Paul Thompson offered a brutal assessment of the Cardiff Devils’ 5-4 loss to the Dundee Stars on Saturday [15 November]: his team “capitulated.”
Brett Perlini, Josh MacDonald, and Evan Mosey scored on either side of first intermission to fire the Devils to a commanding lead, but Dundee’s four-goal effort in the final frame turned the game on its head.
“It was mistake after mistake after mistake and it’s not good enough,” explained Thompson. “It’s our fans that I feel sorry for: especially the guys who have paid the money to see us perform like that.”
Welcome to Around the Rinks: our daily summary of every Elite League team’s post-game media remarks.
Around the Rinks: Saturday, 15 November 2025
Belfast Giants 1-2 Manchester Storm (Overtime)
J.J. Piccinich, Belfast Giants Image: (Phillip Magowan)
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants:
We didn’t play our game, we played Manchester’s. They dragged us into a bit of a dogfight and we took too many stupid penalties. That affects our ability to play how we want to play because we’ve got guys sitting on the bench who don’t kill penalties.
It just simply wasn’t our game-plan. Manchester came to play tonight and they outcompeted us physically and that’s frustrating.
We were good for large portions of the game, but we clearly weren’t good enough and didn’t score at five-on-five. We competed hard enough physically to get control of the game, but we took too many stupid penalties.
Cam Critchlow, Manchester Storm:
It’s tough to bounce back after yesterday’s third period, but our group has shown a lot of resilience this year and we were great tonight. Belfast got their powerplay goal in the first period and we answered back in the third. [Nick Welsh] scored a beauty in overtime to win it.
We’ve played five out of six excellent periods this weekend. We’ve really stuck with it and we ramped up the physicality in the second period tonight, which was a big separator for us.
Coventry Blaze 3-5 Nottingham Panthers
Mike Pelech, Coventry Blaze (Image: Scott Wiggins)
Kevin Moore, Coventry Blaze:
It obviously wasn’t the start we were looking for, but the effort in the third period was really, really good. The guys played desperate and wanted to make our fans proud, which is something they spoke about in the dressing room. And they did that.
I’m proud of that third period effort: it’s something that we can build on. I don’t like how we started, but we improved through the game and it just didn’t go our way in the end.
Danny Stewart, Nottingham Panthers:
I liked our effort: we were really good in the first period and even better in the second. I thought we were unlucky not to have a few more, but we always know that this Coventry team will fight all the way until the end.
There were a lot of little intangible things and a lot of good signs for us.
Dundee Stars 5-4 Cardiff Devils
Josh MacDonald, Cardiff Devils (Image: Derek Black)
Marc LeFebvre, Dundee Stars:
I’m really proud of the guys: we never gave up despite being down three-nothing and four-one. That’s why you have to play a complete game.
We’ve been down too many times this season and we’re not happy with the goals that we’ve conceded.
Credit to the guys for putting their heads down and getting to work on them. It started with the first shift in the third period, we had the puck deep and had the forecheck going.
We’re not going to be a pretty team to watch, we know that, and we’re not going to be able to win every week when we’re giving up four goals.
However, it’s two really big points for us in the standings and we’ve won our last two league games now. I’m proud of the guys for getting the result against a very good team.
Paul Thompson, Cardiff Devils:
We capitulated in the third period: four-one up from the second period and we obviously thought the job was done. I’ve been in this place many, many years and one goal is all it takes for the fans to really get behind their team.
It was mistake after mistake after mistake and it’s not good enough. It’s our fans that I feel sorry for: especially the guys who have paid the money to see us perform like that.
This weekend, we’ve performed for two periods and that’s not going to win you anything.
Sheffield Steelers 2-1 Fife Flyers
Eamon McAdam, Sheffield Steelers (Image: Dean Woolley)
Carter Beeston-Will, Sheffield Steelers:
It wasn’t our best performance, but we got the job done in the end. Fife pushed us and came hard, and we got away from our game a little bit.
Our special teams have been consistent for us all year: really good from the start of the season till now and that was a really big part of how we won tonight.
Fife play a hard and physical game: they finish hits and they’re a desperate hockey team. They do that very well and it’s very easy to get away from your own game when they’re pushing you around. They’re a good team in transition and they’re really good at frustrating us.
Jamie Russell, Fife Flyers:
It was a really good hockey game: we played a really smart road game and weathered the storm early. I thought our penalty kill did a really good job: they scored on the powerplay but it took multiple deflections on the way in.
Shane [Owen] was outstanding. I’m really impressed with Simon [Despres]. He got into Edinburgh at 8am this morning and was straight on the bus for six hours to play a game with the time change. I thought he was fantastic.
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