Sean Puts Cardiff Devils Into Seventh Heaven

Canadian forward Sean Bentivoglio is the seventh player signed by Cardiff Devils for the 2017-18 season.

‘Benti’ averaged almost a point a game for Devils in their Elite League title season, his first with the Welsh club.

He fired 18 goals plus 29 assists to total 47 points in 49 matches.

And Bentivoglio’s record suggests he will return an even higher tally next season.

He started his five-year spell playing for Italian club Asiago with 43 points and going on to score more than 300 points at an average of more than 60 per season.

The high scoring left-shot, who can play centre or wing, led Asiago in scoring during four of his five seasons in Italy. They won the Italian SuperCup championship twice and the Italian play-offs twice.

Bentivoglio, born in Thorold, Ontario, played four years at Niagara University where he won two league championships and was selected to the first All-Star team twice and voted player of the year in his final season.

After finishing his university career Bentivoglio was called up to play for the Boston Bruins farm team in Providence for the final 15 games of the season plus the play-offs, scoring 23 points in 28 games.

He played the next three seasons with American Hockey League Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the top affiliate of the NHL’s New York Islanders.

In 2008-09 he was called up for his only NHL game with the Islanders before finishing the season in Bridgeport and then moving to Europe the following season to join Augsburg in the German DEL.

He moved on to Asiago and a year ago opted to join Cardiff Devils, helping coach Andrew Lord’s team win the League title, Challenge Cup and Erhardt Conference.

The seven players to have signed for Devils so far are Lord, Bentivoglio, newcomer Craig Moore, who has moved from Dundee Stars to South Wales, plus Joey Martin, Joey Haddad, Mark Richardson and Ben Bowns.

Cardiff start their fixtures on Saturday, August 12 with an Aladdin Cup clash with Nottingham Panthers away. Glasgow-based Braehead

Devils early fixtures:

August

Saturday 12 Aladdin Cup v Nottingham Panthers (away, 7pm)

Sunday 13 Exhibition match v Nottingham Panthers (home, 6pm)

Saturday 19 Aladdin Cup v Braehead Clan (home, 7pm)

Sunday 20 Exhibition match v Krefeld Penguins (home, 6pm)

Sunday 20 Aladdin Cup, Nottingham Panthers v Braehead Clan (Nottingham, 4pm)

Cardiff Devils will travel to Switzerland and the Czech Republic for their first two Champions Hockey League matches.

They take on HC Davos away on Thursday, August 24 and then travel to take on Czech team Bili Tygri Liberec two days later.

The first home match for Devils in CHL Group E is against Liberec on Thursday, August 31.

Davos travel to South Wales on Sunday, September 3, while Swedish team Vaxjo Lakers are at Ice Arena Wales on Tuesday, October 3.

Devils complete their group matches when they travel for the return in Sweden eight days later.

The top two teams in the group progress to the next round of the CHL.

Cardiff Devils Champions Hockey League group fixtures

August

Thursday 24: HC Davos v Cardiff Devils (7.45pm CEST)

Saturday 26: Bili Tygri Liberec v Cardiff Devils (3.30pm CEST)

Thursday 31: Cardiff Devils – Bili Tygri Liberec (7pm UK time, 8pm CEST)

September

Sunday 3: Cardiff Devils – HC Davos (6pm UK time, 7pm CEST)

October

Tuesday 3: Cardiff Devils – Vaxjo Lakers (7pm UK time, 8pm CEST)

Wednesday 11: Vaxjo Lakers – Cardiff Devils (7pm CEST)

Ticket information is available on the club’s official website at cardiffdevils.com