Devils Debrief 2025/26 - Episode 33 - Devils 4-1 Coventry Blaze

The trio sit down for their final Debrief of the season as the Devils beat the Coventry Blaze 4-1 to head to playoff final weekend in Nottingham

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Today's podcast is brought to you by Minerva Hearing. Hear the cheers, protect your ears. Shumai Paul Bakrois. Hello, everybody, and welcome to Devil's Debrief, your 33rd instalment of Devil's Debrief for the season. And the final one. Very, very sad. But the good news is the Devils have beaten the Coventry Blaze on the night 4-1 on aggregate 6-2. Guys, I mean, as semifinals go, it was about as good as you could have hoped for for the Devils.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Yeah, it was across two legs. Me and you, Dan went up and treated ourselves for an away day yesterday to cheer on the guys. And uh, yeah, just across the the full ends and 20 minutes, I just felt that we controlled the tempo, that we controlled Coventry. Well, we we didn't allow them uh any sort of uh assertive pressure in the zone. We didn't allow them to play the way that they wanted to play, which I think uh in his post-match interview, Kevin Moore kind of conceded as well that we just didn't allow them to do anything and they didn't really have an answer uh to that. So uh yeah, across 120, it's exactly what we asked for, it's exactly what we wanted. I was just gutted for Stover that he didn't get his shutout, bless him.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Yeah, and I and I think that was maybe the Devil's only mistake of the weekend, which is pretty impressive in a playoff series. Um, you know, Coventry came in. Uh they've had an up and down season, but they're such a tough team, and it was going to be a tough series. And you know, we've talked about Robson until the cows come home, but um, I thought the Devils controlled the whole weekend superbly well. Um, you know, that is as good as a playoff um home and home performance as you'll see. Um we said on Insider that if the Devils play as well as they can, it doesn't matter who they're up against. And I think tonight and yesterday you saw the Devils play the way that we know that they can. And, you know, it was it was I thought it was way more comfortable than the 2-1 scoreline suggested last night. I thought we should have finished some more chances there. Um, but tonight that early goal on the board, and it was just kind of a machine from then on, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Yeah, I think that's a very good point. And and I'm glad now that looking back at it, the the goal that Coventry scored last night, which may or may not have been offside, was fairly inconsequential. However, um I think the biggest thing the Devils did tonight, and across both both uh legs, I think, is is is fair to say, they controlled the occasion, you know, even when there were flare-ups, even when everybody got involved in this game at the end of the first, and you know, there was there was punch-ups, there was a few guys sitting in the box for roughing. They never it never seemed like the devils lost control of the game, which is what the Blaze, I think, set out to do was to kind of stifle the Devil's momentum.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, sometimes you see in these um quarterfinal, uh two-legged phase that you get a guy making a hit they don't need to make, which leaves space in behind them. I thought we picked our spots and the times to get involved really, really well this weekend. And when we did up the ante, there always seemed to be a point in which Coventry didn't want to take it a little bit further. So that to me then kind of gave us that mental edge. It looked like again we were in control even of the tempo of those parts of the games when you know you want to assert your physicality. I thought Tyson Helgison this weekend was phenomenal in doing that, straight from the off, just patrolling that zone, jumping up into the play when he needed to. When someone made uh a hit he thought was over the line, he was the first in to make sure that it didn't happen anymore. And yeah, I you have to control your emotions, and I thought we played exactly on the right level.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Yeah, exactly that. It was controlled aggression, wasn't it? And it wasn't ever uh losing a losing tempers, it was the devils, it was really firing them up and they enjoyed it. You could see every scrum they came away with big smiles, whether it was Alini or Brent or Helgerson. Yeah, yeah, I thought Helgerson was an absolute beast this weekend. Um, yeah, he was going, it was visible that he would go out of his way to go and you know, go after whoever it was that made the hit or whatever, and shake the gloves, ask him, say, hey, we got, you know, all the talk in. Um, but he didn't jump anybody and he waited until he was kind of um tied up with somebody. And then if he did get a penalty, someone's coming with him. So I thought it was really smart from him, and you know, he's done that all year, and I think he's a he's a huge asset. Um, but yeah, there was there's so many things, so many things to be happy about this weekend. Christian Stover, like I say, so unlucky not to get the shutout tonight. Um, but you know, when we did need him, because there was a pushback from Coventry, came up with some huge saves, and the power play I thought looked exceptional both nights.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

Yeah, I think that was the thing I wanted to touch on, probably biggest thing that I wanted to touch on in the brief tonight was the power play, you know. And you we us three have spoken at length this season about power play struggles and we can't get it going, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, running, bottom of the league. For the last month or so, best power play in the league. And across not only the games at the end of the season, but across this tie, it was one of the deciding factors. Kevin Moore accepted in his post-game interview that the game really hinged on the two power play goals the devil scored, and they were near enough identical goals as well. If you look at them, you know, the guy drops into space, Martin it is in this case, and gets a shot on net. First one McDonald gets the rebound, the second one, mine ends up uh finding the back of the net. So something's clicking there. And if you were going to pick a time of year to do it, Franny, this is this is kind of it.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Yeah, and I don't think there was a power play goal scored yesterday, but the power play looked so impressive. It was moving the puck so quickly, a lot of it going through contest, and we spoke about you know how how much on form he is at at the moment. Um, but you know, just that those plays into Marty, who's so smart. I think it's a good spot for him in that bumper because he'll find a way to get open. And you know, he was unlucky with the first one that gets tapped home with uh by Josh McDonald, and the second one, exactly the same play from uh Contos, who just kind of looked off his uh defender and then you know threw a disguised pass into Marty, and Marty puts uh away the second one. And um, yeah, it was the the power play, we've talked about it in such a negative light um for a lot of the year, but credit where credit is due, uh, you know, coming in since March, it's been absolutely buzzing.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Guys, well, when we look at the the two legs across the tyres well, you felt that you know we we talked about the devils controlling the game, actually. I think what they did as well, they they they did it in a way that they used the assets they have. And I'd spoke about it on the on the stream tonight, and Brett Ferguson was one guy who kind of stood out. This was his kind of game, as it is for the majority of fit of the Devils roster. But this was the kind of game that he embraced as is last night, and the Devils really saw the benefit of that and that third line.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yeah, there were a lot of and signed heroes off of the stat sheet. I I think this year you mentioned Brett Brett Ferguson, he's definitely um one of them there. I thought Jimmy Oliny was exceptional as well. And when we talk about the way that we controlled these two games, it's things like yesterday the ice in Coventry was not great, and we adapted the way that we played. We, you know, we we adjusted to that, I thought even better than Coventry did, and they know what that rink uh is like, and it's just things like that that that I thought just set us apart this weekend. I I was worried going into this weekend that the way Coventry, they're always capable of causing uh an upset. But within the first 12 minutes of yesterday's game, my fears were allayed pretty quickly because, like I said, I just thought we really, really managed every aspect of uh of the assignment superbly.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Franny, as as we kind of look at the end of the Devil season now, and obviously we'll we'll speak about next weekend coming, but it's it kind of brings to an end the the season with the Devils home games. And Tomo spoke the first thing he wanted to talk about post-game was was how good the fans have been. And I think a huge amount of credit has to be given to them, not only tonight, not only in the last couple of weeks when the Devils have rallied, but through the entire year.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yeah, it's made the building, it feels like the building's got back that kind of feeling that we've had in previous years when we've done well. Um, that teams won't look forward to coming in here. I think for a little bit that had gone away and teams weren't bothered about coming in here. And you know, with the Carol Devils, we always want teams to come in apprehensive about coming into our building. I feel that that's back, and a lot of that is down to to the fans, you know, bringing the noise and the atmosphere. You can see the guys feed off here, especially with those kind of big hits and the moments like that. It just G's up the guys, and um yeah, it's uh a huge credit and a huge thank you to all the fans for the noise they've made. Um, and also to the guys for putting their bodies on the line week in, uh week out. And uh, you know, it is hard to play that style, and uh when the devils are at their best, they do play that really gritty style, and uh long may that continue.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

You know what? As we record and we don't quite know who we're playing next weekend, but um for me at this point it doesn't matter. Um I think we have to be looking to next weekend as if you were the other three teams, would you want to play the Devils? You don't, and I don't think they do. I don't think that that they do. And I don't say that in an arrogant way, I say that in a way that, you know, with my own eyes, I've seen how well we've been building these last few weeks, I've seen how well we played this weekend. So let's go into next weekend confident. Can the Cardiff Devils win two games in Nottingham against any one of the other teams in the elite league? Yes. So let's be positive, let's go, let's make a lot of noise and let's back the boys.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

I think that's a very nice way to end it. Of course, like you say, we don't know yet who's gonna be making Plow Finals weekend. We know that Manchester that will be there, we know that Sheffield will be there, and the Devils will be there. We'll wait upon the final first uh team that's gonna end up at in Nottingham. But um, that's kind of where we're gonna leave tonight in terms of of the hockey stuff. I just want to touch quickly, you know, guys, this is the last episode of Debrief and the last stream that we did on Devils TV this year as well. It's been a huge pleasure. Franny, thank you so much for your work, Gaz. Same to you as well. It's uh it's a pleasure coming to work with you both and being able to do these podcasts. That isn't it though. We have more in Devil's Insider. We'll have one hopefully in the week with Gaz and Franny, and then hopefully one or two maybe sneaky ones after the playoffs, depending on what we can put put together for you. But uh yeah, that's the the end of the show tonight, and and that's the end of the season in terms of debrief. Like I say, the Devils beat the Blaze 4-1 on the night, they head through to the Nottingham playoff finals weekend. What a weekend it promises to be. If you're going up, get there, enjoy it. It's one of the best weekends of the year. We all love doing it. If you're not, tune in because it could be a trophy for the devils. Who knows? We'll wait and see. But that's all for this evening. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. 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.