Preview vs Blaze – Not Just About Hockey

League Record So Far; 22 – 9 – 1, 45pts, 2nd Place

Fridays game vs Blaze holds a significant event on the Devils calendar that has a long history with the club. Started back in 2017, the club galvanised around the support of inclusivity under the banner of ‘if you can play, you can play.’

Since then the movement has become a monolithic cornerstone of the leagues identity, particularly and almost exclusively fan-driven which has seen more and more creative ways to raise awareness, support and celebrate the inclusion of those within the Pride community.

The aim is to stamp out homophobia, support and promote inclusivity and offer a safe haven for those who feel like they are still in the margins of our collective society to be themselves, attend games and even pick up a stick and try the sport itself.

No barriers. Just hockey, always, for everyone.

The addition of exclusive one time only Pride Game Jerseys has seen a clamour for fans to obtain one, principally to represent their club in a way they feel also represents themselves. There is no issue there, bring it on is the common thought.

However, this shouldn’t be the reason to get excited for the event itself. This should be why https://www.pridecymru.com/the-charity/about – as it is not a competition who creates the best jerseys or who can obtain one from a raffle for game-worns.

It is about the ability to not feel discriminated against for who you are, in all walks of life. The aim is to eliminate it entirely. At this event, whilst having fun with friends, peers and family by watching the game we all love. As one. As a community.

So, who are they playing this Friday? Old time foes, Coventry Blaze.

Match Night

This game will be the 4th league meeting between the clubs, which the good guys see a 2:1 lead so far in this series.

Following the shootout loss in Coventry, Devils hit them hard, scoring for fun putting up an 8 nothing blowout and a 7-3 domination in the following game.

17:6 in goals scored between the two have shown how dangerous the Devils offense can be and how vulnerable they can leave the opposition goalie, former Devil, Taran Kozun, who let in 10 goals in back to back games across their last meetings.

Since that stage of the season, Blaze have climbed the standings to a familiar 5th place, however in their L5GP, they have struggled to close a game in regulation. 2 SOW’s, a SOL and 2 further losses have seen a dip in their form of late.

In contrast to the hosts, who are aiming for an 8th straight win to maintain their newly formed wagon, despite subtractions from the line up for GB duties.

However, even with the impressive run the good guys have had, Blaze are just 1 point off them from the L10GP, sitting 4th overall in the form table for that chunk of games just gone (14:13 overall).

Special Teams

Devils have a pretty acceptable 2nd overall PP% that holds out at 27.08 compared to the visitors 8th placed 19.61%. It has been a strength for the home side of late, even if not every PP has been converted, at least one per game has been netted for quite a stretch.

It is literally the opposite for the PK, as Blaze are in 2nd overall with 82.76%, whilst the good guys languish in 8th respectively at 74.73%. This position wasn’t helped with the recent double header where 4 of 6 goals against were on the PP.

This would surely be a key focus of the game ahead to not just stay out of the box but to absolutely kill each penalty that might arise throughout the game.

Picks of the Bunch

You would have to scrolled a fair bit to pick up the top scorer for Blaze, as McNulty leads their team with 31. Kristo (28) is not far behind for them, as both can be very dangerous when they need to be. Blaze in the L10GP have only scored 29 times, the 2nd lowest in the league.

Devils boast 4 players in the +30 points category before their next player with 28 props up, this being Jamie Arniel who is on a decent run right now.

An integral top 6 centre, sitting 2nd to none other than the inspiring Goal Sanford for SOG (108) so far in regular season and second to Tyler Busch in FOW (242).

With the roster changes, it will be an import heavy team this weekend due to international commitments, so we should expect some of the middle deck players step up and importantly, stand out.

Net Battle

Tyler Wall is expected to go between the pipes on both games this week, so with 8GP he sits at 2.31 GAA with a 92.05 SV%.

Kozun, a popular and well loved former Devil has struggled this season, with a GAA of 3.17 and a SV% at 90.11.

It will be a key battle as Kozun will look for a solid night against his former team and for Wall to prove himself a worthy goalie in front of his home crowd on a special night for the organisation.