Devils Debrief 2025/26 - Episode 30 - Devils 4-1 Manchester Storm

Franny, Gaz and Dan breakdown another Devils home win after the beat the Storm 4-1 on Saturday night 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Today's podcast is brought to you by Minerva Hearing. Hear the cheers, protect your ears. Shemai Pawba Kroisar. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Devil's Debrief. After the Devils have beaten the Manchester Storm in a really entertaining game here on Saturday night. Four goals to one, Dan Ralech, alongside Gareth Hewish and Neil Francis. Guys, that was a really entertaining game. It was good to watch. And uh the Devils probably flattered a little bit by that scoreline.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Yeah, me, I probably would agree with that. And uh I totally agree. I really thoroughly enjoyed that. I thought 60 minutes of both teams committed uh fully to proceedings, and I think teams with a a pretty clear identity about what they wanted to achieve from this, and just the work rate of both teams are kind of cancelling each other out defensively for a lot of uh a lot of the game, a lot of block shots for for both teams, both netminders uh made some big saves. And you know, if uh if that is the the quarter final uh in uh in the playoffs that we get, I think it'll probably be the uh the tie of the round.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Yeah, it was a dangerous time to play Manchester, wasn't it? They had a bad home loss last night to Guildford, so you knew that they were gonna come out and you know play with that intensity. And the games against Manchester are always good anyway, they're always entertaining and normally have a few spark moments in them. Uh, but I thought for the first two periods, the devil, especially in the first period, I mean limiting Manchester to two shots. I thought the Devils were really good. I said on the stream that um the zone entries from the Devils were really good tonight, which led to a lot of chances. Um for two periods it was going primarily in the way of the Devils, but it was a huge pushback from Manchester. And at 2-1, I was just getting that feeling that we were kind of on the ropes and you know we were trying to keep it at bay, but um luckily we did, and I think Christian Stover had a huge part to play in that. Uh, and then that that goal from Brett Ferguson was huge.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

It was it came against the runner play in the third, and and from probably about 12 or 13 minutes to the end of the game until the final buzz of the storm definitely I think were the better team, and there was a real pushback from them. I thought they played very well drilled hockey. I I said on the stream to Gaz tonight as well: the the stick checks, the stick details by both teams, but not only that, but taking passing and shooting lanes away from both teams was so good tonight. It it almost forced both teams to be more creative, which made it a really good game to watch.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Yeah, definitely. Especially in that first period, we we saw that one from Welsh that was taking away a definite backdoor chance. Then Yuremko, I loved that sort of dive-in poke check when the uh the first save had been made by Stover and he was kind of committed, and it was looked like an open net. Great effort by Yeremku, who I thought was really good on his return tonight. Um, but also all I was really impressed with was uh Stover's composure. You know, he made a mistake on the first goal. He'll be the first to hold his hands up, and like we said, when you're an active goalie, sometimes at some point it's not going to come off for you. And he gave up that that goal. Um, but then after that, he was immense. I think 33 saves uh to thoroughly earn the Manal of the Match Award.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Yeah, I totally echo that. And what I think is highlighted in that performance tonight is how much he's grown through the season. Because if you look back at that Dundee game back in November where he made a mistake, I don't think he recovered from that mistake during that game. And for him to do that tonight and how well he did it in the third period, it was probably three or four huge chances that should have hit the back of the net and didn't. So I think in a weird kind of way, it's a good thing I think that he's made that kind of mistake now because it highlights exactly how much he's progressed across the year.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Yeah, I think that's spot on, and and it's it's another great performance by him. He's he's put together a run now, obviously, two against Dundee last week, the match of the weekend before as well. So very much a man informed Stover. And and Franny, you mentioned Uremko back coming back into the lineup. There's a big worry, I think, with Ryan Barrow going down injured. It's obviously a huge name for the Devils in terms of the style of play, playoff hockey. Ryan Barrow obviously embodies that kind of thing. But Uremko and Laquroir in the lineup tonight did a very good job. And and Gaz and I spoke pre-game about the fact that Josh McDonald is probably going to come back into the lineup. So those two guys are essentially playing for a spot, and I thought they were both really good.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Yeah, I mean, Uremko in preseason, he gave us glimpses of what I think was going to be a very exciting player for the Devils, and he's had a horrid time with injuries. You know, he's he's sat out, he's tried to come back a couple of times, and it's still been niggling away. But um, I think he's feeling good at the moment in terms of the injury settling down. Um, I think the first two periods for him was were great. He was making some really good plays, like you said about the diving poke check, made a nice block as well. Um, so yeah, he looked like um a very useful player again. I think he probably tired as the game went on, which is understandable. And in Tomo's interview, uh he said you know he might not play him tomorrow, which I think would be sensible because you've loaded him up today, you've got a good workout from him. Maybe not push it back to back because I still think he could have an impact in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Guys, let's chat very quickly about Manchester because I think every credit should be given them to them tonight. And and it was funny when Cam Critchow came in for his post-game interview. We were chatting before before we started recording and and and chatting about how this could be a potential matchup. But I think both of us probably agreed that if tonight's the last time we see each other, it's maybe for the best, because this would be an absolute war of attrition if it was a two two-legg play off the quarterfinal.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Yeah, it would, and I I'm here for it in in a sadistic kind of way, yes. Um, you know, you know, I like my boxing analogies, and uh, you know, styles make fights, and I think the way that we play and the way that the storm play really complement each other for entertaining games. And you know, we talked about their loss against Guildford yesterday. There was a bit of a heavier loss. Guildford play a much sort of less physical, much more attacking, free-flowing style. And I I think that is a way you can get at Manchester. We're not set up fully foot for that. We we do like a battle in the corner, we do like a strong forech, we do like to put checks in. Um so I I I've waxed the record about Cam Gritchlow and the storm all year, and nothing that I saw today changed my mind at all. If anything, it strengthened everything uh I thought before. And uh yeah, they they they could be a dark horse in that playoff run if they were to get through a quarter final, whether it's against us or someone else, you know, in that final four weekend. I I could see them managing to put you know two 60-minute performances together to go there. But if we do face them uh in the playoffs, then I felt tonight what we did show was we are there for the battle. We you know, they are they're a team that enjoys those little niggles off the play, they are a team that enjoys going into the corners, but we matched them on that tonight. So uh across a weekend, if we were to put in that same effort, then we have a good chance of going through.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Yeah, Franny, the last thing we'll touch on with Manchester is of course Drew De Ridder. It's difficult not to speak about him, was a great again tonight. And and again, I said the scoreline flatters, the Devils did very little wrong. And and when you have a guy like that who you can ride and comes up big in those moments, it can help you go in into a playoff run because it takes a hot hand and all of a sudden you find yourself in a great position.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Well, he's a confident goalie and he's every right to be because he's running at 94%, say, for the season, which is outstanding in any league, whichever league you go in, if you're running at that level, then you know it's fantastic. And you know, you saw tonight why he's running at that, because the Devils did, especially in those first two periods, put a lot of pressure on him, and you know, they were made to work for their goals. Um, so yeah, he's a huge asset. But yeah, I mean, like you said, I do like the Manchester team. Uh, I think they've got a little bit of everything, you know, they got some experience on the back end, they got some youth in there too, they've got some finishing, they've got physicality. I think they're quite a balanced roster, and of course, in a two-game playoff leg, you've got to go into Manchester as well, which is you know never a nice place to go. So um, I mean, I hope we don't get them because I think they're gonna finish uh in fifth or sixth, and you know, I want the Devils to finish as high as possible, which would mean you know, second place, which would be the seventh team currently Coventry as we look at it. Um, so that tees it up nicely for tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

That it does. Uh lovely little segue there, Franny. Yeah, you're getting good at this. Um Devils go up to Coventry tomorrow for their first away game in five. It's a huge game, obviously, with playoff implications and everything going into that. If you're not heading up, join the webcast for the Coventry guys. Ed and Stu do a fantastic job with that. We will be back with Insider this week. And then we, of course, have the Sheffield game on Wednesday. So if you've not got tickets, Franny and I will be on Devils TV for that as well. And yeah, that's all for tonight. Devils win 4 1 against the Manchester Storm. We will see you all very soon. Thank you so much for listening. Good night. Thank you very much once again to our sponsor, Minerva Hearing, for today's podcast. And remember, Minerva Hearing, hear the cheers, protect your ears.