Ben Davies Blazing Trail Back To Cardiff To Face Devils

Cardiff-born Ben Davies is back in South Wales this Saturday and he’s aiming to dent the Elite League title aspirations of his former club.

The 25-year-old forward, a former Bishop of Llandaff School pupil, spent seven seasons playing for Cardiff Devils, but is now with rivals Coventry Blaze.

Davies played for Blaze when they lost 6-4 at Ice Arena Wales in the last game of 2016 and returns to the Cardiff Bay arena this Saturday (7pm).

“Ben brings pace up the middle and loads of energy,” says Blaze coach Danny Stewart. “He has speed and adds depth to our roster.

“The teams in our Erhardt Conference are going with four-line hockey and Ben helps us move towards that.

“He netted plenty of goals for Devils, while he scored 30 points for Braehead Clan last season.

“Ben plays hard, goes into the right areas and can get under the skin of opponents with his work ethic.”

Great Britain international Davies started his ice hockey playing days with the Devils under-10 team and worked his way through to the top level.

He helped GB won gold in the under-20 World Championships.

Devils have won their last three League matches and stand top of the table, four points ahead of Belfast Giants who have played the same number of matches.

Captain Jake Morissette and his team won home and away against Blaze just after Christmas, scoring 11 goals, before winning 4-1 against Dundee Stars in their opening match of 2017.

Head coach Andrew Lord has led his players through a full week of training at the IAW and they are ready to tackle Blaze at home on Saturday before travelling to play Braehead Clan in Glasgow the following evening (6pm).

Ticket information for all Devils home fixtures is available from the club’s official website or via the hotline on 0800 0842 666.

On Sunday evening, when Lord’s Devils travel to Scotland, Ice Arena Wales is the venue for a National Ice Hockey League match between Cardiff Fire and Basingstoke Buffalo (6pm).

Fire stand top of Division Two with a 100 per cent record.