Cardiff Devils face a ‘European-style’ challenge when they take on Guildford Flames in a Challenge Cup group match this evening.
Andrew Lord, Devils’ head coach, welcomes the domestic challenge following his teams successful start to their Champions Hockey League campaign.
Cardiff are top of their group with two matches – away and at home against reigning CHL champions Frolunda Indians – and Lord says: “It’s fun switching over to EIHL hockey.
“Elite League hockey is going more and more European in style in terms of fast pace and skill.
“Look at Guildford Flames, our opponents this evening. They are extremely fast and their entire line-up are amazing skaters.
“We always have close, hard fought battles in Guildford. It’s a rink we’ve always found a challenge to come away with a win from.
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“We had a good start last weekend and now need to build on that, take the momentum forward into our three games this week.”
Cardiff’s cup match at Guildford is the first of three fixtures in four days. They are at home against Glasgow Clan in the League on Saturday before travelling to Coventry Blaze the next afternoon for a cup clash.
Devils defeated Guildford and Glasgow (both 5-3) at home in their last two fixtures. Flames won their cup game against Coventry Blaze 6-3 on Sunday.
“Having now seen Devils we know they are probably even better than they were last season which is impressive,” said Guildford coach Paul Dixon.
“After we got down by too many to have much chance to win the game in Cardiff we played pretty well.
“They are so talented you cannot take your eye off the ball even for a minute. We have to prevent that early cave in if we are going to have a shot at a win.
“Hopefully we can put in a full 60 minutes and get a break or two here and there to come out with cup points.”
“We were thrilled to get on the cup board with a win against Coventry on home ice.”
Challenge Cup group table
Glasgow Clan travel to Cardiff’s Viola Arena on Saturday night in league action CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS before the Devils head to Coventry on Sunday for a Challenge Cup game against the Blaze.