Devils Insider - Episode 32 - April 23rd - Champions

On this week's Playoff winning episode of Insider... 

Devils win the Playoffs: The guys reflect on a championship winning weekend as the Devils head into the summer in style (00:00) 

Thommo: Head coach Paul Thompson joins the show to chat about the playoff win, the season, and what comes next (31:30)

Awards season: After a wild awards night on Monday, the guys chat about their favourite moments and through the winners of the evening (1:11:20)

Signing off: As it's the last episode of Insider for the season, the trio reflect on a wonderful first year for the podcast (1:21:20)

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Today's podcast is brought to you by Minerva Hearing. Hear the cheers, protect your ears. Shumai Paub a Kroisha. Hello, everybody, and welcome to Devil's Insider for this week's edition of the Cardiff Devils Podcast. It's a very special edition of the Cardiff Devils Podcast, a trophy winning one. Dan Roder on the mic tonight, alongside Garethus and Neil Francis, as always. Guys, uh a quiet weekend, nothing much happened, really. It was a pretty, pretty relaxed one, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Yeah, not bad, but we have had to pull out an extra chair uh this week because of the trophy is gonna be uh is in studio um just next to us here. There's um championship banners around the place as well, decorations looking good in uh Devil's Insider Pod studios this week.

SPEAKER_04 0:43

Yeah, a playoff winning Devil Insider Pod. I love the sound of that.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Oh, don't we just? What a weekend it was. It's uh it's been a couple of days now, and uh, I've just about recovered. I've just about got a little bit of sleep after what was a fantastic weekend. And uh yeah, as we say, the Devils win the elite league playoffs, they end the season in style, they beat the Steelers 5-2 in the final. I mean, guys, if Carlsberg did weekends, it's uh it's about as good as you can get.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Were they a sponsor? Maybe next year. You know, I always like to throw in some of my old cynical longtime fan feelings, but for someone who waited 19 years to see the Devils win a playoff trophy, it never gets old now, and I never take it for granted just how special it is uh to watch uh us win uh over the weekend. And this one felt a little extra special because it it felt like a reward for so much hard work. It felt like a reward for for guys who've given it their role this season, both you know, behind the bench and it in the office on the ice. Um it yeah, just special times, and uh I can't wait to relive it with you both.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Yeah, Franny, it was uh I think a dominant weekend by the Devils. I I don't think you know obviously the Glasgow game, they they do push them, but for me, there was very little doubt in my mind going into the weekend that the Devils could do it, and they did.

SPEAKER_04 2:05

Yeah, it's one of the most confident that I've been going into a playoff weekend. Normally I try and kind of play it down in my mind, um, but I think that was the Devils' 11th win in the last 12 games, and as we know that that one loss was that four-goal first period in 10 minutes in in Coventry, and aside from that, we you know, for 50 minutes it was one-way traffic. So that was the form that we were coming into this final weekend, and you know, when we played against the Coventry, uh the Coventry in the quarterfinal, it was yes, it was a one-goal lead in Coventry, but the dominance of that performance was just amazing, and then you know, to get that early goal in the second leg, and it was just you know, that that was really dominant, and then you know, over the the two games that the Glasgow game to begin with, I thought the Devils were really good, a nervy opening 10 minutes. I'll say that that it you know, it it's such a mad occasion, um, it's such a high pressure environment. Both teams I thought looked quite nervy, but considering the fluency we've been seeing the devils play with, it was just a little bit, oh my god. But after that 10 minutes, and they settled them themselves in, and no better way to settle yourself in to a playoff weekend than one of your fourth line guys who's a very popular guy on the team, coming up with a huge goal. So kind of Capone got the Devils go, and I felt from that there was just a switch that went on and the Devils then took over. And yes, a little bit of a a late pushback, but you know, it was it just felt quite comfortable, didn't it?

SPEAKER_03 3:42

I spoke to uh Ben Davis at the awards night last night and I said to him, as soon as you put your head up to see what was happening, I knew it was a goal. I knew he'd find Capone, and I just it was just one of those you time freezes a little bit as you see the play develop, and uh yeah, Ben Davis with his head up, it's a big game, big game, Ben Davis. You look at his career, he's always popping up with something with you know a goal and assist. Um, and but yeah, that assist was was perfect. And you you know, you look back through Devil's History, don't you? And you you always see that you know there'll be guys who get a reward in big games uh when you know maybe they don't always get them uh through the year. And I was delighted for Cap, and and yeah, it felt like everything kind of settled after that moment.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

Yeah, and a really lovely little story that came out was um in uh in practice leading up to the week, the players messing about and just practicing their celebrations as a bit of a bit of a joke, and uh and apparently the the agreement was that someone needed to do the celebration that Cap ended up doing. And so for him to get it, and then there's a reason that every player had it plastered all over their social media after was was that wonderful shot of Cap tipping the puck into the back of the net and then circles around in front of the fans and gives it the the big one to them as well, just a wonderful feeling around it.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

And Dougie had told him in warm-up, he goes, You're doing it today. He goes, I got I got a feeling you're doing it today, and of course it happens, and it was all seemed to be just one motion, didn't it? A tip of the puck into the celebration, and yeah, just amazing. And I mean, from that huge sort of bit of momentum swing, Glasgow thought they had a momentum swing of their own, didn't they? Because they they bit back, you know, quite soon after, and I'm sure they all thought, Oh, we've just killed the devil's um moment there and now it's with us. And then that's when the character, the steel that the devils have been playing with lately really shone through because within less than a minute it was uh it was a 2-1 game, and you know, it was right back at them, and then momentum, I think. I think well, speaking to Aaron Murphy, and he goes, You just smothered us after that and didn't let us make one play. And I I thought it was so good how we managed that game.

SPEAKER_02 5:53

Yeah, it was 38 seconds, I believe, between the the the clan equalizer and the Brandon Estes with an absolute snipe, by the way. What a finish by Brandon Estes for that goal. I'm gonna say that is the best finish in the whole league, the whole season.

SPEAKER_04 6:07

Against Aitakalio, who has been playing unbelievably recently as well. Yeah, it's it's absolutely it's not even an inch perfect, is it? It's you know, fractions perfect uh against such a good goalie from such a an angle, but he just just changes the angle on his shot slightly and he finds that gap and it's just perfect.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

It it's unsavable. It there's no way a goaltender is getting anything on that. But for me, that that is the difference in those sort of games that you need, in the sense that and I I don't uh you know me mean this as if you you look at players, special players in those games, and you need to break things open, and I think that's that was the difference between the two teams. Clan, I give them so much credit for the quarterfinals and that semi-final, they were great in the way that they approached the game and the way that they had clearly been dialed in and done their homework and you know gave that scare, and it could have gone badly. But it's those moments of quality from top-top players over the weekend that that do make the difference. And Brandon Essis is a top-top player.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

He is indeed, as is Joey Martin, who got the empty net goal, and and the devils proved to enter the final. And and I think they across the weekend as well, I think it's important to say, manage the occasion in a fantastic way. Because of course, you go into that semi-final, the Glasgow fans have just uh done a march from town to the arena, they're bouncing, there was flares outside the arena before that that semi-final game. It was it was mental. And so the Devils manage that really well, and they head through to the final, and and of course, then the following day, they get the chance to do their own march, the Devils fans all into Bolero. And I've got to say that I was I was up on the balcony just looking out, or just in the room by the balcony, looking out over Bolero before that game. And and the Sheffield fans and the Devils fans in the square before it was a really special moment, I think, for the league generally to have that atmosphere in the square, everybody getting involved, the two fans, sets of fans get you know, it was it was all very, very amicable, but the you know, chanting getting getting up for the game, and and then we head into the final and uh and and what a final it was, guys.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

It was, yeah, and great call from the officials uh eventually to get that herd high stick because the pack was nowhere near that play. I don't know where what he was thinking about putting that stick up high. But as it was called, I thought this is I know it's really early in the game. I felt that was a really pivotal moment because I think if you kill four minutes of penalties at that time, I think our Sheffield bench gets up a little bit and go, right boys, we we're dialed in here, we we we've got our sort of working boots on, and you you're sort of really laser focused on your task. But to get a goal, I think obviously sends a completely different message, and you're thinking, oh, we've had a bit of bad luck straight away to start off with, and it kind of killed a little momentum from their semi-final, I thought it because I think they kind of go back to a little bit of doubt, and they're low on confidence, they did have a good quarterfinal, they did have a good semi-final, but the league going into that, they were not a confident bunch, and I think that Olyshewski goal was really important in indenting that a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 9:11

Yeah, I think you spot on Gaz. I mean, yeah, it was poor form. I mean, the the Sheffield Steelers that we saw in the Vindico was it in the 5-1 game um towards the end of the season, and Aaron Fox calling out his players in the interview with you guys. Um, yeah, it they they looked a fragile team. Then they have a relatively easy uh entry into the playoff finals weekend. Uh Guildford with the form team coming into the playoffs along with ourselves. Um, and yeah, it was a tight game down in in Guildford, but in Sheffield it was one-way traffic, and it was it was over within sort of half of that game gone. And um then when they played against Manchester and they win so easily, I mean it was flattered by that late five-minute power play they had, and did they have three power play goals in it, and four power play goals overall in in that leg? So it looked great, and you know, Sheffield do have a knack of pulling it out at the the big moments, and I'm sure that's what they were saying to themselves. It doesn't matter how we were playing the last few weeks, now with the team on form, and yeah, with that, I mean the officials all weekend did a superb job of keeping the whistles away, but with that one, there's a cut to Olivey's face, so therefore it's a double minor, which is reviewable. They reviewed it, they see that it was stick contact, four-minute power play. And you know, we've talked so long, and everybody in Cardiff has talked so long about the power play in a negative way. Over the last couple of months, it's the best power play in the league, running at 33%, which is an insane power play, and then to do it in the big moment as well. Having not had a power play the game before, which was again a crazy stat, a semi-final, playoff semi-final with no penalties called. Madness. Um, but again, good job to the officials. I mean, I did think we should have had a couple of uh power plays because there were breakaways, particularly on McDonald's, and there I think there was one on Uremco. But at least it was consistent both ways, you know. The the the whistles were away, the whistles were away, whatever. Um, but yeah, they had to give that penalty, which they did, and then to execute on it, and it was Ollie that that got the goal. Just a really nice kind of settling-in moment into the final to avoid that nerves that maybe the devils had in the semi.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Yeah, and and and big props to Oli Ashevsky for the for the goal at the important moment. I feel like recently we've been talking a lot about the devil scoring big goals in in in really key moments. The the second period then kicks off. Sheffield get one on the board through Tansi. And and probably for the first 12 minutes of that that second, you think, oh, the devils are under it here. And they did have to, they had to rely a bit a bit on Stover, they had to you know chip and chase it a bit, they were under it. And they got to the end of that period, and all of a sudden, uh that that kind of spell of pressure, and all of a sudden you thought, okay, well, they've they've they've seen that through now, and Sheffield have really pushed hard, and all of a sudden, the head started to drop for Sheffield, the the the energy kind of dissipated a little bit, and the devils grew back into it. And at that point, I became quite confident because I thought they've thrown the kitchen sink essentially at the Devils here and haven't got anything out of it.

SPEAKER_04 12:16

Yeah, I mean, hockey is a game of timing, isn't it? And the Devils were under the kosh. I mean, great pushback by Sheffield, and the Dev, from being such a dominant kind of um front foot team for this last 12 games or whatever it's been, all of a sudden we're making unforced errors. There was panic plays going on, and I was like, Oh no, I hope this isn't the moment where you know the form goes the other way. Um, but they wrote it out. Big props to Christian Stover for you know his performances over the last you know six weeks have been incredible. But to do it on the big stage, phenomenal. And he made some huge, huge stops um when the devils really need them in that second period. But talk about time and being everything, and to get that first Nolan Yuremco goal with one minute 28 left in the period, it was like, oh, that is a to tie this period after being under so much pressure, amazing. I think that is a platform to build on, and then you know, the chase down from Cole Sanford. I mean, I don't know what Diffly is thinking because he can exit the one way, literally skate the puck away, but he decides to or he almost overthinks it and turns back. And at that point, you can even just kill the puck against the boards for five seconds, but Sandy stripped him, put it on the tape of your remko again, who went with the same shot selection, you know, low blocker, and three seconds left on the period. The Steelers are now not only have they not won the period, they've now lost the period, and it's a two-goal lead going into that final 20.

SPEAKER_03 13:54

I think you talking about Diffly, I think the issue was that the rest of his line, I think, were down tools. I and I d I think he's looked at that and thought, well, is everyone kind of feeling like that? But Samford wasn't, and then he's uh the the one play I want to pick out, and I I've highlighted it on um on Twitter as well, and I I stand by it, you do have to verify your age to watch it, is the pass from Fournier to Yuremko as he steps over that blue line. Fournier in finals does something special, whether it's goals or something he influences games. That pass Yuremko takes two Steelers defenders out of the game. It lays Yuremko on a perfect skating lane in for that goal. He doesn't have to move, it's directly on his line, and it just sets him perfectly for the finish. So shout out to Fawns because I thought that was just a little moment of quality again, much like the Estes goal that you need big players making big plays at big time.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Yeah, big time. And and and Uremko, I'm I I'm personally delighted for him because such a tough year, been in and out of the lineup, played uh no more than 15 or so league games, and gets the biggest goals in the biggest moments.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

Well, tap ourselves on the back. We said a couple of weeks ago we get Vabarrow going down, but is Juremko the playoff bonus coming back to fitness?

SPEAKER_04 15:13

And he was, yeah, he was, and um you know it it does beg the question: had we had a fit Euremko for the whole season, is that the difference then on a league title? We'll never know that. Um credit to the man himself. I mean, he's a an amazing character, amazing, you know, amazing human. And you know, the professionalism that he showed and the positivity that he showed in his recovery. I mean, there was he he had that lengthy spell out, he came back, it didn't last long. Then he had another lengthy spell out, he came back and he just didn't look anywhere near the player, he couldn't skate, it was he had no push, no jump. And at that point, his his season was over because I mean Tomo um was taking him out of the lineup because he just he couldn't go, and he's such an honest player, you know that if he's not giving you 100%, that's not him, that is the injury, and it's just it's like okay, this is is not worked, and you know, gutted for him, and that's his season over. However, there was uh an injury I think uh he came back in for um and and again some brilliant work from our medical staff to keep working on him, and he wasn't giving up, and that was the key thing, and he was just saying to them, like, try everything, you know, you eat what whatever you can do to to get me um fit again, and it worked, he responded to to the treatment, and he had his jump back, he had a big grin on his face, he's feeling good. And at that point, I mean me and him were joking in the dressing room saying this season's not over yet, is it? You know, you still got you've still got a big influence to make on this year, and I was absolutely thrilled for him to have those two goals, and you know, including what turned out to be the game winner.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

Yeah, huge, huge props to to him on that. And then, like I say, we're all incredibly happy for him. Into the third, then the devils, of course, you they want to see out the game, and for the first eight minutes or so, they were doing a really good job of it. And then, of course, you get that real freak moment where Jimmy Alini ends up colliding with with the penalty box door, and there's a horrible moment where the the arena goes silent, and that's obviously something you never want to a situation you never want to be in. And and and we're glad that Jimmy's okay since then, and he was able to skate off the ice kind of partially under his own under his own weight. But after that, I thought, my word, now you know you've you've lost your top pair shutdown kind of guy. This is a huge test now of the devil's resolve. And and they stepped up, and yes, they conceded, Ryan Tate got that goal, but I still was never too worried from what I saw from that last 12 minutes.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Yeah, just one thing on that. When while he was down and hurt, and I I couldn't work out whether it was a concussion, um, whether it was his knee because he was kind of limping. I think it turned out it was a combination of his back and his knee. Um, but it was, you know, an awful, awful hit. You know, just totally kind of accident. Um, when he was down, you know, the Steelers fans was obviously trying to get uh some noise going to get their team going. And Kevin Tancy, to his credit, he hushed them down, didn't he? Because there was a fellow professional that wasn't in a great way um on the ice, and he told them, no, not right now. Now's not the time. So I thought that was a you know a classy hockey move from him.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

Yeah, big time. And and and just as a side note, uh congratulations on a career to him, and we know he's retiring off, so yeah, yeah, big, big props to to to Kevin Tanzie for that as well. And um, you know, the the Devils they had to rely in the third a little bit on Christian Stover again, as they have done all playoffs. And I want to talk about Stove just quickly because we've spoken a little bit about the decision that Paul Thompson had on his hands ahead of this playoff, so about going with Stove and dropping, no, not dropping, that's probably the wrong word, but choosing him over Ben Bounce, who's had a fantastic season himself, career season. And you look at the numbers for for Christian Stover, I mean, not only in the playoffs, but 950 save percentage in the last 11 games. It's obscene. It's just obscene, like that a guy has done that. And uh 1.25 goals against average in the playoffs as well. And and he came up big when the Devils needed him.

SPEAKER_03 19:11

Yeah, he did, and he I tell you, I've I've felt for Tommel for the last six or seven weeks with with that choice uh of beating net because you've got Ben Bounds who's got seven shutouts in the league, you know, save percentages up there, a history of trophies, a history of big performances uh in finals and big games for both Great Britain and the Devils. How do you make that choice? It is so so difficult. And really, it forced Stover into position into a position where he couldn't afford to drop below his performance levels that he'd set, and he didn't, and I guess that that is the reason that that he stayed in. But you know, he he it's it's a real tough choice, but but what a choice to have. And that weekend is difficult for a lot of players if you've never experienced it, let alone if it's your first professional season.

SPEAKER_04 20:05

And we saw that with the Manchester game, didn't we? Their first appearance in the the finals, and they were frustrated that they didn't show their potential in that. But I think the occasion did get to them, so you know it it it's uh it's a good point that I mean he he's gone into that pressure cooker knowing that well, he's known for the last however many games he's he's played straight, that he's one bad game away from probably not playing for the rest of the year because the hot goalie was gonna get ridden, and you know, he handled that pressure and brought home a trophy. Um, and what one thing I just want to say about the players that aren't selected for those the you know the the the final rosters there, I always say to them, like as much as they did may not feel a part of it, they're a huge part of it because they are forcing someone else in the lineup to up their game because they know they've got a great player waiting in the wings to take their spot if you don't perform. So, you know, Ben Bounds, for example, you know, Stover knows that if he doesn't perform, Ben Bounds is a championship goalie, he's gonna take his spot. Stover can't you know, can't drop the ball. Um, you know, same with LaCroix. Um you know, he's they they those guys are pushing the others to the next level. So everybody in the roster is a collective playoff champion.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Yeah, I agree. And and and you think of guys stepping up in big moments, Tyson Helgerson obviously having to double shift essentially at the end because of the injury to Jimmy Alini. And then the devils go and get the two empty net goals. And and poor Tyson by the end, you could tell on that on that going on Olashevsky empty net, he was so gassed and so tired by the end. He could barely turn the puck into the empty net, and in the end, Olashevsky gets the tapping because my word, had he given absolutely everything. And and the buzzer sounds, and then of course the devils gloves go everywhere, kit goes everywhere, Stover throws his stuff. In the air, and and and it's it's it's just a wonderful moment. And for me, it's a culmination of the hard work that this team has put in because they have known for months they should be, if not the best team, competing for it. And so to end it, you know, really claiming that the the reputation and everything they've been saying and talking about for weeks and months now, they really did deserve this.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

Yeah, I mean, we we've talked about a number of times on Insider that all the player interviews that we've done, they pretty much all said the same thing about what a special locker room it is, and you know, they've been entertaining the whole year, they haven't, you know, had too many off nights over a 74 game season. Um, brilliant bunch of guys, and it would have been an absolute travesty had they not experienced that winning championship feeling together, and now they've got it, and you know, as we've spoken to guys that won championship, it's uh it's now a brotherhood because you've been a champion together, and that will stay with you for the rest of life. But I'm particularly delighted for the guys on the roster that have never won a championship because um I mean Tyson Halgeson is one, um Nolan Yuremko is another. Jimmy Alini. Jimmy Alini, it's his first pro championship, which is just absolutely nuts. And special mention to Brett Ferguson because he's got an affinity with Guildford, he was a captain for a long time. There was a club that brought him into the UK, and you know, he is a Guilford Flames legend. He made a difficult decision in the summer that at 36 years old or whatever he is, he needed to win a championship. He'd never won a champion. A player as good as Brett Ferguson and the way that he plays, he's a championship player all day long, and he's never won a championship. So he made that difficult decision to not go back there, wait it out in the hope that one of the championship contending teams would need to somebody. Um obviously we picked him up, and it's a fairy tale ending for him.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Yeah, I think uh the the players all tagging him on social media, calling him uh Raymond Bork over the next last 24 hours has been uh has been lovely to see. But uh a really nice touch by him as well to skate over to the Flames fans, guys. You know, like we say, he was there for seven years, and Todd Kelman said last night at awards tonight, we should have signed you seven years ago. But he was he was the enemy for seven years. We tried, we tried. But uh really classy touch from a classy guy, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 24:27

And uh he was pretty honest when he came on Insider uh earlier in the year, wasn't he, about his intentions and uh you could tell when we were speaking to him the affinity he has uh for that club um and and the fans for him as well because they stayed to watch that happen. And yeah, the Ray Borker uh comparison is when I uh was explaining to my wife while we were watching the celebrations. And of course, shout out to the two first year pros who come straight out, Stover and Connacker Pony. It may not always be like this, guys, but if you're gonna start your pro career, start it with a playoff championship. So uh just shows the nice mix we got in that room. We've got players who've done it all before, your Richie's, your Martins, the guy's first pro championships, and the guys in the first year pro getting their first championships. It's a lot of stories.

SPEAKER_04 25:12

Yeah, and and for Joey Martin to lift the trophy. Am I right to say that's the first trophy that he's lifted as captain?

SPEAKER_02 25:18

With with the C on his chest, I think you're correct in saying that's the first one because the only other season he's had the C was the Covert Shorten season. So I think you are right, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:27

Yeah, and and I could just see that that meant something special to him as well to you know to finally do that. And you know, so amazing photos of that, isn't there, with him and the team in front of him and the champagne going.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

I mean, but the fans were in the perfect place as well for the photos, right behind the bench. As soon as we sort of clicked the the the way they were, I thought that's gonna rival the Challenge Cup photo from uh you know the famous Challenge Cup win from the owner's first season because it was just a perfect kind of panoramic scene.

SPEAKER_02 25:59

Yeah, it was. And and I'm glad you've put up that first season because for me that there's there's a weird the way that everyone has spoken about this locker room, the way that everyone has spoken about how the team gelled and how they've got on. There are parallels between that first year with the new ownership, you know, the Challenge Cup winning team that did miss out on a lead up but won the Challenge Cup, and that was kind of a springboard into what came following that. There are similarities in terms of maybe not, you know, the the fact that this team was probably recruited a little bit quicker. Oh, sorry, yeah, yeah. That one was recruited a little bit quicker than than this one, but um that it just feels eerily similar, I think.

SPEAKER_03 26:35

There are similarities. I I've banged on about it on Insider for a while, and it really drove it home the weekend and awards night. For me, it's it's the personality of this squad. Everyone brings something a little different, but everyone's kind of on the same page. We've heard that in interviews. It's not just cliches that they come out with, the way they think about not just hockey, but kind of life in general as well. I found in our interviews on Insider has really given me an insight into how this group works. And I think you have to have that sort of personality about you where everyone brings a little something different, and something that other people can lean on, and you know, the vocal guys, the guys you can go one-to-one with, the sort of guys who bring levity and uh and a bit of fun about it. We've seem to have just a little bit of something uh of everything uh in the mix this year, and uh, I think that's come through in the last uh few days.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

Yeah, one final word on on Playoff Finals weekend to the fans. I thought they were absolutely mega all weekend. I I was I was not sat with the fans for the weekend. I I was working, so I I kind of got a bit of an outsider's perspective on it, and I thought that in terms of the noise they made, the passion they bought, but also the way that they celebrated with the team after every single guy got a humongous cheer when he lifted the trophy. Everyone was getting chance. I think it was just a great in a similar way to how the the culmination of the way the teams evolved, the way that the fans have committed throughout this season to this point, to then do that on playoff weekend, I think was a wonderful, wonderful end. So huge amount of have impressed uh towards the fans. I thought they were incredible and and yeah, what a way to top off the weekend.

SPEAKER_04 28:08

Yeah, it's great, great point, great shout out. I mean, the fans were absolutely incredible, and as much as I said it would have been a travesty if this great group of players didn't have a trophy at the end of it. Same for the fans who you know sold out every game from preseason right the way through to the end of season. It's been loud in the Vindico, it's huge numbers coming to playoff weekend. I think the optimism was there from the performances um that have been going on for those last 12 games, and it was just non-stop. And even in that second period when the guys maybe had a little bit of a wobble, the noise was electric, and you know, the drum was going, and um yeah, it was it the support was right there, and it I just thought it was fitting that they were right behind the devil's bench, it was almost just one big unity. Um, that is the Carliff Devils.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

I you know, I I say all the time I'm a cynical old fan and who've been around and things, but what I really liked was that the amount of people I've seen who've gone to the playoffs for the first time and experienced that feeling of all the fans in the same place and to top it off with a win is honestly there's no better feeling when you're in Nottingham and that happens. So I'm so chef that devils fans, old and new, got to experience it again or for the first time because it's special and it doesn't happen all the time. So drink it in, keep that feeling for as long as you can until we start again.

SPEAKER_04 29:34

And a nice touch from the arena as well to let the devils out on the balcony to Belero Square. Um, that's not been done before by uh anyone but Nottingham. It's only been Nottingham. Yeah, it's been Nottingham, and and I thought that was really cool as well. Just added that little bit extra. And then after you know, I I put on uh on my Twitter um there was you know a moment when we thought the night was gonna be absolutely you know uh a write-off when Devil's fans couldn't get into Saltbox and the players were almost about to come over uh and get in there, and uh you know they were saying that there was there was already too many in there, and it didn't look that way. But a group of Glasgow clan fans spotted this, and Todd is stood there with a trophy trying to negotiate our way in with the manager of Saltbox, and they came up and they said, No, this is your night, we're all gonna leave. If we all leave, will you let the devil's fans in? And I thought that is hockey. That in that in that moment, that is hockey. And they all walked out. They had a photo with the trophy with Todd, and then they all walked out, and then the devil's fans came in, and I thought, that is amazing.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

Yeah, sums up the weekend nicely. Last thing I'm gonna say on playoff weekend, I'm gonna confess this to you two now. Okay. In about two weeks ago, I I sold two people, one of which was Katrina in in the office before, and another was a friend of mine. I said, We are gonna win the playoffs. And both of them said, Why would you say that? I hate you, you've jinxed it, it's over, we're never gonna win anything. I know why you didn't say that to me. So I do have used two, and I didn't say it to anybody else after that because I thought, oh no, Dan, what have you done? This was, and I'm not just saying this because we did win it. I have never been more confident going into a weekend or into a playoff run that we would win this, and so I'm really relieved more than anything that we actually did, because my word wouldn't have been bad if we hadn't won. But yeah, I'm relieved. I'm delighted. You both are as well, I'm I imagine, as well. And and yeah, the devils were in the playoffs. What a massive achievement. And we couldn't not get through the weekend and and get the the man we've not really spoken too much about, actually, when we refer to to playoff weekends. So uh we've got the boss down for a bit of a chat. Ladies and gents, a huge welcome on Devil's Insider This Week, the final guest this season for the podcast. And we had to, after the weekend, just go and get Paul Thompson on. Tom O, thank you so much for coming down. First of all, congratulations. It's uh huge achievement. How are you feeling?

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Oh, great, great. I mean, it's starting to it's starting to sink in now, and uh I know the players are off having a good time, and so they should, you know, with the work and their dedication that they put in. And so it's uh I actually watched the game back last night after the uh uh after the uh the award show. I went home and uh and just enjoyed watching the boys perform, you know, and they kind of sunk in a little bit on more then.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Let's chat a little bit about the playoffs in in general, I think. And and we go back to to the Coventry games, and obviously the the Devils at that point were coming in as as the form team in the league, really. And and then that was one of the that was the first kind of potential banana skin going into it, because Coventry are a good team and and nerves maybe settled were over the weekend. I think but the the fans saw the team and we understood that you know these guys were were dialed in.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

Yeah, I mean, I think even leading up to them games, we were we were really focused on not just our game with the puck, our game away from the puck. And uh, I mean we we really weren't giving up a lot of goals and we weren't giving up a lot of scoring chances. And when we did, our goaltending was making sure that that you know nothing went behind them. So I mean it was a 2-1 game in Coventry, and uh obviously, you know, that first leg I mean you want a you want a four or five goal deficit going into the to the second leg, but going into the second leg, I felt my group knew what to do, and uh they just gave that vibe during this period of of we have to get the job done. And um, and we did obviously in the second leg. And anytime you play a seventh place team, you're a second seed. No, there's a there's always a potential slip up there, and as as you know, Nottingham and Belfast showed, but uh I think it's more about the the level of the league from two to eight.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

We get to the weekends, and and uh the guys who are at awards night would have heard a little bit about it yesterday, but that you you may kind of made the decision to say, you know, where is the devils in previous years have done things a certain way, they've gone out for a meal on the Friday, and and you they've they've run the weekend a certain way. You you said let's do it differently this year. What was the thinking behind that?

SPEAKER_01 34:00

You know, rest and recovery. I mean, it's a long day on the Friday. And uh I mean w we we were here for eight, eight thirty, you know. We had uh we had a lot of video to do, and then we went out and and and we practiced on some of the stuff that we wanted to we wanted to cover, and then you know, we had a little lunch, and then I mean, I think it took us four, four and a half hours to get there. So the last thing I wanted to do, I wanted to get into the hotel, get the guys settled, get some food down them, you know, and and and let them do their thing. They can go to the shops and pick some snacks up, some waters up, you know, they normally do for their rooms and stuff like that. And uh and I I didn't want anything formal. I wanted it to be a relaxed atmosphere, you know, because of I knew what was coming over the weekend. So I took a bit of stick from the boys because the pork chops was as you know, pork chops was on the menu. So they've been shouting pork chop at me ever since. And uh but uh you know I I didn't want that uh I didn't want that we've all got to go out, we've all gotta sit and wait. We've all got I just wanted it to be relaxed and and and and them focused on the job in hand rather than worrying about going for a meal, even though some of them were a bit narked because it's a really good restaurant. All right.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

The the the weekend in general, like you say, there was a relaxed feeling about the team. There's also a confident feeling, I thought. I'd I there was no point where I looked at the team and thought they looked unnerved, they looked unsettled. You know, you you look through that Glasgow game who also pushed incredibly hard over over the 60 minutes, but there it was composure, I think, it personified across the the four games really of the playoff run.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Well, you know, a couple of months back when, you know, especially after the the Glasgow away game where I just didn't think we turned up, I didn't think we were focused, I didn't think we had any positive energy. And, you know, we we really did kind of get into the boys a little bit on that. And uh I was really, really disappointed. And and and you know, I remember saying at the time, you can't just sprinkle fairy dust over the playoff weekend and hope you're gonna become good. You have to build for that. And and credit to them, you know, they took everything on board. You know, there were some tough times, and they took everything on board and and and just got better and better and better and improved and improved and improved to the level I know what they are. I think that was my frustration. We were playing well under where I think we should be. We brought it back, and uh, and like I said, I I've had many interviews, and that's credit to the players.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

One of the things that we we we saw the clip last night at Awards Night, and and your pre-game speech before that final against Sheffield, and and you know, I'm sure it will come out, and I'm sure anyone who didn't see it on awards night will see it after. When you go into a room like that and and there is an occasion on the line, how do you prep from your end what you're going to say? And and and and is it do you tailor it to the feeling in the room, or is it was that kind of always the plan to go in there with with with that approach?

SPEAKER_01 36:56

Well, you don't see the whole interview, so I I just tactically go through a couple of just a couple of things, just fine-tuning before that. And and then I I try and I try and think of something impactful to say, you know, but it I don't write it down. It's not something that uh, you know, I I schedule in and think, well, this is what I'm gonna say. It just kind of comes to me a little bit, and uh you know, and I and I you can't do that every game for 74 games because you lose the impact. So you know, there was uh probably a couple more F bombs in there than my wife told me today than than than she would have liked, but uh you know, I just tried to find a different way to to to and um we'd done an exercise previously a few weeks back about you know, we sat as a group and the players talked about what a certain item that they brought in meant to them, and you know, and we kind of sold our souls to each other. And you know, so it was kind of off the back of that a little bit, and the family members and everything else, and just to try and you know get that extra one percent of focus from them, and uh God did they deliver. I mean, wow.

SPEAKER_02 38:03

Yeah, it was uh it was a fantastic final. I want to ask, you know, uh I mean I could ask about any player in that final, really. Everybody stepped up, but Nolan Yuremko had a really tough year, was injured for a huge amount of it, gets two goals, and and it almost frustrates you watching it because you think this we we could have had this guy all season, and he's been so unlucky. So, how did you feel for him getting those two goals?

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Well, I think Franny will say, we know we chased Nolan pretty hard last summer, and then we ended up picking him up late. I was in Calgary, and me and Franny were kind of getting back to each other once we sorted our time zones out, and uh you know, we got him over the line, and and he he he's a super bloke. He's honestly he's an unbelievable team guy, and he has never took a day off. And you know, as a professional athlete, there's nothing worse when when you're when you're injured and you want to get back in, and then you come back in and the injury comes again, and then it comes again, and then it comes again. So to get him back and then you know, to lose Wheels, which you know, he was my coach's player of the year. And uh to lose him and the impact he'd had on our hockey club this year, and to get Nolan back and and and kind of jump ahead of Cedric a little bit, and you know, because that they they were cut competing for the same position, and then to come in and score them two goals, it's it's a fairy tale story for him because he's a good human, that lad. He's a good good man and a good hockey player.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Very good one, yeah. I I'm I'm intrigued. You you spoke just there about you know the the guys almost exposing themselves and opening themselves up and and being very honest. And you've said, and and Joey Martin has said that that there was a point in the season where very honest words were had as well. And this seems like a group, even since the very start of the year, that there there's there's trust and there's a level of something in that room that this was kind of always meant to happen, really, in a in a way, or they definitely were good enough to do this.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

We've got a lot of experience in that room, you know. We've got a lot of mature players that have have been around and played for various coaches, won various things, and you know, and and I've been around, you know, so it's it's not a case of I'm not trying to bully anyone, you know, it's it's not a case of that, but you know there's times in your life you need a kick in the bum. And it doesn't matter who you are, what you are, and what level you are, you know, and you need to refocus. And we drew a line in the sand and said, right, from there. We did the same about the power play. The power play for six months was goddamn awful. And we drew a line in the sand and we said, forget everything that's gone from there. And I think we had the pretty much the number one power play from that point onwards. So you know, sometimes it's confidence a lot of it. It's not sometimes, it's always confidence. You know, we have the ability out there, but it's also the focus as well. So again, cred credit to the players for for backing what we were pushing, and it doesn't always happen, you know, it doesn't happen, but that group in there it did.

SPEAKER_03 40:55

For me, I think what highlights that is over the weekend, not one minor penalty given up, not one penalty kill over, two games of hockey, two intense games of hockey. To have that kind of discipline over that time for me showed a lot about what that that team had taken on and confident. It's amazing to me. But how did you feel about that that kind of discipline?

SPEAKER_01 41:14

You know, we we use the uh the words of you know, controlled aggression, controlled aggression, and and and gotta give the the officials some credit, you know. I mean, I thought they all had a fantastic weekend and and they let the game go, they let the game play, and uh and they called what was needed to be called. So yeah, our boys were dialed in. There's no doubt about it. We we were totally dialed in in every aspect, and you know, in a in a one-off game, you know, anywhere around the world is a best of seven. You know, in a one-off game, you can't get it wrong. It it's that simple. You have to be perfect.

SPEAKER_04 41:47

Yeah, and I mean people always talk about our playoffs being so short, and you know, teams that don't win it say, oh, it's the easiest trophy to win. I think you said that we're right. I think it's the easiest trophy to lose because you can have one period and that you're at the playoffs. So to become playoff champions, you you can't have a period off because that is the fine margins. When you're in a league season, you can have 10 sloppy games. When you're in a best of seven series, you can have three sloppy games per lay, you know, per matchup, and you can still go on to win it. And yes, I mean, those teams that go and win the best of seven series, as you know, uh Odens did last year, um, it's amazing, you know, because they've gone through that whole slog. But you know, let's give a little bit of credit to you know this final four achievement. Um, same as the NCAA, you know, you always get the big guns winning that, um, as the Denver boys will tell you, time and time again. But um yeah, it's it's you have to be at your best at the key moments in the most precious situation that you'll ever play under. You know, with you know 8,000 or whatever fans sitting there watching you, you've got to be pretty perfect. And the guys didn't put much of a foot wrong all weekend, did they?

SPEAKER_02 43:03

I think actually it's really interesting you talk about controlled aggression because very early in the season we spoke on the pod about the Cardiff Bay bullies, and that was kind of the mantra that we went with early season. And and then into the new year, and then things got a bit difficult, and we said, well, maybe they need to come away from that and play a little bit differently and focus more on scoring goals and the skill stuff as well. It the evolution of the team throughout the year, do you think that this is the point where you take bits of those Cardiff Bay bullies, you take bits of you know the high high level scoring, and you've hit kind of uh a nice kind of peak out of those?

SPEAKER_01 43:32

Yeah, and we know when when I was employed here and I was speaking to Franny and Todd and and and about the style, and and of course I have experience of coming in here for years and years and years and years for 30 odd years. And I I know and Franny know what we feel our fans want. And and sometimes it goes too much, and then sometimes when it goes too much on the other side. You end up pulling back and you lose the identity of what you are. So, and it always takes you have to go through the rough to find the good. You know, and and I think when I when I look at our season we lost a lot, we had a lot of injuries, you know. I mean, Cedric was out with his shoulder injury, and then and you know, and then we had obviously Uremco out and stuff like that. We had big names and we brought other players in. When when I actually look back at the the the downtime of our season, it was when we we actually became healthy. And then you gotta leave four guys out of the lineup, and that causes displeasure, and that causes a little bit of what's the word I'm thinking of, a little bit of it unsettles the group. Who's next? Is it me? Is it it? And I felt it took a month, five weeks to understand once we got healthy, who was, who wasn't gonna be in the lineup. And it's tough for these guys, they all want to play, every one of them wants to play. I understand that totally. But once we got to the point of this is what it is, this is how it's gonna be going forward, we then reset. But during that time, that might have been the time when we lost our way a little bit from a league purpose, you know. So I think we're gonna learn something from that. That too many cooks spoil the broth, you know, and and and but we did it with every good intention because we had long-term injuries.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Yeah, that's really interesting. And and I wanted to ask you about the league season in general while while we have you, and and kind of what did you make of the season in its entirety terms of the league campaign now? You know, we'll we'll leave the challenge cup out, we'll leave the playoffs out of the league campaign itself, and and where did you see the kind of ingredients for what we then saw towards the end throughout the year? And and maybe where did the Devils miss out then when it came to actually the league championship itself?

SPEAKER_01 45:48

I just think we you know, we haven't played many bad games all yeah. Uh you know what? I I don't think I've coached a team that has played so well and maybe not come away with the points. We had two disasters in Sheffield, we had two really poor games up in uh up in Glasgow where we just weren't at our level. But you know what? Apart from that, we lost games, but we lost games where we played really, really well. But uh I and I think that's a learning curve going forward that the the Belfast team just the juggernaut kept going. The juggernaut kept going, you know, and and uh so that's that's a big learning point for us next year, and we'll have a bigger core coming back next year that will understand what that's about. And it and it is the toughest thing to win because I mean you have to be on your game every single night. You know, Franny talks about the and he's absolutely right, that the hardest cup to win from a pressure point of view is that final four because of what's at stake. But we have a 54-game playoff, and mentally it's tough on the players every single night. Oh my god, we're now four points off, we're six points off. That's a loss, that's a loss. Doesn't happen anywhere else in the world, but here doesn't happen anywhere else because there's so many things that that could it's not football, and everyone thinks it's football, but it is what it is, and we have to learn to be better in their moments.

SPEAKER_02 47:13

I think that's really interesting as a point as well, and to say the devils losing games, not necessarily playing badly, because for me the the turning point on the year was a Belfast double header because you go into it, and I think at that point we were five or six losses against the top teams in a row, and you think, well, this could be a tough weekend. But the devils over both games performed, ran the Giants hard. You know, you think Riley Brand Hatchick, all of a sudden there was this seemed to be a click and a belief in that, and and was that maybe the the change?

SPEAKER_01 47:37

Well, I I think you know, I I wasn't happy with the balance of some of the players and the lines and stuff like that. And I think over the last seven, eight weeks, I've kept with it. I've kept with it, you know, and I and and I felt I felt I juggled the lines more than I've ever done. And and some injuries were to do with that as well, okay? But and I and I was frustrated because I I just didn't feel I was getting enough balance. And then once we'd kind of set the lines as as you see today, I felt there was balance on that and and and um and belief that everybody knew their role within that.

SPEAKER_04 48:15

Yeah, I mean, we talked on the pod about there was that stick or twist moment where in our bad patch, really the only line going was the Ferguson, Barrow, Olavchevsky line. And it was it was absolutely golden. It was getting points every night. And it was like, do you stick with that because you know they're guaranteed to get something, or do you spread them out a bit? And that's you that's what you did, didn't you? You took that gamble and spread them out a bit, and all of a sudden, you had three elevated lines all rubbing off on one of those uh individuals.

SPEAKER_01 48:48

Well, I think it was it was it was the fact of a good kick in the bum, you know, and some real home truths by all of us, by all of us. It's and and and you know, as coaches, we held our hands up and said, Hey, we've got to be better here, we've got to do this better. And uh, but you're you're right, Franny. You know, I took the decision to split up the best line because I felt that the balance wasn't there. And I I've always coached where on my offensive lines, I mean, our D pairings, I put the D pairings together in the summer, you know, and they haven't changed. They haven't changed. And Nicholas uses the word, you know, the married couple, and uh, and you can see that on how they play now, and they have that continuity of understanding of uh, you know, what each player is gonna within our system, of course. But I felt that um I always feel that you you you have a pair and then you add one for what's required, and that's what we got to eventually, and and and guys found their form, we found their form, we found the confidence, and it's not because I'm any genius, it's because we all got good together.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

We talk about that line being golden, Ferguson, Barrow, and Olyshewski splitting them up, but when we were struggling for goals, Riley Brandt stood up and had, you know, he scored more goals this year than he scored in the entire rest of his devil's career. What did you see in Brandt and what do you think is the reason for him finding that score in touch?

SPEAKER_01 50:12

I think Gaz, I think I was watching him in the summer, and I was thinking, this kid can play, you know, he can make plays, he sees things. Uh and I think in the past, I I don't know the other coaches, and then I don't really care, but but I think he he it's just easy to make him the scapegoat. You know, he let's not upset one of my stars here and and then we'll just kick, you know, keep him on the fourth line. We don't want to well, I don't coach that way. I don't care who you are, where you've been, what you've done, it's where you are now. And that's gonna get us over the line, is where you are now. And I'm looking and looking at this guy, and I'm thinking, I prefer him to some of the other guys above him. Um and and that's the reason. And you know, his college career, he was a high goal scorer. Where was he at Mount Royal? Where when did he play?

SPEAKER_04 51:01

It's at Mount Royal, and he he led um youth sports in goals in the in a in a league which had Balmas and Samper and Cox and Kugler and all these great goalscorers, and you know, he led the whole league in there before he had some terrible injury trouble that uh that probably curtailed his his offensive side for a bit.

SPEAKER_01 51:22

He's a good hockey player, let me tell you. He I know everybody's pigeonholed him as this rough, tough, and he is, he's all that as well, right? He's all that as well. But you know, he's gone from six, seven minutes a game to playing 18 minutes a game, so you have to adapt, you have to change. And uh, you know, my coach's player of the year was Wheels, but it it was between them two, right there.

SPEAKER_02 51:43

Franny, you've used an interesting phrase. You said stick or twist about the the line we were chatting about earlier. The other kind of we'll call it a risk. Uh it's probably not the right word, maybe uh in in this context as much, but you tomorrow made the decision with a couple of weeks ago that you were gonna settle with the hot hand that was Christian Stover. And that is, of course, in in this building, in this club with Ben Bounds, who is an all-timer, has has had a great season regardless, you know, seven shutouts on the best year numbers wasn't. Yeah, that's a big move, and that's a big decision to make going into this run. So, what what clicked in your head to to kind of go with that?

SPEAKER_01 52:16

I I broke down the last uh kind of 14 starts and Stover was through the roof, and that's why I made my decision. Statistically, he was way higher. And the other guy, Mr. Bounce, was pretty goddamn good as well, you know. So, and you know, when you've done what you've done at this club like Bouncey has and stuff, you know, of course he's hurt, he wants to play. I get that. But I didn't come here to make friends, I came here to win trophies, and and I have the most, utmost respect for that man, what he's done with his career, what he's done in Cardi, and he's gonna play a major role with us going forward, but I felt that Stowe deserved to be the guy, and I think statistically, if you look at his playoff stats and everything else, and I'm not saying Bouncy wouldn't have been there, but that's the decision I made. But I made it based on not just a feeling, and I had a feeling, I made it based on what I was seeing and statistically where we were.

SPEAKER_04 53:22

And what we're talking about, Christian Stover, I don't think we can let the sort of moment pass with just how big he was during the playoffs as a rookie coming in. We've talked about this high press pressure situation where you cannot make mistakes and uh you know you're out if you do. His last game in Coventry, there was four goals shipped, and you know, you were really clear with him, weren't you, that he didn't get pulled because of of the goals because they they weren't his fault. It was you know he was he was gonna go again. But I think the character that he showed to bounce back from that, which even though Tomo told him that's not on you, you know, you you always maybe hold yourself responsible. But to bounce back that and then just jump straight back on the train, that incredible hot hand that he had, you know, do so well in that series against Coventry, and then go into this huge pressure cooker, playoff finals weekend and perform like he did, it's incredible for a rookie goalie.

SPEAKER_01 54:23

Well, you know, I mean, when when I pulled him, it it wasn't on him. We were diabolical for seven, eight minutes. And uh I said to Bouncy, stop the bleeding now, go in there and stop the bleeding. And he did. He really did. And then it kind of shook everybody up a little bit. And we were unlucky not to end up getting something out of that game because for two periods we we kind of were all over them. And I I said to, like Fanny said, I said that when he came off the bench, I said, You're playing the next game. Straight away. I didn't want him thinking that I didn't have trust in him, even as good as what Bouncy was doing, shutting the door for us there. I just wanted to give him that confidence again because I saw it in practice, I got a feel about it, and when you've got two great goaltenders, you know, it's it's a I see it as a nice thing. Some of the coaches may not. I see it as a great thing.

SPEAKER_02 55:15

Ewan King obviously had a big part to play in all of that as well, and and I think it's very underrated actually how important he is to not only the goalies but this organization in general. And and what's it been like working with him this year? How has he kind of impacted uh your approach to coaching and the team as well?

SPEAKER_01 55:32

I I think he's super talented, and I think he's uh super intelligent as well. I mean, um I think he'd be the first to tell you that he's learnt a lot this year as well, in in the way that we do things, and and we've certainly learned from him, there's no doubt about that. He's uh he's fantastic with the with the goalies, he has a great rapport with them, and and you know what? I mean, he's got a little spice in him as well. If if he's not happy with the way they're performing, he's not the guy that's just gonna come to me and say, Can you sort that out? And I've had that before, you know, because as much as he has a relationship with them, I feel I've had goalie coaches in the past that want to become their friends rather than their coach. And he balances it perfectly where he he is their chaperone, he is their friend, but but if it's not going the way that he expects, you know, he says he says what he needs to say to get them back on track and stuff like that. So I uh we're I I'd heard about Ewan previously coming in, and I was excited to work with him, and he he hasn't disappointed, put it that way, at all. He's a huge asset for our club.

SPEAKER_02 56:46

And of course, the other man on the bench, you know, assisted Nicholas Alvivori as well. He ran the D this year, and I was looking through the numbers actually, and and this the 122 goals conceded this season across the regular season. That's one of the lowest I could find on record for the Devils. Like that doesn't just happen by accident.

SPEAKER_01 57:02

No, and and and you know what? What what I like about Nicholas again is I mean, obviously, you know, I I input the system for the team, and he buys totally into that, and then he manages the players around that, you know. And we spoke to uh in the s in the summertime, you know, we spoke to uh to Mark and to to Helgi, to Richie and Helgi, and we said your role's gonna change. This is where we see you, but when we need you, you're gonna be playing over the other stud guys, you know what I mean? Point guys, because that's how we'll get the best, and we got some looks, and we go, you know, and how's this? But as time went on, you get their trust, and and the players have totally got Nicholas's trust because he he loves the PK and he loves his defenseman. He doesn't really care about anything else after that, right? Well, he does, he does. But big shout out to Nicholas. He's uh again, I'm lucky, you know. I the reason I brought him here was because I've always said to my coaches, a coach that doesn't make a decision makes me angry. If you make the wrong decision for the right reasons, I can live with that. But you have to make decisions, you have to be brave enough. And I've had assistant coaches that are looking at me, you know, in a in a 2-1 game with 2-1 up with two minutes to go, who do I put out? I don't want to know you put out who we've discussed in that situation. And Nicholas, I don't even have to think about that. I don't even have to think about it because he's making the right decision for the hockey club, not for the individual. He's making it for the hockey club, and that's what we're about.

SPEAKER_02 58:42

One of the members of that decor is Tyson Helgerson. He won Unsung Hero at the awards night last night. And whether or not you could call it alcohol assisted, he was very emotional when he went up on stage. Bless him. He uh he yeah, there was there was tears from him, and he was very, very proud of the achievement of being named Unsung Hero. And and I I think it's really fitting because there was genuine pride. It wasn't just he'd had a few beers, there was genuine pride about his game, and I think he's been unreal this year.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

Well, you know, Franny was already talking to him as as I was employed, and then said, listen, run your eyes over this guy. Do you think this guy's we feel he's what we haven't had? And so I must have watched seven, eight hours of him, and uh I was looking at him, and you know what? He he he's a big man, you know. He he doesn't skate like uh, you know, he doesn't skate like a fawns. Mind you, not many do, do they, to be fair. So, but I am telling you, he is one hell of a defenceman. One hell of a guy. He's the most positive guy you'll ever meet. Him and your MCO are unbelievable that way. And he doesn't put a foot wrong out there. He is exactly what we need for the job that he does. And he's he's I mean, like I said yesterday, he's been playing for six months with a dislocated shoulder. His shoulder must have popped in and out. I don't know how many times they've had to put it back in. And he was like, no, I'll get surgery at the end of the year, I'll get surgery at the end of the year. He's a diamond, he's a horse, and I tell you, he was one of the stars of our playoff campaign. He just quietly, well, not always quietly, because he's running he's running guys over or or punching them, but he just quietly goes, he he he's got total admirable. Him and him and Richie are just they just work. They work, you know, and uh credit to him. He's a he's a smashing lad and uh he's a hell of a hockey.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:36

Yeah, I I think what typifies um Halgerson is we were up in Nottingham and it wasn't going so well, was it? We we were down by a few goals. And if you remember, he had a fight against uh Josh Tatlow, who's a who's a big lump, and he had that, he he offered him off on on the uh the face-off after one of the goals because he knew that the team needed a momentum swing, and that is with a dislocated shoulder. And if you re-watch the fight after, you can see him grabbing and trying to put his shoulder back in after that fight. Um, he knew it was gonna happen, but it was more important to him to get the team going, and we got to OT. Straight away off the back of that. We had a massive lift from it, but he still he didn't miss the rest of the game because his shoulder popped out, just popped it back in and played the rest of the game and got us to OT. And I think we ended up losing the shootout, didn't we? But uh, you know, that that is the kind of team player that he is.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:26

Ultimate team guy.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:28

Yeah, and I think that that was probably typified as well with with Jimmy Lena going down injured in in that final and and stepped up first shift out was was was Helgi on that deep airing, yeah. Um, I want to ask you a little bit more personally, not not about the team necessarily. You know, you made the decision to come back to the UK last summer, and and having won in Odense, having won, you know, uh, and then taken Odens from where they were to to the champions. That was that was a risky move. You know, you could have stayed there and and got chased championships. And and do you feel that the season and and especially the winning the playoffs has justified your decision?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:00

Oh, totally. Uh regardless of winning the playoffs, it had totally justified my decision. I work for a fantastic club, fantastic fans, great people like yourselves. And uh I feed off that that energizes me. When when you go to a club where everybody's working for the same thing, it it energizes you. And and this club, 100%, everyone is so committed, hardest working people that I've worked with in this sport. And I'm not talking about the coaching side of things, I'm talking about the Frannies and the Todds and the Katrinas and everybody else associated with the club. So it hasn't disappointed me in the in the slightest. And I knew that coming in. That's that's why I came here because I wanted to be part of that. So, and and the playoffs is the icing on the cake, obviously, and we deserved it. We were the best team in the UK over the last two months, and we did deserve it, but it's been a it's been a fantastic decision. But I am looking forward to going and seeing my family a little more. Uh I won't lie.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:03

You you told me after the game, uh, after after that final, that you know, people have come up to you and said, you know, I used to hate you, used to do my head in. And then did you feel that there was a point to prove when you came here to not necessarily win them over? That's probably the wrong wrong phrase, but was there a point to prove and show them what you could do?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:19

I think, you know, as a coach, there's maybe when you're younger, you're a bit more fiery and you're a bit more a point to prove. I I think I back myself, and I don't think I'm being cocky by that, and that's the reason I'm here, is because you know, the powers that be thought I could do something here. And I I don't look at it as a point of, you know, no disrespect to you two who do a fantastic job. If I don't do another interview again, it'll be a day too soon, you know, because I I've been doing it for so long, right? But I'm enjoying this, I'm only joking. But but you know, it's I'm not the guy that wants to be the figurehead. I I just leave me in the reads and let me do what I do, and and the players take the plaudits because that's you know, they're the show, they're the show. So I I've I've immensely enjoyed my time here so far, and uh I work with good people, and good people normally bring good results.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:15

Of course, you know that that leads us on to the question of well what happens now. And I I believe by the time that this will go out, it'll have been announced that you're you're back for another year. So uh congratulations, not only on the playoffs, but welcome back for a second season. What what where where do we go now with this?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:32

Well, first of all, I'm delighted to be back for another year, and uh, you know, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. And I think we've got something that's uh that's really positive. And and and and of course, someone said to me, another coach said to me, Oh, you've raised the expectations now, it's gonna and I don't look at it. I came here for the pressure, I came here to win. I'm not I can't guarantee we're gonna win. It's not I'm being caught, but I came to Cardiff for that reason. And you know what? We're up against these arena teams that that all tell you that they don't spend any money. But we speak, we speak to the same agents as they do. You know, it's it's quite comical. And you know what, we are up against it from a financial point of view at times, but but that doesn't mean that we can be any less than them. We just have to be a little more savvy and and smarter, and and we've got good hockey people here that all you know uh uh all wanting the same thing. So I'm delighted to be back. I I I can't wait to get going in a couple of months. Uh me and Franny have got some work to do on the phones and on the computer with you know with Nicholas and Ewan and stuff like that. But yeah, it's uh the guy's gone quick. And when it goes quick, it's normally because you know what, we we're trending the right way. And I I think we're trending the right way, but we want to we want to trend even better. Better next year.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:01

With the playoff win, uh, do you feel that that is a huge benefit going into the summer? Because what it's felt to me watching the the the season is you've clearly laid foundations about how you want the club and the team to run, which is what you need when you you want to go for that league title, but now there's a standard of winning as well with it within your group and and within the team and within the club again. So, how important is that playoffs in terms of the foundation for what we all want next year, which would be all three trophies?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:31

Yeah, yeah, and and we do. We every team in the league sets off to win three trophies. Well, why why why not be in it? You know, and and why be in it, I should say. But uh yeah. We've just got to be really smart. We've got some really good hockey players here that that we want to look to bring back and and and and build that core. There's a lot of work gone in this year. We know we don't want to get to a stage where we're we're signing another 12-14 players again, and and you you you kind of have to build that foundation again. So we've got some tough decisions to make and especially coming off a win. But that'll be down the road, and you know, always me, Franny, and tired of spoke, and and and and I think you know, from my experience of winning in the past, you can make emotional decisions because of what's just happened. We just have to let the dust settle and have a good think and a good feel, and look back over the nine months and make the right decisions.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:34

I think that's uh very well put, and and we'll allow you the summer to to get away and and get out of it for a bit. You will be able to find and work out what the best curry house is round Cardiff uh coming back for a year two, and I'm excited to hear your thoughts on that one next season.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:47

Well, I found a good one in the bay. I I won't lie. I mean, uh yeah, so I do like my curry, yeah. I've been pretty good this year, though. I haven't had that many. I'll be making up for it, believe me, in the next couple of months.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:59

Tomo, enjoy it. Thank you so much. We really appreciate you coming down. Congratulations on this weekend just gone, of course. And uh we look forward to seeing you come August time. It's gonna be a good one. Yeah, I can't wait.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:09

I'm proud to be the coach here. It's fantastic times.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:13

Massive thanks once again to Tomo for coming down. I mean, Gaz, Franny, I'd run for a wall for that man. I I honestly would. What an absolute hero. What a man! And I could not be more delighted to have him here again next season.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:27

Yeah, great news that uh, you know, that's all uh done and dusted, and straight away everyone knows uh you know the boss is in charge and he's in charge again for for next year. So impressed with how quickly he laid the foundations down. You know, we get lucky, we get a little bit of insight into that, do doing what we do, and you need to be the boss, you need to be in charge, and you need to put your you know, your personality and your influence onto things, and everyone knows that you're in charge. And I think Tomo did that so quickly in the summer, and I think that set us up well across the year. Uh, he wins trophies. We we knew that when we we signed him, and thankfully he's now done that in Devil's Colors as well.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:10

Yeah, above all else, I I would say his number one quality is his honesty. He's honest in every interview. I mean, sometimes I think back to some of the Sheffield interviews, maybe he was too honest in those in those points, but that's him. I mean, he just is a straight talker with his team. You may not like the news that you're gonna get if you're a player that's gonna sit out, but he will tell you the honest reason why he's doing something, he's not changing his mind, and that is it. Get on with it. And um, you know, in his interview, he came across very honest about you know, you know that we talked about the decision about which goalie started, and he looked back on the stats, and it was that's our hot goalie. It's you know, the numbers were quite different, despite you know, Bouncey having another career year statistically wise. But in that moment, I think from when Bouncy had come back from an injury, Stover had had got incredibly hot, you know, um and he just said that's what I'm gonna go. That that moment he told me that after the Coventry game. Um he said I went straight down to Stover and uh I told him you're starting the next game. And Stover looked at him. Stover thought his season was over at that point. Just shipped four goals in a period. The goalies just come in and got a shutout in the remaining two periods. Thought his season was over, but Tomo said those goals aren't on you. I'm taking you out to protect you. You're going again on Saturday, so get ready for that one, or Wednesday it might have been. You're going again, and like how good would that make you feel? How confident would that make you feel as a player? And you saw how Christian Stover responded, and I just love that honesty.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:57

Yeah, I agree. And and and it clearly was was a good move because Christian Stover, like we say, had a fantastic playoffs and provided some assists in salt box in terms of people drinking out the trophy at the end of and the end of the night as well. So fair play to Stovey wants to add to that assist, Charlie.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:12

Yeah, I think we said uh after awards night we're a bit worried that Connecticut Pony might have Legionnaires disease for the amount of times he's uh drunk from uh a bit of a bit of metal. So uh keep an eye on Cap.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:21

I'm glad you put up awards night. It was on Monday night the devil celebrated uh a fantastic season, and and we're not gonna go into too much depth on it. Uh the club, I'm sure, will release everything as it as it goes over the coming days. But um a really wonderful night, guys. Uh an evening that I think you know it epitomised what this team was about. Yes, they were rowdy, yes, they were loud, but that's exactly kind of what you want from a from a from a celebratory evening.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:44

Yeah, it was. It was one of the most positive, as you would expect, I guess, because you know, we run the purse, but e even, you know, that that aside, to to see the guys in that sort of social setting, because it's something you you never get to see through through the year. You you see them when they're in business mode. You never particularly see them in uh you know relaxed mode. But it made me think when I was watching them celebrate, right at the beginning of the season, uh, we heard that like a couple of weeks in, off their own back, all the players and all their partners had decided to go out together on a weekend. I think they had a Sunday off for some reason, it might have been pre-season, but they've been together for a few weeks and they decided to do it. And it's something I'm told isn't something that other groups had done. And when I seen them all together at awards night, a lot more inebriated than I'm sure they were for that Sunday lunch. But it I it kind of took me back, and I thought, yeah, this from sort of right at the beginning, this this group has has decided that they've got a bit of a bond that goes a little bit beyond what maybe some teams have uh here in previous years.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:52

Yeah, and they had that to begin with, and then a championship just absolutely cements that bond. And you could I I just loved their reactions to whoever won the awards, like they're the emotion from the other guys were just incredible. Um, you know, they were just so happy, and then anyone that got an award was like, Well, it shouldn't have been me, it should have been him, you know. And it was just like the selflessness of that, and I mean that just shows a team.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:18

Yeah, and I think maybe maybe personified no more than Tyson Helgerson standing up crying and saying, I effing love you, Jimmy Street when he got his award. And I thought, you know what? Fair play, Tyson. I think everybody does.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:30

But they would like it as well for everyone else around the the support, you know, Morgan, the strength and conditioning coach, you know, all the all the massage team, all the physio team. Thomas Murdy got his award. Like they went for Zerk for Murds getting uh his time on uh on the mic, the longest interview that he's ever conducted. My my one with him was eight seconds long, was my record. So well done, Dan. I'm getting uh a bit more out of him.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:53

He did he did arrive on stage, so I looked at him and he went, please don't make this long. And I said, Yeah, that's that's okay, Murds, we won't. But uh yeah, no, Murds actually, I'm glad you brought that up because yeah, uh Decade of Decadence was the award, and he he's been rewarded for for what he says accidentally falling into the equipment manager's role. I I'll tell you this right now. Andrew McWilliam, who was in Cardiff last year, said he has not worked with many better equipment coaches than Thomas Murdy. And he's played in the NHL, he's played in some huge organizations and across Europe as well. So, like for Murds to get that award, I'm absolutely buzzing.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:24

Yeah, I mean, definitely people know that he's a great guy, and you know, they hear everybody talk about what a great job he does, and I still don't think people know just what a job he does. I mean, he didn't celebrate with the trophy on Sunday night because he was packing up the locker room and getting the van back to Cardiff. Another shout out. I mean, we've said it a number of years ago on um on the other part that we did, but Mark Richardson was late to the celebrations too, because he was sweeping the dressing room with Tom Thomas Murdy and giving him a hand loading the the minibus and uh loading it's not a minibus, sorry, it's a it's a van sponsored by vans. That I'll give them a shout out to. Um but uh yeah, so so yeah, that that just shows Mark Richardson all over. But yeah, you just saw how genuinely passionate everyone was for uh Thomas Murdy. Uh he's an incredible guy, uh probably the most self, selfless guy that I know. Um, you know, he just I mean, the fact he's been a player, he kind of knows what players need. That's great. You know, he's learned all the tools of the trade um on the job, and uh, you know, that is I think a game changer moment in Cardiff Devil's history when he knocked on Todd's door and said, Well, you're struggling to fill this equipment manager role. Can you give me a go? Um, so he became you know backup netminder slash equipment manager. Um, and uh he's he's an incredible guy, he he really is, and he works so hard and cares so much, and I'm delighted that he got recognised in the way he did.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:04

Yeah, huge, huge congratulations to him. It was it was a great evening, generally, of course. And and and I'm glad that the fans got to see yeah, the the side of the players that when they are a bit more relaxed and when they can enjoy themselves, it's uh it's always good to see.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:16

Yeah, it is. Um I I think we've had a request to kind of go through the awards um from uh from what my memory says. The players player of the year was Joey Martin.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:26

Players player was Joey Martin, yeah, that's correct. The top scorer went to Christoph Kontos. Uh the Anthony Hard Memorial Award went to Ewan Thomas, who's a junior devil, lovely young kid who works incredibly hard. Uh fan favourite was Riley Brandt. I mean, it was never going to be anybody else, was it? Let's be honest. I'd love to see what the what the points were in the end. The Scott Matsker Award went to Ben Davis, and Franny, that was a really nice moment, I thought, because Ben's had a Ben had a tough time at the start of the year and and it was good to see him get that one.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:48

Yeah, so really emotional that, wasn't it? I mean, I always get emotional talking about Scott Matzker anyway. So that sort of gets me. And then when Ben started speaking, so um, for those of you not there, um Ben's little boy was born, I think it was September, and um needed uh like a a couple of operations when when he was born, including like an eight-hour surgery. I mean, that's horrific for anyone that's got kids. Um, you can just imagine the absolute sheer hell that Aliona and Ben were going through. Um, so he had that all that on his mind, but he still found a way in the hours he he wasn't at the hospital. He would get his workouts in, then he'd go back to the hospital. He came on the ice, sometimes he didn't practice, but he'd get a workout in somehow, and then he didn't miss a game. He was playing exceptionally well. I think he scored like a really like some really good goals during that period, and it just showed incredible mental strength, toughness, um, leadership, family, everything. And when you think of what Scott Matska went through and what he did when he was going through his battles, I think he was a very fitting winner of that award and the speech he gave, you could see the emotion of that time coming out.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:04

Yeah, it's my favorite award uh every year, that the discharge. I'm always sort of intrigued and and and pumped to see who gets it because uh, you know, awards line is always a special thing to be recognised by by anything, but that the meaning behind that that award and knowing where where it kind of comes from, it's always my favorite.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:24

It is, yeah. Um we'll move we'll move on. Defenseman of the year was Jimmy Alini, and forward of the year, Christoph Kontos, of course, who got the top scorer as well. Coach's player went to Ryan Barrow. Um, and and as we heard from Tomo, that he he was, you know, very close on a couple of guys, but in the end, it goes to to wheels and the unsung hero, as we said, goes to Tyson Helgerson, who uh emotionally took that one home. Um, player's player was Joey Martin, which we've mentioned already, and of course the last one, the most valuable player, Ryan Barrow. And I think Todd presented that one and he talked about how Ryan Barrow went for a real tough time last season and and and and has come back. And it feels strange because our most valuable player did not play the final six or eight games, which is really weird, and yet you still missed him. And and that's I think a credit to how good he was this year, because for the first two months of the year, he's basically the only guy we spoke about on this podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:12

He he was, yeah. And uh, you know, that was that was another uh uh emotional uh acceptance uh from uh Barr as well. He alluded a little bit in the interview on Insider earlier in the year that he had maybe fallen out of love a little bit with with hockey last year, and that he you know was maybe considering whether it was right for him, but how this year has reinvigorated him and the support from the club and his teammates and and everyone uh around him has sort of yeah, given him the season that has led to him being uh at the MVP. So Sharot Barrow because yeah, he was really open and honest and and vulnerable with his acceptance speech, and uh my stick tap to him for that because uh I thought it was really powerful.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:51

Yeah, and and as a player, I felt he set the bar for the team with his non-stop work rate. I mean, he the way he gains entry into the zone by just putting his body on the line time after time, and it was so good to see him bury goals because he had a tough time in front of net last year, I think four goals over the year or whatever it was. Um, and then this year he was rewarded with just the way that he was playing, and everybody else followed suit. And in that difficult time where the Devils weren't playing so well, he was still exceptional, he was still absolutely exceptional. And um, yeah, when you hear him speak about it and saying that you know he was at that crossroads where he didn't think he wanted to play hockey anymore, to now being more in love with the game than he's ever been, um, brilliant for him, and you know it was heartbreaking when he was out for the year, and we did feel that oh, is that our playoff hope's gone? Because if there's a player that you want in the playoffs, it's Ryan Barrow. Um, but I mean, yeah, yeah, we we've talked about upstep, uh Nolan Yuremko, amazing. But I I also feel that the guys, the togetherness of the guys, they would want to win that championship for a guy like Ryan Barrow. That is so unlucky not to have been on the ice for them.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:09

Yeah, like Todd Kelman said, he sat in the office and said, I just want to win. And and Ryan and the rest of the boys, you won and you did it in style this weekend. And and we could not be more proud, we could be in oil month, uh, no more thankful of the guys for giving us the weekend they have. And uh, yeah, I think uh that's probably a really lovely way to end tonight's episode and also sadly end tonight's uh this this season's uh Devil's Insider. It's it's it's gone by in a flash. We've had 32 episodes of Insider this year, and uh guys, I I could not be more thankful to come to work with you both and do this because uh talking into a mic for a living is is fundamentally just a bit of fun and and you guys make it so much better. So thank you both. Thank you for your hard work. Um and yeah, it's been it's been a wonderful year.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:54

Honestly, most of the time I forget we're recording because we and sometimes before every episode, we sit round and we start talking about stuff that we're gonna talk on the pod, and we have to stop ourselves because that's literally what we're doing is talking about something that we love, the team we love, and it's been brilliant fun. Um, I just turn up a minute before we're about to go live. You guys are the ones that are prepping the running order, arranging guests, uh editing uh anything after, putting the interviews in the middle, all that kind of stuff. So, you know, amazing work, you two, and it's so much fun to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:33

Yeah, just echo what you guys said. Uh, you know, it's been really fun for me because during a game I'm kind of just saying what I see, and I I I leave the analysis to you guys uh and your opinions on the game there. So it's been fun that we've sort of switched rever roles a little bit on uh the podcast for the debriefs as well, which uh are always fun. And Dan, all the work you put in, I don't think people realise just how long it takes to edit all of this and slice it all together and do the arrangements for the for the guests and stuff. And I've got to see that because I've had to fill in on the edits and stuff a couple of times, and every time I do it, I think, how is he always smiling when he had asked to do this? So top job, mate, and a big shout out to Maneuva Hearing as well, who've uh supported the podcast right from uh the off, really, when we we were only a couple of episodes uh in, and uh you've heard our our little you know, maneuver hearing, hear the cheers protector years. Um so yeah, thank you so much to them because uh that that was a great bit of support for that.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:32

Yeah, and and talking about listening, thanks to all of you that are listening in, um and all of you that have come up to us when we're walking around the arena on the weekend again. Um, so many fans uh saying how much they've enjoyed the pod and please keep it going and everything. And we definitely will. I mean, this is this is the last pod of the 25-26 season, but I'm sure we'll we'll have something to talk about in the summer.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:00

Oh, we've got some plans. We have some plans, don't worry, it's not the very last one you'll get. And and we will have some fun episodes, we'll have some quizzes, I'll I'll bring some quizzes for you too. I'm test your knowledge once again, and uh, and hopefully we'll sprinkle in some more interviews, you never know, some re-signings or whatever we might you know, we might see. Who knows? But uh yeah, and like I like you say, Franny, it thank you to everybody who listens. If you've listened once or if you've listened every single week, we really appreciate it. You know, that it doesn't go unnoticed. We see the numbers of people who listen in, and like you say, we we we hear when people come up to us and say how much to enjoy. It means the the absolute world to all three of us. So thank you so much. And uh yeah, that it that is all for Insider. That is all for Insider for 2526. And uh, well, the devil's won the playoffs, so let's go into the summer and enjoy ourselves, shall we? 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.