Denny Kearney is having a Devil of a time in Cardiff.
The American winger flew in five Elite League matches ago and Cardiff Devils won four of them, extended their lead at the top and are now preparing for the Challenge Cup final against Sheffield Steelers this Sunday.
“I’m in a first placed team gunning for several championships,” says Kearney. “This is the most exciting time of any hockey season and it’s great to be part of what Devils are trying to achieve.”
Kearney helped Devils win back-to-back matches against Belfast Giants in Northern Ireland, 4-3 and 3-2, while they defeated Coventry Blaze 8-0 and Edinburgh Capitals 3-2 in their latest matches.
He has scored three points, including a goal against Blaze.
“My first game for Devils was in the comeback game against Belfast away when we were three goals down and won,” he says. “That was awesome and what a feeling it was for the whole team when we won both fixtures against Giants.
“I loved skating out at Ice Arena Wales in front of Devils fans, who are incredibly important to our team. I had heard a lot about their passion and it was a great experience playing in front of them.”
Kearney, 29, left Italian club Bolzano to sign for Devils, who are still in the hunt for all domestic trophies.
They are clear at the top of Elite League and the Erhardt Conference, take on Steelers in the cup final and have the end-of-season play-offs to come.
Kearney was released by Bolzano, who were coming to the end of their season and had no chance of honours. They play in the high quality Ebel League, which includes eight Austrian teams plus one each from the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary and Italy.
He has slotted into the Devils team with ease, playing alongside Joey Martin and Guillaume Doucet last weekend.
“My aim on the ice is to do everything possible to make my line-mates better, create opportunities and I can usually score as well,” says Kearney, who first spoke to Cardiff coach Andrew Lord two years ago about playing in Wales.
“Carl Hudson, a former Devils player, spoke to me about the club and I spoke to Andrew a couple of years ago. It wasn’t the right time then, but I told him I would be looking to play in Britain at some stage.
“We talked again when I was leaving Bolzano and it’s great to be here.
“I’ve heard about the unbelievable job done for Cardiff Devils by the owners, who I believe are based in Calgary. This is a good organisation, the management here in Cardiff take care of the guys and that allows us to focus entirely on taking care of things on the ice.”
Devils play a League match against Manchester Storm away in Altrincham this Friday (7.30pm) before turning to the Challenge Cup final against Steelers two days later.
The final is at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay on Sunday (4pm) and this is the third successive season Devils have reached this stage, beating Sheffield two years ago and being edged out by Nottingham in overtime a year ago.
Both of those finals were played in Sheffield, while this time Cardiff Devils are the hosts and the IAW will be buzzing with Welsh support.
Cardiff have four League home matches left in 2016-17 and they are against Dundee Stars on Saturday, March 11 (7pm) and Fife Flyers (Sunday 19, 6pm) plus a Belfast Giants double-header on Saturday, March 25 (7pm) and the following evening (6pm).
Ticket information for all matches is available on the Devils officials website or via the hotline on 0800 0844 666.
Elite League – top four only
All teams play 52 fixtures
Pl Pts
1 Cardiff Devils 45 71
2 Belfast Giants 45 64
3 Sheffield Steelers 45 63
4 Braehead Clan 44 49