Devils Insider - Episode 31 - April 14th - Que Sera Sera......

whatever will be will be... This Weeks Episode is all Playoffs baby! 

Review of the weekends quarter finals where the Devils steamrollered the Blaze to progress.

a Review of the guys predictions of the other quarter finals and looking over what happened in all the rinks around the weekend.

And then a preview of the Playoff weekend, the leagues showpiece event. Can the Devils bring home the playoff trophy? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Today's episode of Devil's Insider is brought to you by Minerva Hearing. Hear the tears, protect your ears. Hello, Chrysler, and welcome once again to Devil's Insider. Coming here on the back of the Cardiff Devils qualifying for the playoff semi-final in Nottingham. What a fantastic weekend of hockey it was, and we're going to get a good deep dive into that and a review of all the other playoff games that happened this weekend, and then a little preview to see what might be to come in Nottingham on the weekend. Gareth Uish, delighted to be joined by Mr. Neil Francis, kind of devil's legend. No Dan this week, he's uh at work working grafting hard as usual. Uh, but he will be in Nottingham for the playoff weekend, so uh everyone will see him there. But uh Franny, fantastic weekend of hockey for the Devils, real feel-good atmosphere in the Vindico yesterday.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Yeah, there was. I I think um I think there's a feel-good all weekend and and leading into it because the run of the form that the Devils have been on in the lead up to the playoffs was pretty impressive. I mean, we you take aside that 10 minutes of the Coventry game, and the form was insane. I mean, that 10 minutes aside, um, yeah, incredible form from the Devils, some big, big victories. Uh, maybe maybe it'll even started from the the Belfast weekend from that first victory over there. And I know we lost the second night, but it just from that point onwards, I think the Devils just re found their identity and um we're just absolutely rolling, and you know, we all really uh were gutted. Well, we still are gutted with the injury to Ryan Barrow, and that was you know a huge fear that that would knock us off track. Um, but upsteps Nolan Yuremko, and you know, he's done a great job of uh minimizing that impact of a loss of of Barrow, who I think has been a huge player for the Devils this year.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Because you touched on it, it'd be interesting to talk about it a little bit. I I agree that the Belfast we game was the initial catalyst, and then I think that weekend we switched the lines to break up Olashewsky, Ferguson, and Barrow. That just seemed to inject something into the entire line rotation, and everyone just seemed comfortable after that. And I I think the his chemistry just seemed to be instant from those changes, and I think that's played a big part too.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah, it's uh yeah, the chemistry over the course of the season has ebbed and flowed, hasn't it? Um, and there was one thing that you could guarantee, no matter what form the devils were in, that Olifjewski Barrow um line was Edmund Ferguson line was gonna do well because they're they're all hundred percenters, and they are you know they give you the same thing day in, day out, week in, week out. Fantastic, fantastic qualities in the hockey player. And there was always the gamble, and we talked about it, that you know, you know that's a sure thing. So if you break it up, do you then take away your sure thing, or do you then spread it across the lines? And that's exactly what happened. Like you say, it was you had a little bit of that on every line, and then it enabled the other two of the of the trio then to flourish. So you think of the Sanford and Contos partnerships. Um, you think the Polinis and Brands, you know, they're they're all coming into it now, and um, you know, Martin and Marty and McDonald as well, you know, they've got uh a good foil with them in in Ollie. And yeah, all of a sudden you got three lines going, plus the uh I think the master stroke of putting Connor Capone on the wing to relieve him of the kind of defensive duties of the center of a centre and giving him you know uh more of a free license. You're trusting Ben Davis to do the you know the hard yards in the middle there, the responsibility. Same with Sam Duggan, and then you've kind of got a bigger um leash on Capone to set him free then, and uh, and I think that has been another sort of spark plug for the for the devil's performances. Indeed it has.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Let's um get into the deep dive of of the quarterfinal then and Coventry before the weekend. We we talked about what a test we thought it was as a quarterfinal, and uh we discussed that we didn't really know what Coventry were gonna turn up on the weekend. And we rolled into Saturday in the Sky Dome, and for me, within 10 minutes, it seemed fairly clear that the Devils weren't gonna allow Coventry to turn up in any fashion, and it was gonna be the devils that sort of dictated the pace. And I said to Damien Damied a trip up on Saturday for the awake day, I said to him the first ten minutes will tell me how this is gonna go, I think. And I thought we settled superbly, um, and I really thought that that initial start for us was laying a marker down and we were dialed in, we were ready to go, and I think that's really important when you're away from home.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Yeah, definitely. And uh, you know, we've we will talk about the crowd on Sunday, but the away support, including your good selves, uh, was fantastic. We were what there's 300 odd uh devils fans up in Coventry making a big noise, and yeah, it was we we'd seen this dialed-in devils, hadn't we, in the weeks leading up to it, and they started the game just straight on it. Um even what should have been an offside call before the Coventry goal didn't upset the um the intent from the Devils, and it didn't get to them at all, they just stayed with it, outshot the Blaze two to one. Faceoffs were two to one as well, which is mightily impressive, absolutely dominated in the face-off dot on Saturday's game. Uh, and yeah, it was even with that that goal that was frustrating. Um yeah, the it you could just see there was a look in the the eye of the Devil's team that said, no, this this is our game, and we're gonna take it over. And they did. I thought, you know, for the whole 60 minutes were very, very dominant.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Because I thought the the ice was uh less than conducive to an entertaining, free-flowing game. But I thought the way that we adapted to that, it seemed that we adjusted and then the way we played, and maybe a bit more chip and chase, a bit less on the rush, a bit more quicker down ice, uh, just to get in there. And um the game management, I guess, is is what I'm saying. I I I thought it was a real mature performance, uh, a real kind of again, it speaks to that being dialed in and listening, and there's a plan there, and you work on it and you you get it effective. And I just yeah, I just thought the way we adapted to the ice and the way that it was was a big plus.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Yeah, I think that when the devils are on it, it's the work away from the puck that sets us aside. And maybe that bad ice was uh conducive to that because you can't do anything too fancy, you have to go to basics, and you know, it was getting pucks in behind the blaze D-men, making them turn, making contact, and there was plenty of that from the Devils, um, getting pucks to the net somehow, and getting bodies to the net, and yeah, all those things uh happened for the Devils. Uh, a great performance by both net miners, brilliant from Matt Robson with his 42 shots for Christian Stover, he was at you know 22 shots and uh and one goal down. And uh, I mean we'll talk about the other ties, but it was just crazy that after that level of performance, one goal conceded um from 22 shots, he was in sixth place in save percents after on the Saturday night. But I will go on to to Goldie, so I do want to give them a mention a bit later on when we talk about the other ties. But yeah, oh overall, uh a really, really pleasing performance that set up the expectation that you know Tomo said in his interview, you know, 20-30 minutes before the game, he could feel it, the energy, and that was kind of coming down into the dressing room, um, which helped then a superb start on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

And yes, that's exactly uh what you want, isn't it, when you um take a lead from from the night before. And Kevin Moore was very, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised with this, philosophical about uh the the game on Saturday in his interview. He kind of said, I I haven't got an opinion uh on anything yet because we're only halfway through. So he's going into Sunday completely kind of blocking out the noise and and the loss, and it kind of doesn't matter. Uh, we're still through a game, but to score within 45 seconds uh of a second leg when the crowd is already hot, they they were in warm-up before the game, they're already hot. Molashewski gets that on the board. You have to think that that was a psychological blow as much as a score line blow uh for Coventry, who they got a completely different kind of team talk and and focus after that, don't they?

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Yeah, um I've never when I've been involved in the kind of coaching side, I've never minded really going into the second leg a goal down. Because psychologically, how I would always look at it, and what we would always tell the team is we turn up every game to win the game. So that's all you got to do. So whether you're at home or whether you're on the road, it doesn't matter. You always go into every game wanting and expecting to win. So if you're one goal down from the heart at the halfway stage, all you've got to do is win a game, and then it's as a minimum tied overall. So that's what you focus on. You focus on getting the win, and in Coventry's case, it would have been a one goal if it was a one-goal win, and then all of a sudden it's a new game. Then you've got game three, which is the overtime to see who goes through. So that's the way that I would always approach it, and that's what Kevin Moore was probably alluding to you know, they're going in, or they all they're looking at doing is beating the devils, which means that it'll be a minimum tied, and then you know, overtime and and penalties then uh takes care of itself. So he would have had that sort of message probably going out to his team, but then when you concede inside that first minute, all of a sudden that kind of psyche has gone out the window because now you need to score three goals to to beat the the devils in their own building, and it's um you know it's a different animal then. So great kudos for the start that the devils had. Um, all three of the forwards there, you know, Joey Martin on the entry to McDonald, who who it was a nice kind of delayed pass um across and a cute finish from from Molly.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

And you know, you you if you're the way team in that situation, you're talking to yourself at the beginning. You want to quiet the crowd down, you want to make it nervous, you want to feel tension in it, and within 45 seconds, they're the loudest they could possibly be. And it felt almost a bit party-like, I guess, in the arena with where that goal went in. Everyone who comes through is enjoy themselves. I think they believed that the devils could get through, but I think there was a feeling after that goal earlier on that it was gonna be out night.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Yeah, like I say, everything that would have been said in that Coventry dressing room was kind of thrown out the window. You know, let's get this next goal and let's see if we can get into panic, quieten the crowd down, let's get it quiet in here, you know, let's put them under pressure, all those things, and then yeah, within a minute that's out the window. And yeah, if the crowd wasn't absolutely blowing the roof off before the game, which they were, it it definitely came off then after that goal and continued right the way through the 60 minutes. It did, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

And uh no more goals in the first, but uh the second is where all the damage was done and where the the tie was uh effectively killed off um by the devils against uh Coventry and punches in bunches is how I always uh call it when uh we we get a couple, but the power play looked fantastic in that second period when it he got a chance to go and just we've criticized the guys uh a few times this year about not being efficient with with goals and not scoring when we're on top, but that second period is just everything that's good about the devil's offense.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Yeah, definitely. I mean I thought the power play was absolutely buzzing on the Saturday night. I think there's three opportunities, there wasn't any goals, but it was the momentum it gave us was incredible because the puck was just buzzing round and there was opportunity after opportunity, and it was only you know brilliance from Matt Robson that stopped a power play goal on that night. Uh again, credit to the coaching staff because I know from the pregame meetings that Tomo had the two units in his office and called out exactly the play that Contos made twice to Joey Martin. He noticed a spot that it um if there was a head fake on the commentary D-man, they were kind of biting early, which then opened up that that pocket for for Joey. So that was called out. Contos uh executed it perfectly because you see, before he makes the pass, he fakes to go one way and the D-man bites it, and then it just opens up that lane for the pass, and not just the pass, but also it opened up a bit more space for Joey to be able to catch the puck and release it. First one doesn't quite get through. It's uh it's a half save from Robson, but uh McDonald is alert to it. The second one goes through clean. So, you know, um great scouting um from the coaching staff to you know to spot that little kind of uh weakness there in the Blaze penalty kill and really well executed by the guys. And you we haven't said that all year, but you know, since what mid mid-February, that power play has been executing at a rate of nuts, and really interesting. And Tomo again talked about it, is that he's given the the lion's share of the power play to the Fournier unit. Fournier wasn't even on the power play at the start of the year, um you know, it wasn't working for him for whatever reason, so other people were getting getting a go. But you know, he's uh his game as just I think keeps taking off as the season goes on, and he's taking himself to another level now, earned his spot back on the power play, and has just run with it, and that unit is getting you know the the lion's share of the power play minutes because they deserve to, because they're executing and they're and they're putting pucks away.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

They are indeed, and then there was a uh even uh handied goal from uh Riley Brandt to uh have the celebration of the season, do you think?

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Maybe, yeah. And uh, you know, I want to give the shout out to Pellini on that because it was so unselfish what he did. Um he didn't really have any spots to shoot at, and he recognised that straight away. So so smart. He knew he had um Brandt driving the net, so he just banked one off the pads of Robson and Brandt was was there and came through like a cannonball, didn't he? And nearly took everybody out and the celebration on his back. Brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

And just you know, it felt fitting that Brandt got a goal in that game given the season he's had, and given the the goal scoring exploits that he's been on this year, it just seemed to be uh a great little exclamation mark, a sort of cherry on top uh of a season at that last game at home. He gives the the crowd a goal from himself.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Yeah, well deserved too. I mean, he's uh he's done such a fantastic job in that fourth line role. You know, he's he's been the best at that role in the league. Um, but obviously, like any player, you want to elevate your game and have a bigger role, and he was patient and he waited for his opportunity. You know, it came in kind of two spells, didn't it? Because he had uh a bit of an injury at one stage, and then when he came back, you know, he was in amongst the goals and um took advantage of getting that opportunity through others being out with injury and he made the spot his own, and you know, he's just continued that you know, brilliant performance in that Belfast game with the hat trick. Um but you know, he he's he's given so much more, but still treating us to those big hits as well. And he had a couple of giant ones on the weekend.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

He did indeed, and that that for me, uh Rani effectively knocked the game out. I didn't feel that I know there was a little time out and a little pushback in that second, but the body language of the Blakes players uh on the ice after that goal went in. There was a few on the ice who sort of went down looking at the ice towards their knee, and it just it just felt that they knew that was too big a task uh from then on. And I looked at while I was on commentary sort of through the third period when it was sort of winding down, and I kind of thought the way that uh Luciani, for example, fantastic player, didn't get a chance to influence the the game at all. Constable did get that goal in the first game, but again, other than that, I felt we get and it was that nullification for me of the guys that could hear Gleason didn't really affect the game like we thought he might either. And I think when you look across the talent that they've got at the lack of any kind of impetus that they were allowed to have, that that to me again highlights just how well devils played.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Yeah, and I think a large part of that is how um how well we played with the controlled aggression. Uh, you could see when Comventry, though those two goals down overall, they try to mix things up a bit and they try to draw the devils into a bit of a dogfight, but that suited us down to the ground because I think that's when we play our best. And you know, for whenever there was um the skirmishes going on, you'd see Helgerson just come round and just have you know words in someone's ear, and it kind of just nullified the advantage that that was going to take. And you know, there were some heavy hits early on. The Helgerson went on Bariga um early on, and you know, those players that you're talking about that have been very influential in some of the runs that Coventry have been on, you know, they were taking some big punishment from those hits. And every time there was a scrum, you know, the likes of Alini and uh uh Yuremko, you know, had it had a few words, and he was Sorcerman, and there was uh there was lots of that going on, and I thought the Devils played that brilliantly because they did engage, but they only engaged to a level where it was always going to be one from one side, one from the other. So we didn't put ourselves in a situation where we were man down. Um, and I thought you know that that was brilliant. Really, the only the only thing we gave Coventry over the weekend was that goal that broke the shutout, where I think maybe at you know four four nil up, um guys switched off for a moment and got a little bit carried away on the offensive side of things, which was a shame. Um and uh it was a a line change as well. I think it was called out on the comms, and it allowed a two-on-one, and unfortunately broke the what would have been a well-deserved shutout for Stover because even though the Devils were very dominant, there was a couple of key times, wasn't there, that where he made huge saves, um, very athletic saves that you know we're we're coming to see more and more often. And um you know I thought he deserved that, and I'm sure his teammates felt really bad for their part in the breakdown that that left that let uh Coventry get that goal. But uh, I mean, if you're only giving the opposition one opportunity over 120 minutes, you've done a pretty good job, haven't you?

SPEAKER_00 19:58

You have indeed, and but for an offside call, it could have been a completely blank weekend uh in net for for Stoves. So uh excellent quarterfinal. Love just the atmosphere yesterday for me was just superb. It was just everything that's good about the uh the Cardiff Devils, and everything's good about the Vindicore when it's in full voice, and uh the Devils progress. We don't have a guest this week. The guys, Tomo, everyone are in playoff mode. They they're in the uh the war room, I guess you can say this way.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Yeah, including Katrina. We tried to talk her into coming on, but uh she's dealing with all things playoff as we speak late on a on a Friday uh sorry, Friday, late on a Monday um evening. So yeah, it's just me and you.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

It is indeed. So let's uh do a bit of review of uh all the other games that took place in uh the quarterfinal on the weekend. And we said in our preview last week that we thought there could be upsets. We predicted some upsets, well, at least you and Dan did. Um the one none of us predicted was the champions going out. Um I did I the the closest we got was me saying that if you keep it tight on Saturday, you got a chance on the Sunday, and that's exactly what happened, and you have to give huge credit to uh Mike Sarant and uh and his team that they managed to topple a team that knows how to win better than any other currently.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Yeah, um, I mean we did say before when we were talking about the predictions, this is probably the first year where there could be four upsets because all four of those teams, and we spoke about it, that you wouldn't pick any one of those teams out as the tie that you wanted because all four teams are dangerous on their own night and you know have got some key players. Um in the predictions, just as a refresh, we all went with a Belfast win. We did. Um Dan and I went with a Manchester upset. Of Nottingham, you went with Nottingham. I did. Uh Dan and I went the Steelers to be too strong for the Flames, and you went with the Flames. And then we all backed the Devils, even though I didn't say it out. But yeah, back to that uh back to that Glasgow Belfast. When it was, you know, keeping an eye on the scores as it was going on, and when it was zero zero in the third period, I thought that is a real if it stays like that. I mean, zero zero in a playoff game is is quite the thing. Um, and if it stays like that, that's a huge boost to Glasgow because then it, you know, they're they're a goal away from knocking out a team that's uh the reigning league champions and like you say know how to win. And then Belfast got that late winner, and and then I in my head I was like, this is what they do, you know, whenever they're in tough, they always find a way to sneak it through. And um I forget who scored it, but uh it was I I'm pretty sure it was one of the guys that you would always pick out, and uh I thought that was maybe Glasgow's chance gone because Belfast would be one ahead, it would be Glasgow chasing the game, and then it would invite Belfast to to maybe score on the counter. But I was wrong, it was Glasgow that started very well, and I think they got themselves two goals up at one stage to to lead, and then you know, obviously Belfast then tied it later on uh and ended up going to uh to a shootout, which we got to to watch on the the gantry, and it was um yeah, it when it when it goes, I mean Keith's interview was right when it goes to overtime in a shootout, you're just one kind of shot away from getting knocked out either team. That that's how it is. Um, he said his team played well for 30 minutes a night, and that's not enough over a 120 minutes to to only play for 60. Uh, so they put themselves in that spot. You know, I I agree with that assessment from from what I've seen. Um, but what is incredible is it's the first time in the playoffs for Glasgow in 10 years. Yeah. I was surprised when I saw that as well. Yeah, and you always get a big travelling support with Glasgow in the playoffs anyway, but now their team are there, gives them something really to shout about. And you know, we we talked about in the weeks leading up to this playoffs that we didn't know what the matchups were gonna be. And even on that the very last Sunday of uh the quarterfinals, um because of the late face-off in Glasgow, we still didn't know. We kind of were talking about having facing the Steelers with Nottingham knocked out, and you know, there was some uh people saying, Well, uh we wanted Nottingham because we've got a good record in there off the back of that big victory um the other week up there, was it 7-2 or whatever? Um I I I'm always like it doesn't matter who you you're up against, you just gotta take care of yourself, play like you can, and you gotta beat everybody to be the champions. Um, but yeah, then everyone's talking about oh well it's us against Steelers then. But Glasgow had other ideas and uh and then threw that on the head, which means now the devils are the top seeds left in the in the final four.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

And that's why they are in the afternoon session on uh Saturday. We'll turn our attention then um to the Sheffield Guildford series quickly. Um tight on Saturday night, but plenty of incident. Uh Racine getting himself thrown out for a hit to the head, which haven't seen it, you can have absolutely no complaints about that or the suspension uh that followed. But the score line was still tight. Um they lost Josh Waller as well to injury on the Saturday. So going in to the Sunday, missing two big influential players in that in that Flames roster, just proved to be not enough. And uh I still think they'll be disappointed when they when they review it, given the the form that they went in uh to the game with and the sort of form that Sheffield were in as well. But comprehensive victory for the Steelers, and sometimes that's just what they do.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

Yeah, and and in our kind of predictions we talked about the Guildford Flames were the red hot team going into playoffs. They had the best record in the country over the last 10 games. I think it was second best after 20 games. You know, they were the form team, they finally got all those bodies back and you know were feeling confident, feeling great. And I think I'm right in saying, yeah, they scored the first goal. Um, it was eight and a half minutes through the first period, but Sheffield did reply pretty quickly, um, something like three minutes later. Uh, but what struck me from that game was when I'm watching the updates, is all of a sudden there's a bit of a line brawl, and it's not the people that you'd expect to be in that. You'd expect the Alvaros and whatever, and it was um Ryan Tate, uh Jonas Hutela, Jamal Watson, and yeah, Jonathan Racine. Okay, you you expect that from him. So I think it was a hit from Racine that had sort of caused that that melee. Um, but certainly Guildford wouldn't want Jamal Watson drawn into that, and Sheffield probably wouldn't want Tate in that. But um still those guys had uh had their majors, and then uh you know, a few roughing then along the way, Cormier and Jacombe again, not normally call out for it, but it's playoff hockey, anything happens, and then then the probably the turning point in the tie. You mentioned the Walla injury. I mean, that's a big blow because he's been on good form, and uh, we know what a good player he is. Um, it is on about 50 odd minutes, uh Jonathan Racine for a check to the head, and he it's not a nice hit. I mean, the guy's in you know, sort of got his head quite low, and he goes pretty hard and goes at the head. Um, so he he ends up in his second fight then with uh Kevin Tansi, then who who jumps in for his teammate, uh gets ejected, but then dopps review the hit and give him a one-game suspension. So, you know, Racine, as we've seen against us, is a really solid player. I thought I think when he came into Guilford, it really transformed their blue line. They've got a lot of really good offensive players like you know Watson, Travis Brown, um, Charlie Curty, but then Racine just is kind of more that solid, you know, stay-at-home guy that I think they needed. Um, so when he was missing, then from the lineup on uh Sunday, yeah. I was that it plays into Sheffield's hands, and I think Sheffield made quite light work of it. Um, you know, in their home leg.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

Even with those players missing, were you a little surprised at how comprehensive that Sunday was?

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Um well, it just tends to be the the way that it'll go. I mean, Sheffield got off to uh a pretty good start, I think. Yeah, goal after one minute 44, and then all of a sudden um Guilford are playing catch-up, and that's it, you kind of it's easy to lose your composure in the playoffs and try and do too much too soon instead of thinking, look it we're one shot away from tying this up. Sometimes you go chasing the game, which then opens up, especially with guys like Racine out of the lineup, to be able to close up the back end, and it just opens things up for teams to play on the counter, and the more you can get a team chasing the game, the easier it becomes to score goals. I think that was the the theme of the night then, where um I think Tramble had a couple of goals, um, and it was uh yeah. I mean, go going through that game, that it just quite even scoring throughout. So Sheffield just kept on piling the pressure on and chipping away. And once it's three goals up, you know, Guildford have really got to chase the game then. So it didn't surprise me to see end up five goals against and then Guildford get the late consolation goal.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Yeah, I I was pretty harsh on the Flames. Uh I was pretty hard on them. And I think it's just because I I feel like that the there has been a bit of underachievement in in these sort of areas over the years, and I I just I always see the potential of that of that Flames team to to win trophies uh in this league is tough, but I always think it's there, and I'll be intrigued to see what they do in the offseason to kind of tinker with uh the formula they found towards the end of the season.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Yeah, and and they should be up there for trophies because I mean just because they play in a smaller rink, they spend a lot of money. And Dave Sims has alluded to this before, hasn't he? He said, you know, don't be fooled by Guildford being a small team. They're not, they're they're as big a team as there are in terms of spending, and uh yeah, they yeah, they had that run, didn't they, a couple of years ago when they were in second place, they were leading for a while, and and Belfast ended up overtaking them. They've had the cup final in here. Um but other than that, they haven't really put together a consistent challenge for trophies, and it again this year. I mean, they for the first bit of the year they were way down, weren't they? Maybe even in ninth place. Um, but they fought themselves back up to fifth. Um, but yeah, they they will be frustrated that they're not closer to to the pack on a consistent basis.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

They did uh, as you allude to finish uh in that fifth place. Just behind them was the Manchester Storm, which meant they played the Nottingham Panthers, Nottingham with two trophies already this year. Danny Sewitt with three during his two years in uh the Nottingham hot seat, which is a great return. Um Nottingham carrying a lot of injuries before this game, and we wondered how many would be back. Turns out all of them, um, other than um Alvaro was uh a long term, but everyone else made it back, and they even had to scratch an import after warm-up uh as well. But the storm, as they've done all year, really, and we've waxed lyrical about Karen Gritchlow's team and the positives they bring, they just stuck to their task. They got uh a good victory in the home barn on the Saturday, and then they scored an early goal up on the Sunday, which uh really I think proved to be uh the the turning point for me because although Nottingham got our lady equaliser, they hang on and massive upset, but I guess in some ways not totally surprising in a weird way, yeah, especially if you predicted it, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

But uh yeah, when I was looking at this tie and again looking at the scores on the Saturday night and Manchester were two up, I thought, yeah, this is you know, this is Manchester's. And then Nottingham got a really important late goal, 57 minutes, they score to make it 2-1. So again, going back to that mindset of if it's a one-goal deficit that you're facing, doesn't matter if it's home or away uh in the second leg, you can play mind games with yourself to say, well, we'll just just go out there and win a game, and then we'll take care of overtime. Um, but they did, they they came away with a 2-1 win, and then the next night into Nottingham, that game went back and forward, didn't it? Um, and it was a very late equaliser with the goalie pulled that that came off that sent the uh the crowd into uh you know hysterics there. But it was short-lived because uh you know in the end he didn't get the the job done. And um, you know, big credit to Derrida in goal. He had a brilliant, brilliant weekend, uh, as he's had all season, and that's what makes them dangerous in the final four weekend.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Yeah, as you alluded to earlier, there was a sellout on the gantry to watch the the shootout because it was in the middle of our second period uh break, so we we had the coverage uh on there, and it was when Mitch Fossier missed his penalty shot that I thought, right, Manchester are going to do this because if there was ever a player that you would bet your mortgage on that was gonna stick the puck away on a penalty shootout situation, it's Mitch Faucier.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Yeah, I mean his penalty shootouts, if you haven't seen them, you're listening, you haven't seen them, look them up uh on X or on YouTube or wherever you can find. They are the patience, it's just unbelievable. He goes in really slow with small little stick handles, and he's just outweighing the goalie. And you think he just can't wait anymore. He's gonna come to a standstill, and then it's off his stick in an absolute flash, and normally in the back of the net. He did the same approach going in, and for once, well, credit de Rida. I mean, obviously, goalies will scout him, but scouting him and stopping him is is something different. Um, but de ridder managed to get a piece, so maybe Fossey didn't quite get the placement that he wanted. Um, not quite sure what was different this time around, but he didn't get it, and yeah, you're right, that's a a big psychological blow. And it was um it was it just the one goal scored in that shooter. Yeah, yeah. Um, but earlier in the game, I mean, we talked about all the guys that um Nottingham had missing through injury. One of those was Matt Marsinu, who I thought was probably gonna miss the tie, but he ended up coming back, and you could see he was in some discomfort with his hand. Um, a couple of times in the game he went off holding his hand, so that's clearly his injury, and then somehow finds himself in a fight with Kyle Locke, which I thought was was a bit bonkers. Uh, if anyone's gonna fight Kyle Locke, it should be maybe a Tetlow. Um, but Mars knew some reason to get upon himself, and um, yeah, again, that probably played into Manchester's hands. That uh I said on uh last week's insider, I think this is the tie that Manchester wanted because they knew they could be more physical than um than the Panthers, and and that they were. But um, I mean fair play to I think it was Hembrandt who got the the tying goal with um the goalie pulled. You know, it was Hembrandt that got the big goal in the was it Challenge final winner, final, yeah, in in OT. Um so he's popped up with some big goals for them. And you think at that stage the momentum and the atmosphere that must have caused getting tying up the game with the goalie pulled with that little time on the clock, you think then that Nottingham go on and win it. But Storm, they dusted themselves down, they stayed composed, and uh, you know, they they knew they had the goalie that could bring them home, and and that he did.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

He did indeed, and queue wild scenes of celebration at uh the net when uh that uh penalty shot win was confirmed. So that sets us up for this weekend, and uh two semifinals. There's gonna be a new champion, the first time for I think since 2014-2015. I think I've seen Patrick Smith uh tweet that there's gonna be three different champions in the elite league, three different winners of the three major competitions. So good for the league optics in that regard, and it'll be one of the devils, the clan, the steelers, or the storm. We'll start with the Steelers and Storm. Fascinating matchup for me. Storm have proven they can go into Nottingham and win a big game. That will set them up well. The sense of occasion, I think, will be a little less awe-inspiring, I guess, uh, for them. It'll it'll be a bit more business as usual. Um, I was rubbish at predictions last week, and I didn't try and predict it this year back this game this week.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Yeah, it is intriguing. Well, we said that it's the first time in 10 years that the clan have made it to the playoff weekend. This is the first time the Manchester Storm, the reborn Manchester Storm, Elite League Manchester Storm, have made it to the the final four. So huge congratulations to them. Um, I'm sure you know they are gonna be really excited for this. They know that they've got a goalie that can win them games, they got some really experienced players through their lineups. You look at like so Nick Welsh on the back end, who I think had a brilliant year, and Gilmore, who got the the winner in the penalty shootout, and Cutler was really dangerous, I thought, throughout the the whole series they had. Um, but yeah, they've they've got some experience, they've got some youth, um, they've got some new players that have integrated well into the core that they've had, you know, that that they were building uh under Matt Ginn. Um, so you know, Coach Cam Critchlow's done a great job in his first year. Um, you know, he knows what it he was a kind of playoff type of player, wasn't he? In himself. So I mean they'll they'll be excited at the challenge. I don't think their record is particularly good against the Steelers this year. Um, and the Steelers who were bang out of form turn the phone books on his head and take out the form side of the Guildford Flames. So all of a sudden, they'll have got a bit of their mojo back, won't they?

SPEAKER_00 39:09

Yes, they absolutely will. And uh, well, Manchester didn't have a good record against Nottingham either. They were five and one uh across the season there. So phone books, playoffs, not meaning anything in in some uh quarters at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

Yeah, and I think that's exactly the beauty of the playoffs, especially the the short format that we've got, it doesn't matter, does it? I mean, if you take I'll just gonna reflect back on one other point from our uh quarterfinal, the choice of goalie. Um, bold choice by Paul Thompson, because if you look at the goalies record against the Blaze before this weekend, Stover was three losses in three games, Bounds was five wins, one loss. So if you go on the performance against your opponent, Bounds gets the start. But if you look at the form Stover's been in in the last six weeks, he's been electric. So um Tomo backed the form guy, even though he hadn't won against the Coventry Blaze, and that could have been psychological, but it didn't. He was superb against the uh uh uh against the Blaze across the weekend and got himself two wins when it mattered. So um, yeah, form books don't really don't really come into play in into the playoffs. It's uh it's a one game, um, it's 60 minutes of hockey, sometimes a little bit more. Um where it's uh one of the coaches uh in there was saying you know it's a game, and maybe as Adam Keith saying, it's a game of inches, and you know, especially in in the one-game playoff series that we've got now in the semi-finals, it could be a lucky bounce, it could be a uh a missed off side call, it could be a harsh penalty, it could be a dumb penalty, it could be you know one of the players lets the occasion get to the better of them. You just don't know. You could have a red hot goalie, you could have a goalie that doesn't have their best night. So so many factors there, which which is why it makes playoff hockey so exciting.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

Well, you you mentioned uh goalies A and being red hot. If you look at the stack of goaltending talent there is in this final four, um superb. Uh you know, Aika Calio in the clan has been a revelation, you know, De Rida or Evid Weinninger is the choice that uh the stone have we have Stover and Bannes and Greenfield and McAdam as well. That's uh that's a stacked amount of goaltending talent.

SPEAKER_01 41:35

Yeah, I'm glad you brought me back on track to that because I did say I would mention it and I totally forgot. But yeah, you look at after the two uh playoff games this weekend, and you know, we think Christian Stover has done mighty well with his 96.23% save over the weekend. Incredible. Um Itacaglio posts in 97% save over a save percentage over the weekend. Uh Kupsky's not even going to be there, and he was running at 96.5. Like a goalie running at 96.5 conceding one goal a game is not gonna be at the playoff weekend. It's insane, it really is insane. Um, all the goalies, even right the way down to the ones that have been knocked out, are posting over 92% save percentage. Um, Kevin Carr at the bottom, with uh, you know, it's compared to those numbers, looks like a lowly 92.2% save, 2.44 goals against more low rubbish. But those numbers on their own are great figures, you know, for for a goalie. And that is you know the the bottom place goalie after the weekend. So, yeah, all teams have got goalies that have found form. Um, so you do feel that goaltending is gonna play a big part of uh who becomes victorious this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

Yes, it will, and uh we finish then with the devils going into the year. Are we gonna make a prediction on the other one first? I don't know. I'm I'm I think we have to. Okay. You're in charge, your friend. So I'll I'll let you go first.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

I as much as you know I'm saying about the Manchester storm and how really impressed I've been with them this year, I just think those Steelers have found a way, haven't they? And that they um they got a habit of coming up big in big times, and I think their experience will overcome the storm in that uh second semi-final.

SPEAKER_00 43:34

Yeah, I will second that. I think uh when you've got guys like Balmus uh in the team who can uh get goals and you know Cornier by all accounts had a fantastic weekend, sort of back to his best. I just think maybe these a few more match winners uh in that Stevens team, but uh they're gonna have to work mighty hard for it, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

And I certainly wouldn't be betting my house on any of these results.

SPEAKER_00 43:58

No, absolutely not. Not we go then to the Devils and the Clan and Rani, I think if you're the clan out of all the teams that that they could have played in the next round, based on results and performances, they're probably not too unhappy with with the Devils, despite the form we're in. It's been tight, hasn't it, this series between the Devils and the Clan. You it could have been eight place, but they certainly haven't felt like eighth place games.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

Yeah, definitely not against us. I mean, they've had some really good games against us. Um, you know, Aita Calio has played very, very well against us. We've seen that down here in the Vindico, we've seen it up in uh Glasgow. Um he is the most experienced goalie in the league. You know, he he you know he's a Finnish elite league goalie. His the the knock on him has been going back-to-back games, he's struggled with that a bit and he had that injury. Um, you know, and we get to play him in the first game of the weekend. So, you know, that is gonna be uh probably one of the focuses of the coach and staff this week is to you know work out a way to to beat Itacaglio. Um but like I said before the the weekend of the quarterfinals, I really think that with our devil's team, that if we play like we can, like we did this weekend, like we have done for a number of weekends now, barring that 10 minutes aside, it doesn't matter who we play because I I really do feel we can take it in our own hands. So that is my hope is that we just keep running. You know, uh you could see the guys had a swagger about them and that controlled aggression, all those things. And and if the devils can keep on going that way, um you know they can put it put it in their own hands.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Yeah, absolutely. And what when I look at back at some of the games against the clan this year, I I don't think the devils have ever brought the correct intensity to them. Don't know whether that's a subconscious thing because they underestimated the clan at the bottom of the table, or or I can't put my finger on the reason, but I'll be intrigued to see how the pattern of the game is different to what the regular season is with the intensity that we're playing with at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

Yeah, it we we haven't brought our best game against them yet, have we? So that we talked about the starts over the weekend, and Dell's had a good start in Coventry, an even better start in in the Vindico here. Um, so if the Devils start with that purpose and intent, it'll be interesting to see how the clan cope with that. Um, but you know, just because the clan finished in eighth place, it doesn't mean that they are a poor side. I mean, they obviously had the coaching change halfway through and they they got somewhat invigorated in the end of Mike Sarant. But you know, you look down their roster and they have a lot of very experienced players that have played in big games before. Guys like Ryland Schwartz, you know, who's got a big CV and Caigo on and D. Um, you know, Langen had a great year in Norway before coming to the clan, and Brett Newman's been there with Sheffield. So they have got the pieces, and we've talked about Aite Callio as well, obviously, uh the big experience he's got. So, you know, they have got a an experienced um roster, and yeah, they probably will look at it and say, guys, we've we've beaten the devils before, so it's just another one of those games. They'll be trying to play the occasion down, and that's where I really hope that the devils can show them that they have stepped up several notches since since the teams uh last met.

SPEAKER_00 47:36

I think as we come to the end of this episode, and this will be the final time that we get to talk uh before playoff weekend uh kicks off. I think for me that the kind of message that to the fans go in because I know the guys feel this, and we we had a pitch down on the ice uh last night, all the volunteers with a with a team got to to speak to them a little bit. There's a boatload of belief in that room that the the way it's going, they they go in a win this weekend. There's a there's a belief in that locker room that they have the tools to go through this weekend. You've got to work the hardest, you've got to score the goals, whatever, you know, all those good things, but there's a belief there, and you have to have that. And I hope that every fan making the trip to Nottingham, the annual pilgrimage of uh all the fans, but the devils fans go in there. I hope that they believe that something special can happen this weekend because if we do what we know we can do, we can beat any of the three teams uh that are there on the weekend, and I really hope that we do it.

SPEAKER_01 48:34

Yeah, and if the vibe is anything like that was felt away in Coventry, then back in Cardiff on the Sunday in that build-up to the match, then that belief it does it does spread into the devil's locker room. And um, yeah, I mean it's it's a determined locker room, it's one that um has some regret for how the season panned out because you know there's a firm belief, uh, a belief there that we should have been the team that we're lifting the league trophy, felt we were good enough to do that, but had you know uh too long a bad spell and allowed a very consistent Belfast Giants side to run away with it in the end. So there's there's a determination, a really steely determination to to put that right. And uh we we've had all the guys on uh Insider, and nearly every single one of them uh mentioned, if not all of them mentioned about how good and how tight the locker room is and what a great bunch of teammates that they have, and you know, they'll be looking to bounce off each other, do it for each other. Um, we've had some brilliant moments in the in the playoffs, and you know, there's no doubting that when you win the playoffs, that last game of the season where you jump over the board and you get to celebrate with your teammates and your fans. Um, that brings you as a teammate together for life with your your band of brothers, and uh that's what this team is desperate for and will be looking to uh to replicate on the weekend.

SPEAKER_00 50:05

Well, let's hope they do it. Enjoy your weekends, everyone. Those of you who are traveling, enjoy your viewing parties if you're watching it uh in your homes in Cardiff with friends and uh Ronnie, you enjoy your weekend up there as well. Dan will be up there on duty, I believe, working uh with the Lee. So uh yeah, enjoy everyone, and let's hope that the next episode of Insider this time next week will be a joyous celebratory one. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for listening uh, all you as well. We'll uh like I say, we will be back next week uh for the playoff weekend review. Uh but until then, enjoy your hockey this weekend, everyone, and we'll see you soon. And thank you to our sponsor, Minerva Hearing, who have brought you this podcast today.