Thompson fuming before Devils Elite League start

Paul Thompson has brought in nine fresh faces to Cardiff Devils' squad since his appointment in May

With eight days to go until Cardiff Devils' opening Elite League (EIHL) fixture against Coventry Blaze this Saturday, prospects for the new-look Welsh side seemed promising.

Before last weekend Paul Thompson's team had won five of their six games in the Challenge Cup - and with two home games ahead of them looked well set to take control of their 10-game group.

Instead, having dropped a 3-0 lead to lose a helter-skelter Saturday encounter with Coventry 6-5, on Sunday the side collapsed to a 5-0 defeat by Nottingham Panthers.

It left their head coach fuming.

"I was embarrassed for ourselves," said Thompson who took charge of the Devils in the summer.

"I use the word 'we' because our fans pay good money to come and watch us and for the first time this season, we didn't give them anything to get excited about."

In the wake of Sunday's 5-0 loss at the Vindico Arena, Thompson and his coaching staff spent all day Monday working out their response.

"In the past I've brought the players in on a Monday as a punishment, but they had the day off because we needed 24 hours to digest where we've been and where we are now," added the 57-year-old with over 30 years experience of coaching.

"I waited two days to get in front of them and tell them how I feel. We had a hard workout, and then we had a hard meeting.

"I tell you, there were some tough things said, but I feel that we've got a group that will respond to that. Every player at one point was singled out for something that we don't believe they're doing right."

What went wrong for the Devils last weekend?

Cardiff Devils have the highest penalty minutes per game this season, 20.13, a whole 12 minutes more than Coventry Blaze

Having conceded just nine goals in their first six games, last weekend Cardiff conceded 10 in less than 100 minutes of hockey.

"When your game is flat, when you are chasing, when you're thinking that you are doing the right thing and the five or the six of you aren't on the same page, this happens," said Thompson.

"The level of the league is, if you're not on it, that's going to happen to you."

Thompson also points to playing too many minutes outnumbered with players sitting out "soft, selfish" two-minute penalties "that just don't need to be taken".

"It's only so long that you can keep defending seven or eight, nine penalties a game that it's going to come back and kick you," he said.

"We were running around and looking for the hits rather than looking to win the puck.

"As much as we want to play this heavy, fast-forechecking game, we also have to play with our brains."

Elite League openers bring chance of revenge

Cardiff Devils and Coventry Blaze will both be playing their first EIHL game of the season on Saturday

With a somewhat ironic twist, the Devils' opening EIHL opponents are the same two sides that beat them last weekend – Coventry and Nottingham.

What might have been a routine start to a league season has now become a hugely important pair of fixtures.

"We want to get off to a good start in the league and get to playing Devils hockey," said Thompson.

"The last time we won the Elite League here was 2017-18 and that's not good enough for a club like this.

"This is the hardest league to play in because the league championship is the number one thing to win and in the rest of the world it's not - it's about the play-offs."

Cardiff were beaten in overtime by Nottingham in last season's Play-Off final but - despite also winning a first European trophy - previous head coach Pete Russell left the club having finished fourth in EIHL

"I was brought in to change the culture and bring the every day effect," added former Coventry and Sheffield coach Thompson.

"You're not going to win every night, it's impossible, there's too many good teams.

"So that focus of being an every-dayer, that focus on us being the team that is going to be right up there, staying within the top three, four teams and having a real opportunity to win a league means that we have to push these guys on a daily basis and they have to push us and they have to push each other."

And Thompson, who last season won the Danish League with Odense Bulldogs, is reassured by this week's training sessions that everything will be alright on Elite League opening night.

"We didn't fulfil our potential last weekend, but the key to it all is recognising that we didn't and try and put it right next time," he said.

"They went on the ice today and proved to me the good bunch that they are.

"The players have reacted in exactly the way I'd hoped, and to be honest with you, in the way I knew they would."

Weekend fixtures

Saturday, 11 October

Cardiff Devils v Coventry Blaze (19:00 BST)

Sunday, 12 October

Nottingham Panthers v Cardiff Devils (16:00 BST)