. Most fans expected Cardiff to despatch Wightlink over their head to head fixtures, however the Raiders upset the odds to take the win on the Isle of Wight and then stun the Devils again in Cardiff the following day. The stunning news of Wightlink shattering Cardiff’s unbeaten home record, was remarkably eclipsed three days later when the English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) announced that Wightlink would forfeit the win on home ice due to icing an illegible player. There was outcry from a number of fans following the decision, accusing the EIHA of a Cardiff bias, but Cuddihy is happy to put the record straight on the issue and also acknowledge that opposing coach Jeremy Cornish got it spot on in the fixture in Cardiff:
“Wightlink shocked me and turned up ready for playoff hockey, they came to our building and played a left wing lock, in fairness, they stuck to it like glue and I have to take my hat off to them. As for the illegible player decision, I received the email the same as the rest of the league, and, I read it the same as everyone else. I was under the opinion that I could register anyone under 21 from my ENL 2 team (Cardiff Satans) and use them for the playoffs,
“I called the club secretary and asked her to register four guys from the Satans. She called me back and told me that I couldn’t do it and the email was incorrect. Then I turn up on the Isle of Wight and see that an ENL 2 player that was 20 was in the line up. I thought nothing of it at first and after the game I called my club secretary back and was quite off with her to be honest as I thought she had made a mistake,
“I travelled to the Island with only two defence men and two forwards playing defence with only two lines of forwards, I could have really done with those four players. My secretary called me back and said we were right and definitely could not use ENL 2 players. On the Sunday game in Cardiff a member of the EIHA approached me to inform me that Wightlink had broken the rules and it was being investigated. Having spoken to Wightlink management after the game they told me they didn’t know what was going on as they called someone from the league to check just before the game. I think whatever happened need’s to be sorted out at the next AGM”
Cardiff play the box (Photo by Tim Bowers)
A week later the Devils got the chance to put themselves right back in contention and started well, as they comfortably beat Chelmsford 5-2 in Cardiff in a bad tempered game. The following day they travelled to Chelmsford knowing that a win could get them a place in the play-off final. Chieftains coach Dean Birrell controversially dressed Andy Moffat as starting goalie despite the Scotsman being announced as released from the Essex club a couple of months earlier. Five minutes into the game, Moffat skated the length of the ice and attacked Devils goalie Mike Brabon before being ejected and replaced by recent starter Ben Clements. Even worse for Cardiff was top scorer Steve Fisher also heading for an early shower as he tangled with Rudi Dzurko in the surrounding melee. Cuddihy was not best pleased but says that he is happy to leave matters with the league:
“I have received an email to say that it’s being investigated so I’m not sure what I can say at the moment. The League has asked me to describe what happened and I have done that. Our style of play is tough hard hockey and I know that doesn’t win us many friends around the league, but that will never change as I believe it’s the way the game should be played. However this is entirely different, a bit of a joke to be honest and I’m very glad that the league are looking into it”
As for the rest of the play-offs, Cuddihy believes that the winner of this weekend’s play-off game between Invicta and Bracknell will take the trophy however he is more interested in looking forward to next season:
Ben Davies (Photo by Tim Bowers)
“I am coming back next season, we agreed that early on in the year. We are building great things in Cardiff, Brent has done an awesome job with the juniors and it looks very promising for our future. There are three guys coming up from the U16’s that I am looking forward to working with and possible four or five from the Satans set up that I’m looking closely at during the summer. We may bring a few in from over the bridge to add some experience but it depends who’s available. You can expect some more youngsters that’s for sure and the team will be built around a fast hard hitting style, just like this year”
As for Dixon, his 35 point season has been a real plus for the side, and he also has an eye on the future, as well as one on the past:
“This season has been a good experience, the unbeaten home record in the league was a real highlight, especially the two wins over Invicta and also our streak in the middle of the season (one loss in fourteen games),
“Having said that, the way we exited the playoffs has left a bitter taste in a lot of guys mouths that I’m sure everyone of us will be looking to rectify next season”
Love them or loathe them, Cardiff have had an excellent season. Their play-off campaign may have been mired in controversy, but it would be a shame if 2009/10 was remembered for those last two weekends rather than the runners-up finish, and excellent hockey they have played at times.
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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