A Busy, Unexpected Off-Season for Devils – Part Two

New Season, New Coach, New Era, Again…

This is in all honestly already exhausting and repetitive, another year with a new regime behind the bench, meaning new focus, new strategy, new attitudes and a new identity to unpick.

As a fan, this has become something of a Groundhog Day scenario. Will it ever end? Would there be any stability and longevity from the bench?

Other than Devils legend and future UK Ice Hockey Hall of Famer, Mark Richardson.

The concept seems so tired and dated now.

So what went wrong for this to happen and why? Of course, the next one we already know, who comes in?

These are just the questions at the tip of the iceberg, the one that stumped Pete Russell and duped the upper management.

The Outgoing Coach

2 seasons ago, the optimism and excitement was palpable. Yes there were some who weren’t convinced and might feel vindicated from that position in the beginning, but the blueprint was there for a long, progressive and productive era at the Cardiff Devils.

The new coach preached accountability, relentlessness, hard work and attention to the details.

He came in as GB head coach with a pedigree that was screaming a future all-time winner.

This meant a gutsy team that would never give up, a camaraderie like never before, access to up and coming Brits in an effortless system, especially when the current ones start to age out and retire.

A valiant first season by all measures, then a rockstar roster for the following season.

They were meaning business.

Other than a Continental Cup triumph (after many seasons of trying), the season ended in a similar way than what happened with Brodie Dupont, except in the Challenge Cup final, when they were blanked by the Giants and failed to control their emotions in a Playoff Grand Final for the ages, losing to the Panthers.

On paper, that was a season to forget for the wrong, but in some ways, inescapable reason, injuries. The worst ever seen for the amount and consistent set backs from them.

Two Finals made and lost.

A European Championship.

Who would argue with that?

Beneath the veneer, as mentioned in part one, the cracks became crevasses. Was this season too much? The politics, the online scathing, the often too many apologies, fans leaving mid game due to the on ice performance, both home and away.

It leaves you with more questions.

Was this roster actually his? How were the injuries genuinely managed? What was the conditioning like? Did the players trust the coach? Did the coach trust the players? What did the new assistant coach, former Devil and GB legend, Matthew Myers, actually bring? What was the point of Euan King?

This is where the iceberg fills up beneath the water and it goes deeper.

The ultimate question was why did they agree to extend his contract before the season ended and within that, as it transpired, allow a clause that should another club offer for his services, he can accept and leave?

Did he know something at the time and wanted a safety net before actually accomplishing anything or was the writing beginning to be scrawled on the wall and he needed an out? Why did the GM agree to this or even entertain such a contract extension?

After all, that is how he arrived here from Ravensburg.

Was there a feeling that as the season would pan out, there would be little to no gold and a difficult conversation, again, would have to happen and to reconsider the coaching position, after only two seasons?

Again, here is that iceberg, of which I shall call it, ‘Lordoberg’.

To compete in this league, especially in this current era where better quality imports are being attracted here, the sport is growing quicker than it can cope with, attendances are at an all time high and of the last 5 years domestically only two coaches have had real success.

Those coaches are some of the longest serving, currently.

That was the point of Pete Russell. To join them.

However, was there more to this than met the eye? (Another question to add to the ever growing Lordoberg).

To answer a few in one go, that despite some feelings toward his coaching staff, it is a safe bet and suggestion to state that they were simply trying to cover up those cracks as they were starting to appear.

To be completely fair to Euan King, he simply wouldn’t still be at the club and a mentor to the country’s best homegrown goalie if he wasn’t doing his job. At least to some degree.

Galaga guy might have perished when Thanos snapped his fingers, but for this gauntlet, Euan ‘Kinger’ King, survived

It might have seemed like he was glued to his laptop, playing Tetris, World of Warcraft or even Galaga, however, as the club have kept him on, at the request of the new coach, there must have been some data there, ideas, solutions to problems and ways to improve the tactical strategy.

He just needed a coach that listened and took it on board.

You just knew there was no willingness to change. Yes, PR might have berated the players in between periods, making aspiring amateur videographers flee in fear because of the sound of a raised voice.

That is just standard, normal coaching at the elite level. Adam Keefe does that in-game and not just to his players, those bench doors also get the treatment.

Matthew Myers

For Myers, it seemed like practices were left to him and he was there to help mentor and be the buffer guy. In all fairness, that is what you should expect at a minimum. Did the face-offs improve overall? Let’s have a look at the data.

Considering for the playoffs, the seasons ended differently, so there would be a natural difference. You might think with more hockey played, there would be scope for improvement this season, however there was a LOT more played, even for the final and as we know, it cannot always go in your favour.

In the final alone there was 85 face-off draws, with Panthers edging this 44:41. Of course, Tyler Busch lost his head and his last game as Devil ended with an early shower. The previous year, there were 66 face offs.

These are one off games however.

Nothing else matters beforehand, all the preparation and planning almost goes out of the window.

It is a do or die, win or lose situation, the coaches only need to prepare the line up, assert a strategy, get the team pumped up (despite that this shouldn’t be a thing for any competitor) and let the players do the business on the ice.

Yes, Devils the previous season had a dead rubber game to get through, the competitive one saw 53 draws made, Devils beating their eventual victors (to turn a phrase) 30:23 in this department.

There was 30 draws in the dead rubber sweat out, so typically not much intensity or care, other than to have fun and give the fans something to cheer for. Devils ran out 17:13 winners on the dots.

In this year’s semi-final, they lost to the team they comfortably beat, 32:27 on the dots in favour of the Giants. Quickly you can set an average per game, making this year’s final a completely isolated misnomer but a good nibble for stats.

Despite the finals, Devils ran out in 23/24 with a playoff series FO% of 58.77, compared to this year at 53.78%. As for the league and cup campaigns, there was a slight improvement.

In terms of league overall, there was a minimal improvement of 0.65% over the course of regular season games. This could be attributed to the quality of Kohen Olischefski.

Being on the top line, afforded more opportunities to take draws, which he had a differential of +44 on the regular season, earning a 52.2% win average.

Joey Martin, had a very close swing factor, of 2.3%, going for +11 overall, very close to 50/50 at 50.6% in favour of wins on the dots.

There wasn’t much between the two in terms of face offs taken in regular season, but a slightly better upswing for Olischeski and between them they averaged 970 face offs on average a piece, Olischefski close to 1,000 draws alone.

To the credit of Tyler Busch, he averaged in a very similar fashion to the top liner, with a +32 differential over a dramatically lower overall amount of draws taken, some 260 less approximately.

His average fared slightly better at 52.3%, by sheer margins. So, his competency on this metric is consistent, with the top 6.

He had a 9.6% increase in face off duties, coinciding with a 14.5% increase in game time. He fared pretty well overall with the increased demands, although in playoffs and cup action, there were huge swings to the FOL columns.

He won just a single face-off more in Cup action (76), but lost 10 more compared to his first season, with 50% more losses.

For the Playoffs, a complete swing, from a +11 differential earning 28 FOWs, with only 24 the 2nd season, going -3 in that competition in comparison.

He took over 100 more draws in his second season, but not quite the same impact in the differential, reducing by 50% in regular season FOW’s, despite the more time on the dots.

So, from knowledge that this had been his meal ticket, he trended downwards, especially in the key moments and campaigns, such as the Cup and Playoffs.

The main thing for the former club hero, was that this was season one in what could hopefully be a long coaching career that would just be as successful. His appointment seemed a perfect fit. Some times, it doesn’t quite happen as you hope or expect too.

Overall, the face off wizard, AC Myers, didn’t bring too much of an impact in this role, in particular his strengths at the dots as a player. It was Marginal at best.

These are the details that the PR Philosophy nodded toward, especially in terms of accountability. The onus was on the players, but surely more so for the coaches, including himself.

A lack of ability to adjust in real time, lead his team to the wolves at times, both on and off the ice. Saying “that’s hockey” and “it’s not good enough” is all well and good to temper the mood of a passionate fan base. One that he immediately related too.

As admirable as it can be, to take the heat off the dressing room at times, to have the will to eat into those details, the small errors, areas for improvement and even whole scale strategy change is the minimum of what anyone should expect.

It just never appeared to have happened.

So, enter Paul Thompson.

You would be lying that as a Devils fan your initial and even immediate reaction was being at a loss for words, confusion, disbelief or out right shock.

For good measure.

He ruffled the feathers of this storied fan base for as long as he was a coach in the EIHL, attributed to the rivalries that came with it. Also, for good reason.

Then, once the oxygen started to flow back into the system and the mild heart attack abated, you would sit back and think, actually, that makes a lot of sense. This could be a good thing.

It also painted a very apparent split in the fan base. The very new, post-Covid fans and the ones before. The former immediately thinking what a great move to make, the latter, already dreading those post-game interviews after a loss.

Eventually, the acceptance set in and understanding lead the way. The club is excited again. Not anxious. Not despondent. A coach that knows and gets this league and what it takes.

For many, aggressive hockey again. The Cardiff Devils Way.

Setting the Tone

This might have been the snippet of intentional comments the new coach could have been referring to, willingness to change, adapt, admit you were wrong and start again, even if decisions don’t go to plan, it is better than not making any at all.

Not to mention the important note of really getting a feel for one another.

The highlight of the recent interview with Devils TV commentator Dan Rhydderch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUcmhsxfor8) was the approach to the locker room culture and identity through structure and striving to perfect it through continuous, hard work.

As mentioned before, it is all well and good saying the right things at the right times. Being seen to be saying the right thing has become a popular art form recently, but it needs substance and effort to back it up.

For example, the hard work and imposed demands from the previous coach, nearly didn’t reflect the on ice product. The final positions and lack of domestic silverware explains that to the harshest extreme.

The walk outs pushed that extreme even further.

The biggest difference the team this time around would be having is that the coaching team will be there with a constant presence, where no quarters will be given. If you aren’t pulling your weight or drop the ball, you will know about it.

You will also work for everything, including no maybes and could do’s and ice time is not a guarantee no matter who you are.

Preparation and player expectations of the coaching staff was also a pertinent note to draw from. That presence at any time, being on time, being ready and having a plan for each day and session might be a whole scale culture shock, by the sounds of what the new coach, Paul Thompson might having been eluding too.

It might sound similar to what PR stated in his initial interview after being announced 2 years ago.

Hard work, relentless forecheck, being accountable. Again, structure. However, was the experience of playing against the Cardiff Devils ultimately to quote the former coach, uncomfortable? Absolutely not.

One coach who knew that all too well might have a different approach and be able to put that intention into action.

Developing Culture

That is not just meaning the day to day, team dynamics and set up. But for recruitment and who fits where. This past season had a raft of marquee signings that had the potential to absolutely run riot on the league.

For the first third of the season it did. Handsomely.

Gradually however, something rotten had festered and it clearly wasn’t just down to the injuries aspect.

There needed to be specialists and not just for special teams. So when it comes to key signings, they would have to not just fill a role or need, they would need to be a total fit for that specific position. That is the nucleus to a Paul Thompson roster.

Know your role and be the best you can be at it. Strive to perfect your game. You will be rewarded in the long run. It also helps to develop players, factor in coaching styles and traits and also to foster and nurture the team as a whole.

From the PR era, the expected addition to the overall culture, was by putting stock into the GB connections.

From day one that was the overall plan. To date, this was left by the wayside. In fact, the club are now left behind in terms of promoting young British talent, with the likes of Sheffield, Nottingham, Coventry and even Manchester leading the charge.

This was the first thought that many had on their minds once they came to terms that an old enemy is now their new coach.

Not just his trophy cabinet and over 35 years of experience, but finding the gems of British hockey and developing them into great custodians of the game.

Including his former Odense assistant coach, Niklas Hovivuori, adds a familiarity for the new coach, who starts his tenure with a full staff. Compared to his exited counterpart, they were waiting for that third man to join them across the first season.

With his experience of relaying the technical and tactical side of things, which marries quite well with what Euan King already brings in as goalie and video coach, he also has experience developing young talent. It seems this would be a key role for him behind the scenes.

I would expect he and Sam Duggan to share a bond like no other, considering Duggan’s journey to the Cardiff Devils and his role as a leader.

Already there is a brilliant core of returning players, some familiar with PT, but from across the benches.

He is clearly excited to add Cardiff to his incredible and successful CV, so with new additions that shore up the blue line already in place, such as Helgeson, Estes and Scottish rookie, Brodie Kay, fans eagerly await to see which new players will be arriving for training camp soon and if they stack up against pretty strong rivals already.

I would estimate potentially one more returnee, Brett Perlini to round off a full Brit core for the roster, with the rest being new imports, including one more high end blue liner and number one centre.

Up next, what to expect from the coming season, how the team is shaping up and a look into potential players that might make the trip to the EIHL.