Cardiff Devils have completed their 2018-19 roster and are intent on firing up their Elite League title challenge.
No club has ever been crowned champions in three successive seasons, but Devils are on a charge and the arrival of new defenceman Drew Schiestel is a bonus.
Captain Jake Morissette and his team have won back-to-back titles and can step up their bid for a hat-trick when Fife Flyers play in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday (7.30pm).
Devils have not quite been at full strength all season until now. Tom Parisi flew in and out without playing, while Ben Blood was tempted away by a two-year contract with Tapparu in Finland.
The arrival of Evan Mosey and Schiestel give Devils a new championship look.
American ice hockey coach Aaron Fox believes for Buffalo Sabres NHL draft pick Schiestel is a top quality signing for Cardiff Devils.
Fox, in charge of Medvescak Zagreb when they played Cardiff Devils in South Wales during 2016, says: “Drew is a high quality defenceman with outstanding skating skills.”
Shiestel (rhymes with pistol) will wear 22, a number most recently worn by former captain Tyson Marsh, and will be with Devils for the rest of this season.
The research Devils coach Andrew Lord puts in before signing any player is phenomenal – he has a check list of former coaches, former team-mates, friends and more to get through every time – and he says: “Drew is a great skating, two-way defenceman who is solid in his own end and moves the puck well.
“His game fits well into our system here because he is mobile and has a great first pass that is perfect with our transition game.
“He has not been playing anywhere this season, but has been skating with a team in his home town three times a week. He’s he in good shape and ready to get right into games.”
Schiestel comes to Wales after spending the majority of last season in Norway with Lorenskog HC before moving to Zagreb in the top Austrian League, EBEL.
Schiestel is a former second round NHL draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, who took him with the 59th pick overall in the 2007 NHL draft.
He spent five seasons in the American League where he played in the AHL All-Star game during 2010-11 season.
The following year he played for the Texas Stars alongside current Devil Mike Hedden.
Hamilton-born Shiestel, aged 29 and 6ft 2ins tall, is a D-man who can jump up into the play. He has good stick detail, using his reach to stop opposition forwards.
He joins Gleason Fournier, Mark Louis, Bryce Reddick, Josh Batch, Mosey and Mark Richardson on the blue line for Devils.
Tickets for Wednesday’s Elite League home match against Fife Flyers are on sale now.
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Great Britain Under-20s head coach Slava Koulikov has named his squad for January’s World Championships in Tallinn.
GB meet hosts Estonia, Korea, Lithuania, Romania and Spain between January 13 and January 19 at the Tondiraba Ice Hall.
Britain start the six-team tournament against Lithuania and then play Korea the following day.
“We have a very strong squad with strength all across the ice,” says Koulikov.
“The camps over the last few months have been competitive and picking the final roster was a tough job for the coaches.
“It shows the strength in depth we have in the Great Britain junior set-up.”
GB squad
Netminders
Will Kerlin – OHA
Jordan McLaughlin – Solway Sharks
Defence
Bradley Bowering – Peterborough
Ed Bradley – CIHA
Reece Cochrane – Fife Flyers
Jordan Griffin – Sheffield Steelers
Joe Hazeldine – Telford/Nottingham Panthers
Cameron Pound – Kingston Voyageurs
Ben Solder – OHA
Forwards
Mason Biddulph – Islanders
Kieran Brown – Sheffield Steelers/Blackburn Hawks
Jordan Buesa – Fife Flyers
Tyler Cooper – Shattuck St Mary’s
Harry Gulliver – Ogden Mustangs
Mac Howlett – Braehead Clan
Jordan Kelsall – Dundee Stars
Liam Kirk – Peterboro Petes
Richard Krogh – Guildford Flames
Cade Neilson – Yarmouth Mariners
Morgan Pizzo-Clarke – Syracuse Stars
Chad Smith – Fife Flyers
Josh Waller – Guildford Flames