Devils 'equipped and ready to go' for new season

Cardiff Devils will be aiming to win their first Elite League title since 2018

There has been a distinctly calm atmosphere around the Cardiff Devils this summer and a quiet confidence that their pre-season has pretty much gone to plan.

The Welsh club get their 2025-26 season underway at Nottingham Panthers on Saturday with the first of eight Challenge Cup games before their Elite League (EIHL) campaign starts in October.

After the appointment of new head coach Paul Thompson the club went about their business in the transfer market with little fuss and then took to the ice for pre-season matches before any of the other EIHL teams.

They enjoyed a strong start with back-to-back victories over French side Rapaces de Gap.

A week later, however, they suffered a narrow loss to Montreal-based university team Concordia Stingers and then two close defeats to Sheffield Steelers - once in overtime and once in a shootout.

Last weekend they recorded two confident victories over Nottingham Panthers and Guildford Flames.

Some fans may interpret those four wins and two losses to be less than encouraging but coach and players are content with how they have progressed since the squad gathered on 11 August.

"I'm happy with where we are at the moment," said Thompson. "I like the attitude of the team. I feel that we're equipped and ready to go."

The intensity of this year's Devils training camp showed itself when they hosted the Concordia University side and the Cardiff players looked to be off the pace.

The defeat was no surprise to the vastly experienced Thompson.

"It wasn't fluid, we were a second behind in our decision making most of the night," said the 57-year-old head coach who succeeded Peter Russell at the start of May.

"We've been going one hour 45 [minutes] a day on the ice, sometimes twice a day, two gym workouts a day so during that first two-week period the guys were pushed to their maximum.

"So, I wasn't surprised. It was a little bit sloppy that game, our puck management was sloppy, and fatigue does play in especially at that part of the pre-season.

"I expected it to happen at certain points and it did for that game.

"But I thought that we got some really good video from that game, and I thought that we kicked on from that point."

Players gel with training camp chemistry

Forward Joey Martin is playing his 10th season as a Cardiff Devil

The Devils roster has been overhauled for the new season, with nine fresh faces in addition to 14 players kept from last season's squad.

The players, new and old, are also pleased with the progress made in pre-season.

"Despite the results we stayed confident in our game, but going into the last weekend [against Nottingham and Guildford] we didn't want to keep repeating ourselves and keep losing," said newly appointed captain Joey Martin.

"It was time to get a result here, let's find a way especially in the weekend before the season starts."

A shutout victory followed with a first period goal complimented by two in the third, including a late empty-netter.

"Nottingham came out pretty well in that game, they had us on our heels for a bit, but I think we showed resilience and a lot of character," added Martin.

"We stuck with the game plan, and we ended up taking over from there, so it was a really good sign.

"Right now, everyone's getting along well and that's one of the main things about training camp was to get everybody to gel and for a chemistry."

New signing Jimmy Oligny, who was a defenceman for ten years in the AHL (American Hockey League) for Manitoba Moose and Milwaukee Admirals, has been impressed by the preparations.

"When I first came, I didn't know what to expect at all and it's been good to see that these guys can really play and that it wasn't a big gap between all the leagues I've been in and the league here," said Oligny, who last season played in Slovakia and Austria.

"During camp I was really impressed by how quick we were able to apply all the different systems we were trying to apply and actually put it in our games."

Leadership throughout the group

Paul Thompson has won Elite League titles with Coventry Blaze and Sheffield Steelers

A final part of Thompson's squad building came earlier this week when the former Great Britain coach named his Devils' captaincy group.

Thompson - who has also coached in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Italy - appointed Martin as captain with Mark Richardson, Oligny and Kohen Olischefski the assistant captains.

It is a quartet with significant collective leadership experience.

Martin previously wore the captain's 'C' for the Devils during a 2019-20 season that was prematurely ended by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It's an absolute honour, this club means a lot to me," said the 37-year-old.

"I wear a lot of pride just wearing that jersey, so to be a captain of this team means a lot to me and something I wear with pride, and I won't take it for granted."

Richardson had been Cardiff captain for four years up to last season and has been an assistant captain for Great Britain for the last 11 years.

Defenceman Oligny was the captain of Manitoba Moose in the AHL and Olischefski led the University of Denver in the NCAA.

Thompson said: "I'm in a wonderful position in that whoever I appoint I'm going to upset somebody because we do have a really good mixture of leadership throughout the group.

"Richie has been a fantastic captain for this team and I've decided now to put Marty in that position but to be ably backed up by Richie.

"And Jimmy coming in, if the Winnipeg Jets trusted to appoint him the Manitoba Moose captain for three years it tells you what kind of leadership he was bringing through their young AHLers that were going to jump up to the NHL.

"And then Olischeski has been a captain in the best college programme in the world and he's very articulate in everything he does."

'You don't care about anything else but winning'

Jimmy Oligny joined Cardiff Devils from Austrian side Graz 99ers

Before they turn their attention to Elite League matches in mid-October, Cardiff will play all but two of their 10 Challenge Cup preliminary fixtures.

They are joined in a six-strong group by Coventry Blaze, Guildford Flames, Manchester Storm, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers.

The Challenge Cup is a competition that has provided the Devils with both success and a good deal of frustration over the last decade - reaching the final seven times but winning only two of those in 2015 and 2017.

And the opening weekend of this season's competition has handed them the challenging test of a road trip to Nottingham followed by hosting Sheffield at the Vindico Arena.

"That's how you want it as a player, those are the games you get really excited for," said Martin.

"It's a great way to start the season and it's a great way to see where we lay with them. So, it should be an exciting weekend."

And then of course there is the perennial expectation at the Devils that they are genuinely competing for trophies, a demand that sits just fine with Oligny.

"It's the best feeling especially for older guys like me because you don't care about anything else but winning," said the 32-year-old Canadian.

"You don't aspire to sign a deal in the NHL or get called up. What you want is winning, and to lift a cup together with the boys.

"I'm glad that this is the objective here and can't wait to get started."

Opening weekend fixtures

Saturday 13 September

Challenge Cup, Nottingham Panthers v Cardiff Devils (19:00 BST)

Sunday 14 September

Challenge Cup, Cardiff Devils v Sheffield Steelers (17:00 BST)