DH Review; Key Observations

League Record So Far; 23 – 14 – 2, 48pts, 4th Place

L10GP; 3 – 7 – 0

This season hasn’t been kind to the club or its fans in many circumstances. From never ending injuries to mishaps with game day experiences and parking calamities, wheels coming off the team and its own bus breaking down.

There will always be a talking point to look back on. That is sport. That is hockey. That is life. If you look at classic ECG readings, that is the life of a sports fan, an athlete, someone who works on a club level, be it as a volunteer to a GM, from a self run amateur club to a professional organisation.

Sometimes, that ECG reads like someone with blocked arteries, a misfiring ventricle and a lung condition. It is erratic, clearly shows the high blood pressure and utterly unpredictable.

Welcome to hockey. Hello darkness, our old friend.

Here is a run down of how the weekend’s double header vs leaders Belfast Giants ended and what it means going forward;

1. More than what it looks

You wouldn’t need me as a reader to tell you what you saw, for those that watched live or via webcast. I have seen, read and felt the frustrations, the concerns, the anger and the amazement in some comments over the weekend, to a point, I have nothing else to add.

There does seem to be something missing, that has translated to what the performances have been like in the last month, to which the exasperated and deflated comments coach Russell made in his reflections on the games raised.

It looks bad.

Devils are now 7th overall in goals scored in the league. 3 more than 7th placed Clan, 6 less than 8th placed Stars at this point.

For a championship-built team, this isn’t it. Even Flames have nearly 20 more goals scored, something which was picked up in the last article, https://hockeysteve.co.uk/2025/02/22/giants-dh-game-one-review-key-takeaways/ – In terms of production.

Much has been made on “Devils hockey”, I would imagine there would be a large section of the fanbase who identifies it as brash, in your face hockey, with big hits, hard nosed play and everything including the kitchen sink thrown in to defend the net, a lead and home ice.

There would be some who would prefer to see high end skill, lots of pace and classy finishes. There is room for both. The claims are currently, PR doesn’t know which he wants and ‘Euro hockey’ is to blame.

I would argue he absolutely does. It is ‘relentless, hard forechecking, battle for every puck, be accountable and be direct’. Importantly, be honest.

‘Playing fast, no slow play. Being aggressive with the puck, getting on the forecheck and to use the bench (for quick shifts) and disciplined, that is key’. His words. His ethos.

He was aghast it wasn’t adhered too on that second night, but especially the weekend and things as of late. The next game matters now. Nothing else.

PR said it himself in his initial interview after joining the club, “when the confidence in a team is down, they shoot from the wrong angles. The best thing for confidence is to score goals (especially on the PP)”. It is interesting that he referenced that Giants were the bench mark to live up to. Funny how time moves by.

The important one to reference is the bench. Or lack there of. You cannot have a ‘plan B’ if the pieces are at home, waiting to recover and heal up. You have to make do with what you have.

To get what you want, you need structure to execute it. Without soldiers, there’s no winning battles. No wars to claim victory from. So when those chips are down, what can the rest do about it?

The desire from the team that travels and plays should then be questioned. However, it should be done with an understanding of what they are experiencing too. Which reverts back to man-management. It’s a vicious cycle.

For me, as mentioned in the last article, that comes down to the leadership of the room. Over 4,300 GP in that group, with over 1,300 in the AHL alone. There is serious talent, experience and leadership there.

2. ‘Euro’ title glossed over trending form

This club wants and expects silverware and to win a IIHF competition against clubs from Europe is something to be proud of.

However, at what cost and will the price be worth it? As GM Todd Kelman highlighted in a recent fan Q&A, ‘once that banner will be raised to the rafters, it will be there forever. This club achieved that. It is special’.

It really is.

Including the last banner lifted, the 2022 Playoffs. We refer that to as a ‘bandage over a poor season’.

A season of coaching change, which many are now referring to. It is understandable. The club finished 3rd overall and lost in the CC final after a strange group stage in the CHL earlier in the season.

Since then, two separate clubs have won grand slams. The team went back to 4th place and last season finished 2nd. However, the scoring rate increased year on year (188-192-210).

Results matter, end of season goals matter. In this world, that is how everything will ultimately be judged.

Since December, they have played 23 league games, winning just 10. It is not even .500 hockey at this stage.

Leading up to Conti, it was exactly that, 8 wins from 14 games. Neither is a winning trend to gain championships.

Amazingly, leading up to the Conti final, they were at the summit of the table. During that time, Devils were getting handed losses by Storm and Stars, as mentioned above.

Out of 9GP since that triumph, Devils have won just twice.

Of course, the team took further injuries since then, but also made additions, seen some players return and brought Harewood up more, however, the results have mothballed.

The writing though, was on the wall and if not for ‘character’ wins against the Steelers (who are next up), then it would be dire reading indeed.

3. Unanswered goals exposed nature of a deeper wound

I just want to mention, that this isn’t an assassination on the club or the coach or the team. This is just reflection and insights. If it is grim reading (context not style, I hope), then sometimes that has to be told as well. It isn’t always roses and daffodils, sometimes, honesty has to come first and things need to be confronted.

The most glaring aspect of the weekend was the stat line of 10 unanswered goals. It was truly horrific to watch. Credit to Belfast, I am not a fan of their style, certainly don’t hold their team to a higher regard, as they have only turned up the ante since some players returned, prior to then, to quote their coach ‘this group isn’t a team, they don’t know how to play hockey’.

Perhaps a coaching role for David Goodwin in the league some time in the near future?

As previously written, despite PR’s general view of the first game, the exact sentiments raised in the last article prophetically echoed the very next game.

The lack of compete, lack of responsibility, lack of defensive awareness, lack of pressure off the puck, lack of accuracy, lack of shot utilisation and general lack of passion.

From one end, it looks horrific, conceding 10 goals against the same team. Overall after 5GP this season vs Giants, Devils have scored 6 and conceded 21, taking a single point from those games. In general, they have been one of the top teams in terms of GA and GAA, but as mentioned at the start, in terms of production, they have been trending down.

In the last 14GP (Until the turn of the year), they have been at a 2.14 GF pace. That is less than Flyers’ overall of 2.15.

Losing out key players utterly destroys cohesion and ultimately limits greater chances in the long run. This is showing.

Duke and Perlini were mentioned previously in the post game review of night one of the DH, it is no surprise that with all the increased work for the rest of the squad, their accuracy drops and in the end, the team slumps.

Back at Boxing Day vs Blaze, they played like we usually see, with so many players out. They fought tooth and nail until the end. The goals scored were emphatic, the passion was felt. The end result, was a comfortable looking win, as the gas fizzled out.

The overall consensus came to the conclusion that it was inevitable and we felt sorry for them. They bounced back, but the inconsistency crept in and with that final looming, the focus went on that.

Leadership has been raised, which should always be an expectation. Over 56 games played this season, the usual veterans take the lions share.

Captain Richardson is 11th overall (Devils) for league play TOI, also making 43 blocked shots. In that total group, 258 shots have been blocked. That’s a lot on the body. That is just league play.

For the forwards, they contribute well to the blocked shots, top two are Busch and Olischefski at 25 each. The other end, is where the concern has crept in.

With such a ravaged bench and less skilled forwards playing up the lines, the quality shows. Reid Duke is still 3rd overall on the team in terms of shots made (189).

There needs to be an increase from other forwards or to at least be selfish to get some chances going. My only thoughts about this are, they might feel like they are playing under duress due to the amount of games played, including games played short.

It takes its toll and to me, this is the fundamental reason as to why so much has been exposed and how these results have come by.

You should inarguably expect players to be battered and playing hurt toward the end of the season, in those last few games. Not when the season genuinely starts to kick in and the race for places ramps up.

The ‘no physicality’ comments I have seen tend to miss hits and aggression, even out of frustration. Yet a banged up team playing with so many key players out will start to wear them down. I just hope the conditioning team has the working knowledge to know how to deal with it.

There are 16 games left to play this season, one being a cup final.

We have now entered into playoff style hockey. 7 home games, so the expectation at least is to get 7 home wins. These 15 league games include 3 against Sheffield and one more home game vs Giants. The very next game is home vs Steelers in a tough week following a road DH.

With Davies back, there is hope more can return, Brandt should be looking like joining again soon from his injury spell. With the new additions, one is suspected to have an injury also (typically), it will be interesting to see how this last stretch plays out.

No team with the amount of injuries this club has consistently suffered since game one of the regular season can win a big title. Yet, there is still a cup final to play for and then playoffs to think about.

It is not done yet.