The regular season is over and the focus is now on the shortest professional playoff format in hockey.
Once again, Devils find themselves with a salvage operation, after letting their impressive grip on the summit of the table slip into obscurity, frustration and produce an underwhelming end to a season of promise, well earned speculation and ambition.
They face a team that had become quite the opposite. In fact, they ended up being twice as good as many gave them little credit for, delighting, stunning and impressing along the way.
They finished 5th overall and if I were to be critical, which I have a right to be, they could have finished better. Their achilles heel was not having a tandem to roll out, that ironman-esque run their goalie had, perhaps in a small way, lead to some slip ups and missed opportunities.
The blame doesn’t lie with Matt Robson. Like Evan Weninger the season before, he was stout, resolute, enigmatic and incredible to watch. It really is a shame, just for his sake, they finished 5th.
That being said, once again these two old foes face off in a somewhat meaningful manner, where in their regular season exploits, clashed like days gone by, caused upsets either way and duked it out to the final day of the group phase in the challenge cup, where the good guys put on an incredible come back flourish to qualify for knockouts, dumping out their rivals in the process.
That was one of those missed opportunities for tonights hosts.
However, there is more to this story between them. On the back drop of a massively underwhelming finish for the visitors, their shared rivalry with their hosts, this plucky team that has brought the energy back to a rocking fashion in their famous home, the Skydome, have a knack of upsetting everyone, especially the Devils.
They denied a title reclaim of the Steelers on the final day, in a campaign that also went into obscurity for their recent standards, although to be fair on them, that was a tall order to follow.
Even their incredibly inspiring CHL run, which lifted the UK ice hockey product into new territory became a sour footnote to a season that was rife with rued misses.
This, ultimately lead to a sleepy Giant, so to speak, to hold on by the finger tips on the final day of a season, that has been touted as competitive, but for me, lacking in conviction from the top 4.
The feat that the Blaze pulled off on that final day wasn’t new to them. A few seasons ago, they blanked the very team they face this weekend to deny them a historic title triumph, gifting the Giants on particulars the top prize after finishing level on points.
Also, in the final games of the season, they often dampen the mood for the good guys, defeating them in their final regular season sign off game.
One unwritten rule for any team and coach in any sport, is to always win your home opener and home closing games.
Send your fans off happy, allow some momentum to be used going into the fun part of the season.
Alas, for another year, Devils have been bested at home on the final day, gifting their opponent an edge in their own barn, in a must win series to at least be in the mix to claim a second piece of silverware.
For the visitors, that has become a tall order, for the hosts, there is zero pressure, with an added vestige of piling on some more misery to their old rivals once again.
We are here, the 2025 EIHL Playoffs Quarter Finals.
What a journey it has been, highs and lows, some jubilant praise and outright honest criticism along the way. The rest is yet to come. For now, the season review is on stand by.
Final Day Woes Continue
As mentioned, Devils have struggled of late to close off their regular season, no matter what has gone by with a home win. Last season it was a cause of contention from the fanbase, with an agreeable outcry of criticism, questioning if the team actually cared.
That is the right of any fan. No matter the team, league or level of competition.
If you are in the fortunate position of being part of a championship focused team, it is absolute with no excuse, an expectation to win those last home games. It is a thank you to the fans. It is a form of respect.
Never, should it be seen as ‘preparation’. Losing back to back in OT is not it. A wild mentality.
Mindset is key to all aspects of sport and indeed daily life. Prepare to win and win no matter what. No complacency. It is a standard incumbent of any ambitious business, organisation or professional. Anything less, simply isn’t good enough.
If that is the culture or default habit, that isn’t good enough full stop. I treat that as a weed. You pull them out of the ground immediately and get rid of them. It is not the defining trait of a genuine title contender.
Even this years’ champions, who ran rough shod over the Devils in regular and challenge cup play, stumbled their way to the top without looking like a championship team for the most part.
Their drive, will and determination to get the job done was the difference. Insufferable, but true. Congratulations to them.
Pete Russell is still in new territory as an EIHL coach, even with the backing of a great ownership, a bought in fanbase, an organisation set up and poised to be a top destination for elite players.
He is yet to win a domestic trophy, compared to the likes of Keefe and Fox. They have been at the helm for the longest at their respective clubs currently and it shows.
This will hopefully become that fuel to feed a monster over the coming fortnight of playoff hockey and then onto the next season. He positioned himself as a ruthless coach. Now we need to see it to believe it.
Yes, these final games are preparation, but they need to be for the right reasons and they need to be executed perfectly otherwise, as already stated, it simply wouldn’t be good enough to satisfy even the ardent supporters who never see anything but positives and praise.
Last season, Blaze cooked Devils at home, beating them 5 zip. They continued this trend with an OTW, netting with just over 7s left of extra hockey. Even with the final day of the season in total, back in 2023, they lost at home to Blaze, but just about qualified for playoffs.
The season before that, Clan defeated Devils in that final day proper before they went up to Scotland to turn them over and book a spot in the final weekend.
The final couple of seasons before the break due to the pandemic, that wasn’t that much of a concern. Be it the final regular home game or game in total, Devils signed off on a high. Considering the Blaze have been in the mix quite often in recent years to dampen those spirits, this has ultimately become a now or never event.
Can PR come away with a complete triumph this weekend, or will his team follow a pattern that has been quietly building since the return to normal life?
Season Average vs Blaze
It was evenly split between the two clubs over the course of regular season, the final games needing extra hockey. Again, this was split down the middle. A single caveat for Devils was that they were the only one to claim a shut out in the series.
Blaze however, edged the scoring 17:16 in their favour with two 5 goal wins.
Despite this, they both posted a sub 3 goals per game overall, with Blaze owing that slight 0.23% advantage to those wins with 5 goals. The average of course increased with less played in the cup, Blaze improving to 0.5% in the goal averages.
It is very close to call.
It was the same for the cup as Blaze edged Devils overall by a single goal, each being defeated at home. Overall, both teams across their meetings have just claimed a single home win a piece. So, will this road form come into effect for the first leg and if so, could Devils finish the round undefeated?
Quest for the POFW
Devils last season put away a spirited effort from Stars, it wasn’t pretty but it was job done. It was the only time of the last 5 post season knockouts before the POFW they had a 100% record going in. Prior to the that it was split with two home wins of 4 and two away. Each time qualifying for the POFW.
So, out of 3 coaches across that period (as Skalde was released prior to playoffs), PR has been the only one going back to the 2017/18 season (as Covid interrupted in 20 and 21) to do this. So, don’t count him out just yet.
It is not just results where Blaze impressed over the course of the season. The average prediction for 10th was boosted by the view that it was a new coach with a low budget and a lot of unknown, unproven talent assigned to the squad.
Stats Guys
Matt Robson is a sure cert as a contender for goalie of the season, he played pretty much every minute and had some memorable nights along the way, icing for 64 games this campaign (so far).
The coach himself, in my opinion should be coach of the year, due to the above. He has signed a multi year deal already, one of three over the last 12 months, which brings stability for the league.
As for the skaters, they [Blaze] were never short on options for candidates in the season awards Three of their skaters filled in the top 5 all season long, with Chase Gresock (62 pts, 2nd overall) leading the way for his team in regular season. Seitz and Luciani were not far behind putting up 59 points a piece.
Gresock tied Alexis D’Aoust for most goals (32), eventually knocking off Devils’ MacDonald who lead most of the season, finishing 6th overall with 28.
As for the cider factory, Michael Regush collected the most from his tour of the orchards, gathering up a league topping 39 apples. The closest Devil was O’Brien in 8th, putting up 33.
Overall, MacDonald (57) finished behind the top players for the Blaze tied at 5th with GB’s Conway, a croquet connoisseur.
Overall for Blaze, Gresock in all EIHL comps hit 78 points from 64 games. A terrific feat for a man in a mid-table team. MacDonald, who also played 64 overall in the EIHL after missing some playing time, put up 69 points.
Quite a difference, but he also played extra hockey in Slovakia and the Continental Cup Final at home in Cardiff, claiming a gleaming tray as a trophy.
Different imposed demands, different expectations, but now it is crunch time.
Expected Returnees
Social media has been buzzing with footage from posts produced by the club featuring looks at Reid Duke and Hunter Shinkaruk. In a season dogged by injuries and unfortunate events off ice for some players, it has brought some renewed hope and optimism for fans to see this team in full.
Much like the Flames, Devils have had one mystifyingly hellacious season of set backs, injuries and short benches. I don’t think either club have iced a full and completely healthy squad with scratches yet and here we are, embarking on the final part of the EIHL calendar with the playoff quarters.
If the aforementioned are fit and ready to go, I would expect them to hit the game sheet, meaning Almquist and Schoonbaert could be at risk of being scratched.
As for one other player, it cannot go unmentioned that one of the most decorated British players for club and country has painfully announced his departure from pro hockey at the end of this season. I would expect him to be dressed for the second leg at least, for a final hurrah in front of his home crowd.
He is of course, an adopted and deeply passionate Welshman. Perhaps this could provide a driven edge for his team to go out on a high and stop Belfast, amazingly, claiming a second grand slam in 3 seasons and potentially adding to a third in succession? Josh Batch, this is your moment.
One can only hope, whether you think it would be deserved is firmly up for debate.
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