Devils head to Chelmsford

CHELMSFORD, UK – Chelmsford go into this weekend’s big physical clash with the Cardiff ENL Devils missing some vital components to the team. Recently the team has been missing defenceman Adam Copland who joined from local rivals Romford Raiders earlier in the season, but has struggled to balance the work/hockey scales in recent weeks and naturally his work has come first. Chieftains Head Coach Dean Birrell was quick to play down fears that Copland had left the club “Adam hasn’t left the club and is welcome back whenever he wants to. He had been waiting 4 years for the job that he was offered a few weeks back. He knew it would interfere with his hockey and was honest with us about it from the start. He didn’t feel it would be fair on the other players if he only trained once a week and still got to play at weekends, assuming work allowed for it. He has been totally honest with the club and we’re not closing the book on him just yet. As far as I am concerned he is still a Chieftains player, but due to work commitments he cannot play at present. He is a good lad and very honest, which some players seem to struggle to be in hockey. I would love him to be more involved in the team and playing, but work is his bread and butter and you can’t stop someone earning a living for themselves. I don’t have any problem with the lad and hope that this clears up the matter for everyone”.

Following on from missing Copland on the blueline, star forward Ross Brears is also out of the weekend’s action with a twisted knee suffered in last Sundays 7-4 home win over Streatham Redskins. Brears was sent flying into the boards awkwardly and was helped off the ice by team-mates and medical staff and after a trip to the local hospital it was revealed to me ligament damage which will keep him out of action for up to a month as a minimum. Brears was devastated when he was told the news “I love playing ice hockey. Anyone who sees me on a match night will know that my focus is 100% on the game and I give all I’ve got. I’m hoping to be back sooner than a month, but we’ll have to see how the injury clears up. It couldn’t have come at a worse possible time for me and the club as we go into the final few weekends of the season and then the playoffs. I hope it heals in time for me to get back to help the boys out in the playoffs”. Darren Brown should return to the lineup after having other commitments last weekend, but one player who is expected to continue to be an absentee is netminder Andy Moffat. Moffat suffered an injury in training a few weeks back and that seemed to sum up his season so far. Injuries, suspensions and broken skates have all contributed to Moffat barely featuring for the Essex side this season and it is certainly a season that Moffat will want to put behind him. Cardiff still have aspirations for the league title and will be looking to take advantage of the Chieftains being understrength. The Devils have the slight edge on the Chieftains this season with the 3 results ending with 2 draws and a 1 goal win for the Devils, so there is barely a cigarette paper between the two sides. Brent Pope may feature for the Welsh side following his return from Vancouver where he was the colour commentator for the BBC on their Olympic ice hockey coverage. Face off at the Riverside is the usual time of 6:30 and with a large crowd expected for this “Battle of Britain” match up. Contact the author Pete.lewis@prohockeynews.com