Challenge Cup: Cardiff Devils targeting third title in seven seasons against Belfast Giants

Cardiff Devils beat Sheffield Steelers 2-1 in the final of the 2015 Challenge Cup

In recent years, Cardiff Devils have done rather well in the Challenge Cup, reaching the final in five of the last seven full seasons and winning the title twice.

Their 2015 success at Sheffield Steelers is still cherished by Devils fans.

In their first season under the then-new Canadian ownership of Steve King, Brian Parker, Kelly Hughes and Craig Shostak, the Devils upset favourites Sheffield to end a run of difficult years.

Club captain Mark Richardson, who was part of that winning squad that day, said: "To have a team that was put together quite quickly in the latter stages of that off-season go on and win a trophy was an amazing feeling.

"It was such an amazing day."

The Devils' journey to the Challenge Cup Final this season hasn't been entirely comfortable.

They lost two of their group matches and required overtime or a shootout to beat Guildford Flames on three separate occasions.

Then in the quarter finals Cardiff overcame a two-goal first-leg deficit to beat Dundee Stars 6-3 on aggregate.

• Giants the 'most important ice hockey team in the world' - Devils' Kelman

New to the Elite League Ice Hockey League [EIHL] this season, Cardiff Devils head coach Jarrod Skalde said: "The competition is interesting at the beginning.

"It starts to build when you're playing a lot of early games in September and October and it's spread out over the season and you're trying to get the first place in your pool.

"I've never entered a competition already down two goals.

"We didn't play very well up in Dundee, they're a hard-working team and anything can happen in a series like that.

"So I was really happy with the way we responded [in the second leg], we got two quick goals and took the lead to get the win.

"The way we responded was absolutely terrific on our guys' part and how determined they were wanting to move on."

With Covid-19 disrupting the EIHL's playing schedule, the competition's semi-finals were reduced to one-off games, with Cardiff having to travel to rivals Sheffield Steelers.

An accomplished display saw the Devils come away from the Utilita Arena with a 5-0 win - the second time they have won by that score-line in Sheffield this season.

"That's a tough building to go into," said Skalde.

"We had a game plan going in and everyone bought in and everyone executed it to a tee.

"So to win 5-0, that was a little bit unexpected, but we came out hard and we got the start we wanted and got an early lead and carried it on into the second and third period."

The Devils now face the challenge of travelling to Northern Ireland to take on Belfast Giants in the SSE Arena in the final on Wednesday 16 March, face-off at 19:00 GMT.

The Giants are the form team in the EIHL having won 23 out of their last 27 games since New Year's Day.

"They're a very well-coached team, they're a disciplined team," said Skalde.

"They have the least amount of goals against in the league and are right up there with the most goals for.

"They might have the best [forward] line in the league, they've got so much depth offensively. They also have some defencemen that aren't afraid to join the rush.

"And they've got one of the top goaltenders in the league. From top to bottom it's a very well balanced team."

'We want to be aggressive, just like Belfast'

However it is not all bad news for Devils.

Of the four games Belfast have lost in 2022, two were against Cardiff, so if any team can be confident in beating the Giants at their home rink, it is the Devils.

"I believe we have a lot of the strengths that they have," Skalde added.

"We play in a very similar way. We want to be aggressive, just like they are.

"We've played well against them all season long, we've had some success against them and they've had the better of us from time to time."

Having been appointed as Devils head coach in September 2020, Skalde had to wait until August 2021 to finally travel to south Wales.

Speaking to BBC Sport Wales, Skalde said winning the Challenge Cup in his first season in charge would mean a great deal to him and the organisation.

He said: "This Challenge Cup would mean so much to me personally, to my family, to our players, the new players that have come here and have worked their way through the season to put ourselves in this position.

"It would mean a tremendous amount to me."

Captain Richardson added: "These kind of games are why you play.

"A nice arena, big crowd and against a great team.

"I think after Covid it would just be so huge for this team to go and win that trophy."