Cardiff Devils

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Cardiff Devils

League:

Elite Ice Hockey League

Founded:

1986

Home Ice:

Capacity:

{{{capacity}}}

Ice Size:

{{{ice_size}}}

City:

Cardiff, United Kingdom

Colours:

White, Red, Black, and Green

Captain:

{{{captain}}}

Head Coach:

Ed Patterson

Ownership:

Arena Sports LTD.

The Cardiff Devils are a British Ice Hockey club from Cardiff, Wales who are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League.

[edit] History

Founded in 1986, the club became the dominant force in the sport in the late 80s and early 90s winning a total of 7 league titles.

In 1997 the club won the Superleague championship. Hardship followed and the club went broke in 2001 and a new team was soon formed which competed in the British National League. The new owners massively reduced spending and effectively disbanded the Cardiff Devils, with the entire Superleague team departing. The then-owner, Bob Phillips was the subject of much scorn amongst fans due to the perceived mismanagement and effective destruction of what was then Britain's leading team.

The new team was formed from a handful of quickly drafted players, as well scavenging the Cardiff Devils youth teams to make up the numbers under the lower budget. Attendances at games dropped heavily, going from full arenas to typically less than fifty. During the first two seasons under Phillips large protests and demonstrations occurred outside games, with initially hundreds of supporters club members appearing outside the arena. While eventually the supporters club would reconcile with Bob Phillips and some of the old players would make goodwill appearances, the teams best years were behind them.

In 2003, the Devils became founder members of the Elite League, finishing the first season in 5th place. They were semi finalists in the end of season playoffs, losing to champions Sheffield Steelers.

The 2004-5 season did not finish well for the Devils. As in the 03-04 season, they reached the playoff semi-finals, but were once again defeated, this time by the Nottingham Panthers.

During 2005, serious questions over the future of the Devils began to emerge. The Wales National Ice Rink was due for demolition in 2006 to make way for a John Lewis store and plans for a new ice arena at Sophia Gardens were progressing at an extremely slow pace. There was a very real threat that 2005-06 could have been the last season of the Cardiff Devils.

The Save Our Rink Action Committee (SORAC) formed to lead calls from the city's ice hockey clubs and fans for a temporary facility to be constructed while a more permanent building was finally built. SORAC successfully campaigned for a rink in the Cardiff Bay area of the city. Planning permission was given in January 2006 and the structure should be completed in time for the 2006-07 ice hockey season.

The Devils won their first silverware of the EIHL era in 2006. The Devils faced arch rivals Coventry Blaze in a repeat of the previous year's Challenge Cup final but were beaten 3-0 in the first leg of the final in Coventry. The Devils however managed an incredible turn around in the second leg, defeating the Blaze 4-1 to tie the game on aggregate and won the cup 1-0 in the following penalty shoot-out. "Man of the Match" Nathan Rempel scored a memorable hatrick, whilst Rejean Stringer scored the winning goal in the penalty shoot-out.