Elite League Hockey A Rising Force In World Ice Hockey Says Cardiff Devils Coach

Andrew Lord loves the growing reputation of Elite League ice hockey around the World and says: “The best British teams teams are capable of competing with American League clubs.”

Cardiff Devils player-coach Lord, speaking after their 3-2 win against Sheffield Steelers, said: “It was an unbelievable hockey match and these are exciting times for both fan bases.

“This was a showcase match which shows our league has come a long way and has now out-rivalled the East Coast League and it will continue to grow. Devils and Steelers teams could compete with some AHL clubs

“Our match against Steelers was a great hockey occasion, one of the best I’ve been involved in.

“There are a lot of quality teams in our league. We got beaten up pretty bad on Saturday (v Panthers), while Sheffield were edged out 2-1 by Belfast Giants.”

The AHL in is rated below the NHL in North America, while the East Coast League is the third tier. Lord is clear he believes British hockey is now rising in the World standings.

Devils won 3-2 against Steelers after sudden death overtime plus penalties at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay and have now beaten their biggest rivals Sheffield four times in the league.”

Steelers return to the IAW again this Saturday for the fifth league clash between the two out of a series of eight scheduled this season (7pm).

Lord’s men had their eight-match winning run ended in brutal style on Saturday when they lost 8-0 at home against Nottingham, but then roared back to win against Sheffield the best evening.

Panthers have underlined Elite League’s growing reputation by qualifying for the Continental Cup Super final. They take on Danish club Odense Bulldogs, Ritten Sport from Italy and Kazakhstan’s Beibarys Atyrau in a group to decide the champions next month.

Steelers coach Paul Thompson was bitterly disappointed by his teams defeat against Devils, but said: “What a great game of hockey. It was one hell of an advert for the League.

“Both Cardiff and Sheffield have teams full of warriors. It will be nip and tuck between them all season.”

Lord is hoping to have import forwards Chris Culligan and Sean Bentivoglio, both ruled out against Sheffield by injuries, available again soon.

“Culli is a huge part of our team, while Benti skated in the warm-up, but couldn’t go. He is a puck possession guy who runs one of our powerplay units, a real up tempo skater. We could have done with him against one of the fastest teams in our league, but I was proud of our guys to a man.”

Lord wants an even better performance from his team in this Saturday’s Devils v Steelers confrontation, saying: “It was a great game, but not one of the prettiest 60 minutes. There were ugly moments and we’ll be looking for a better 60 minutes on Saturday.”

Josh Batch and Sheffield’s Guillaume Destines dropped the gloves to fight last Sunday, while 6ft 6ins Patrick Bordeleau threw a lot of big hits and made it clear he was ready fight if any Steelers player was ready.

All of his offers were declined, but Bordeleau will be out to ruffle Sheffield feathers again this weekend.

Devils play Steelers at home on Saturday (7pm) before travelling to take on Nottingham Panthers the next day (4pm).

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