Brodie Dupont: Cardiff Devils coach 'revved up' by increased ice hockey competition

Cardiff Devils head coach Brodie Dupont has welcomed increased competition in British ice hockey this season and is "excited by the dog fight".

The Welsh club are the one unbeaten team in Elite League - with five wins from five - but are only fourth in the table.

Leading the way are previously unheralded side Guildford Flames and 2010 champions Coventry Blaze.

"I think it's better for the league," said Canadian Dupont.

"It's better for the game, it's better for the fans to have that type of race.

"It's better for the players to see that you can't take a night off."

Reigning champions Belfast Giants are only seventh in the 10 team table, having played just two league games this season, while leaders Guildford have played eight, and Coventry seven.

Dupont though feels both clubs deserve to be considered contenders this season, along with his side, Belfast and Sheffield Steelers who are third with five wins from seven games.

"People speak about Coventry and Guildford as if they don't deserve to be there," added Dupont, who made one appearance in the NHL for New York Rangers during his playing career.

"I would disagree, I feel they do deserve to be there.

"You want to beat the best of the best and the more better teams there are, if you can rise above that I think it'll feel that much better.

"I'm excited about the dog fight, it gets me revved up."

While Cardiff's Elite League form has been impressive - with 25 goals in their five league games - they have lost four out of six matches in the Challenge Cup, leaving them uncertain of a quarter-final place as they travel to Guildford for their penultimate group match on Sunday, 17 October (1800 BST).

Before that they face Sheffield for the second time this season in Elite League, having won 3-1 in Yorkshire on the opening weekend.

Dupont believes even in mid-October it is already a massively important game in the title race as Steelers visit Ice Arena Wales on Saturday (1900 BST).

"It's huge. A lot of guys are in the hunt for it now, so every game now is magnified," said Dupont, 35, who first joined Cardiff as a player in summer 2021.

"We know Sheffield have some new recruitments, some new fresh energy and they're putting the puck in the net.

"Sheffield are always going to be dangerous offensively. We've been playing quite well also. I'm confident in this group that we can go and get the win.

"Our goal is to have the puck most of the game, so we feel if we can have the puck we can limit their chances.

"We need to come in with that mindset that we need to start early and get on them hard and try to sustain that for 60 minutes and get our crowd involved.

"And when we do lose momentum, which we inevitably will, it's how quickly you grab that back and that's what we're working on.

"It's a massive game, it's a game that we need to come in and be ready to play."