The Cardiff Devils outlasted the Glasgow Clan to advance to the Elite League playoff final on Saturday [18 April].
Cardiff and Glasgow went blow-for-blow in the second period, scoring three times within 90 seconds to send the Devils into the final period with a slender, 2-1 advantage.
Joey Martin fired into an empty net to guarantee Cardiff’s place in the championship game late in the third period, with British Ice Hockey’s Luke James rinkside at the Motorpoint Arena to capture post-game reaction.
Around the Rinks: Saturday, 18 April:
Cardiff Devils 3-1 Glasgow Clan
Brandon Estes, Cardiff Devils (Image: Elite League)
Paul Thompson, Cardiff Devils:
Thommo, into the playoff final — how do you feel?
I’m feeling good. Obviously, your mind switches straight to the next opponent. We’ll watch the game tonight, take a good look at what they do, and prepare as we normally do for a big game.
What did you make of tonight’s game?
I liked it. I liked the way we played. When they had a little bit of pushback, I thought we absorbed it pretty well. It was a good, all round performance: we didn’t give up much, especially around the inside of the ice, and we took our chances when we needed to.
The goals came in flurries tonight, with a big one for [Brandon] Estes…
Yeah, that’s big for him on the day he’s named to the First All-Star Team. You don’t want to get ahead of yourself at this point.
The first job is done and now we have to get the players prepared for tomorrow. Physically, it’s a hot rink and that takes a lot out of you. We’ve got to get good food and fluids in them.
Are you excited?
I will be tomorrow.
For that 90-second spell in the second period, what was going through your mind?
I think we created some pretty good chances prior to that and the our fourth-line came in with a huge goal for us. I’m delighted.
For your players who are in the Elite League for the first time this year, how do you frame this playoff experience?
It’s very different: we’ve talked about it. We’re the only country that runs the playoffs like this and I told the players to enjoy it. It’s a fantastic spectacle once you’re here and it’s so far so good.
Your fans traveled in numbers as usual, a word for them…
They already know what I think about them: they’re fantastic. They were behind us for the full sixty minutes, giving us energy. We’ve got fantastic fans in Cardiff.
Mike Sirant, Glasgow Clan:
Commiserations on the result tonight, what did you make of the game?
I feel for our guys: they really wanted to win this and there’s some hurt guys in that dressing room. We played how we wanted to in the third period, but we just ran out of time. We’re proud — as an organisation, we’ll learn from this and continue to build to come back next year. Congratulations to Cardiff, they’re a very good team.
You must be incredibly proud of getting to this weekend…
We’re very proud of our players for coming through the adversity they faced this year. Finding a way to get to the final four was a really big achievement, but we wanted to go further. We wanted to go to the finals, but we’re still so proud of our players for the year we’ve had.
How do you reflect on the past few months since stepping in as head coach?
It’s been an honour to work with this team: there’s a lot of good character people in our dressing room. You never want to be in the situation where you step in to replace a fellow coach, but I enjoyed it and I’m proud of the success we had down the stretch. I wish we could’ve taken it another step further.
Brandon Estes, Cardiff Devils:
Crazy atmosphere, a lot louder than I was expecting and a lot of fun to play in. It was a rollercoaster in the second period: we scored, they shut us right down, and then we had to respond to it. There was a lot of space opening up for my goal, his stick came in, I put the shot under his stick, and I’m glad it went in. We’ll just look to get some fluids and rest and get back to the hotel so that we’re ready to go tomorrow.
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