Sunday’s Elite League action was shaped by bounce-backs, blunt honesty, and fine margins across the rinks.
The Belfast Giants continued their relentless form with another composed win over the Manchester Storm, while Paul Thompson’s Cardiff Devils leaned on goaltending and patience to edge a tight, low-scoring contest against the Glasgow Clan.
The Sheffield Sheffield rediscovered their rhythm in Dundee, punishing a costly lapse to cruise to victory and the Nottingham Panthers produced a seven-goal statement against Fife.
From coaches stressing humility, rest, and consistency to others lamenting missed chances and familiar lapses, the themes were clear: momentum is fragile, focus is everything, and there’s still plenty of season left to play.
Around the Rinks: Sunday, 11 January
Belfast Giants 4-1 Manchester Storm
Kyle Boudrais, Belfast Giants (Image: William Cherry)
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants:
Everyone played their part. We’ve had two really complete performances: at no point did I think we’d lose last night and we were really strong today. Jackson [Whistle] made some great saves and their goalie also had a great night. The fact it was 2-1 kept the tensions high, but our guys kept working away. For the full game, our guys were relentless and made it difficult for them to enter the zone with possession. We’re going to enjoy it now, but we have to be humble, get some rest, and get back to work next weekend. There’s a lot of hockey left to be played.
Cam Critchlow, Manchester Storm:
I thought Belfast were excellent tonight: they came with speed and played connected. We were able to hold them off for a bit: Drew DeRidder was excellent in net, but I thought we looked a little bit tired. We’ve been in a lot of intense games the last few weeks, beating some of the big clubs, and I thought it caught up with us tonight. We had some good opportunities that we didn’t bury, but there were some things to like.
Cardiff Devils 1-0 Glasgow Clan
Brett Ferguson, Cardiff Devils (Image: James Assinder)
Paul Thompson, Cardiff Devils:
I’ll take the victory. In the first period, it was 18-3 in shots and we were dominating, but we’ve struggled offensively over the last few weeks. We’re the top scoring team in the league, but we’re not bearing down on the opportunities that we’re presenting ourselves.
I think the player to talk about is [Christian} Stoever. He was outstanding when they pushed back on us. For a guy who has played two games since his injury, I thought he showed the level that he played in for the cup games at the start of the year.
Corey Neilson, Glasgow Clan:
I didn’t like our first period very much. Cardiff game out well and we were chasing. We were late for our forecheck, which happens when you’re only rolling three lines. We adjusted a few things in the second period and I thought we looked excellent. Both goaltenders were outstanding tonight and I thought our effort in the third period was really good.
Dundee Stars 0-6 Sheffield Steelers
Dominick Jagalar, Dundee Stars (Image: Derek Black)
Marc LeFebvre, Dundee Stars:
The first period was really good: we competed hard and killed back-to-back penalties. In the second period, we did our usual [thing]: we fell asleep for six minutes, saw three goals go in the back of our net, and that’s the game. We had some chances, but no clinical finishes. Against teams like that, you can’t fall asleep. And we’ve seen, time and time again this season, us fall asleep for five or six minutes in these games.
I called a time out to try to calm the game down a bit, but the game’s already gone at that point. We’re not good enough to switch off. We just didn’t compete for those six minutes and it was all down hill from there.
We’re either really good or really bad. We have a big win on Friday night against Coventry and we need to get some points there.
Aaron Fox, Sheffield Steelers:
We needed a bounce back and this is never an easy place to come. We’re not playing our best hockey right now, but that was a solid game from our guys. When you make the right plays, you’re rewarded and that’s what happened tonight.
Nottingham Panthers 7-3 Fife Flyers
Ollie Betteridge, Nottingham Panthers (Image: Panthers Images)
Danny Stewart, Nottingham Panthers:
It was a good bounce back for us. Sometimes, you watch the game back and find that you played better than it felt. But that wasn’t the case last night: we were outmatched in every area and were humbled. Coming into tonight, the players knew how important [getting the right result] would be and they delivered.
Were we perfect? No. But we scored seven goals and got some guys on the board who have been struggling to score. As a coach, you always want to clean some things up, but I thought the compete was there. It’s a different [Fife] team from the last time we saw them and putting seven past them gives me confidence heading into the Continental Cup.
Jamie Russell, Fife Flyers:
I give Nottingham credit: I thought they were really good. We didn’t defend the net-front very well. Five of the seven goals were too easy and that’s an area that we certainly have to clean up.
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