EIHL Preview: Giants at Devils – 8 September 2013

With three pre-season challenge matches under their belts, the Cardiff Devils are ready for the puck to drop in the opening weekend of the Elite Ice Hockey League.

Despite the “Friendly” name, these matches were certainly anything but; with numerous fighting majors handed out and Andrew Conboy accumulating a one match ban for headbutting, it left many of the Welsh fans salivating for more. This Devils team is gutsy; exerting great pressure both physically and offensively, they competed closely against Blaze and Esbjerg, and won their final match 7-3 at home versus Coventry.

Looking ahead to this season’s opener at the Big Blue Tent, it would be frivolous to write-off the Giants.

The Belfast Giants have recruited a strong team of familiarity and offensive flair, which will see them competing once again for honours in this year’s League title chase. The Giants invited top Italian side Bolzano-Bozen Foxes to the Odyssey arena for their pre-season matches, that saw the Northern Irish team sweep the Foxes in two games. This achievement isn’t to be sniffed at; Bolzano has skill and talent in abundance and will be one of the top teams as they embark on their first year in the Austrian EBEL League.

On top of this, the Devils form against the Giants has been poor, to say the least, over the last few seasons. The Devils’ last victory over the Giants was back in November 2012, as they scraped a 4-3 shoot-out win.

However, with several sizable additions, the Devils have turned the Cardiff Bay Arena back into the fortress it once was. This match will be a battle. With both teams showing great form in their pre-season matches, the winner of this game will be determined on fitness, netminding and the hunger to succeed.