Game-day Preview vs Blaze

League Record So Far; 21 – 10 – 2, 44pts, 4th Place

L10GP; 5 – 5 – 0

Devils host rivals Blaze in what would be a fresh marker for how the season could be defined for beleaguered South Wales team, as they welcome a plucky, unpredictable opponent, who would be keen to deliver another blow to their dwindling title hopes.

Many have written off the season following defeats against key opponents in their last 10GP, losing their top spot during the Conti Cup final, then dropping to 4th and slipping to a 9 point deficit.

It doesn’t make pretty reading. For a few who may not understand the sport too much, this might affirm their views on the clubs overall position for the season, however, if recent years are to go by, there is no such thing as ‘being safe’ at the top.

To add to the pressure of the post-cup blues and poor run of form, which extended to a 2 goal deficit on the road vs Steelers in the Challenge Cup, they picked up yet another injury (Reid Duke) on top of day to day injury for Fournier, picked up last week.

This is on top of Brant, Shinkaruk, Perlini and Davies, although the former should be returning soon. As Coach Russell stated, ‘it’s hard, but there’s nothing you can do’ and it is the third time this season they are down by more than 5 players to injuries.

via X @hockeysteve8719

This means that going into the next few games will require a lot of stepping up across the roster of those who are left, once again, being called upon to take something from their opponents.

How They Match Up

Both team go into this one with similar records in their L5GP, with Blaze needing extras to salvage maximum points, but also grabbed another in an OTL. They current sit in 5th, just 3 points behind their hosts. Another loss would surely confound the title to a near-improbable feat in just 8 weeks time.

There is more than just ancient history between these teams, the last few encounters have seen some highly charged moments, accumulating over 200 PIMS between them so far.

Although fireworks could be expected, the hope for calmer heads will be prevailing due to how reduced the squad has become again. Yet, the likelihood of something erupting between these storied rivals is still there.

Blaze also have many players in the top 10 for points leaders, 4 in total, making them a dangerous team when they want to be. It is astounding that they are in 5th with their firepower, putting up over 150 points so far between them.

The Devils’ own top 4 has just 129 points, with a trend that amongst the Blaze top scorers, they score together, rather than having the points spread throughout the line up. The next handful of players for Devils points wise, are all out with injury.

Both of these teams are top when it comes to the PK, with Devils 1st overall still. However, in the cup, that came undone as 3 PPGs sunk them to a 4th consecutive defeat in all EIHL competitions, without that and the poor decisions, the game would have gone in their favour.

Blaze are 2nd on the PK as well as the PP, so focus is paramount.

Which makes the need for their top 6 and the rest to really combine their efforts to provide as much offense as possible.

Matt Robson is likely to start for his team vs Devils, playing the most across all goalies in the league (36GP) and is 8th overall for GAA with 2.89 (from 10+ GP). His SV% is also 7th overall with 91.68. for his efforts, he also has a shutout, being the first of the league season to earn one.

His counterparts have similar stats between them, with Bowns still 2nd overall despite his long lay off with injury. It is possible he could start, so with a good game, could push Panthers’ Grande to reclaim the leaders spot.

Others leaders from these teams include the forwards Michael Regush and Josh MacDonald, who would undoubtedly be the main ones to watch. Regush, 5th overall with 38 points from 36GP is the leader for assists so far this season with 28 helpers.

As we know with MacDonald, he still leads the league with 42 points in 33GP and goals, 22 so far. He is still 5 points from his L5GP, including the loss in challenge cup action, but with Devils being shutout their last game, a new streak could start tonight.

Regush on the other hand, is 6 points in his last 6GP. He is dangerous going forward and already tipped for moving on beyond this league next season (he also features on EA sports NHL25 with an OVR of 67).

Upcoming Releases

There will be no write ups for next weeks 2nd leg semi final clash vs Steelers, however, along with this weekends game vs Blaze, you can catch a write up in the match day programme, so be sure to pick one up around the arena!

Into podcasts? One of the best pods featuring the EIHL, the EIHL Face-Off Podcast drops a preview, review and key talking points each week, here is the latest from episode 39 via X; https://x.com/EIHLFaceOff/status/1887146662943993880

There is more than just EIHL hockey and CHL/IIHF competitions. This week coming is the 4 Nations Face Off Series run by the NHL, featuring league players for USA, Canada, Finland and Sweden. Here is an insight of what to expect and the journey to how it started; https://x.com/CTPhockeyUK/status/1887908536568472030