Of all the pun’s that can be used with the name Dion Darling, that was the best I could come up with! Pathetic. Anyway, what’s this all about you ask? Old man Darling is back in the Elite League and has signed a contract to the end of the season with the Cardiff Devils, the team he finished last season with. Calling him ‘old-man’ might be a little over the top, the guy is only 33-years of age but he’s been around so long it just seems that way. Remember his great scrap with Paxton Schulte back in the old days? No doubt he’ll strengthen the Devils blue-line as they look to make a run for the playoffs.
Giants won their tenth straight game tonight in Cardiff to break a club winning streak record. The win puts the Giants in a strong second place in the league and baring down on the Coventry Blaze. The game also had a few firsts with Lewis Christie getting his first career point and Leigh Jamieson his first career hat trick. There was two fights in the game, both involving Carlyle Lewis and Brent Pope. An unusual combatant, Pope and Lewis appeared to be at each other thoughout the night.
Playing on a line with Ed Courtenay, Jamieson did what everyone who has played with Courtenay this season does - score goals. The Giants were in control on the scoreboard from the start and never looked back taking a 3-1 lead into the first break and a 6-1 lead into the second break.
The Giants now have two days off before a home clash with the physical Newcastle Vipers who wont want to face the Giants in their current form.
About four or five weeks ago prior to the Giants resurgence the Cardiff Devils were also in a funk of their own. The Giants were the only team they seemed capable of beating and even at some of our worst times they still sat below us in the standings.
How times change. The Devils went on a tear winning game after game to move from dead last to top of the league by a point over Coventry. They have played five games more than the consistently good Blaze but if ever the Giants needed an inspiration from someone else that the season can still be turned round they can find it in their rivals from Wales. Granted wins by the teams behind them in their games in hand would push the Devils down to third of forth but the way this crazy league has been going not all these teams are going to win their games in hand.
What does this mean for the Giants you ask? Well with a game in hand over everyone except Coventry we have the potential to put ourselves within five points of forth place Sheffield and eventually with the right wins four points behind the most in form team of the last month, Cardiff. It’s an uphill struggle and the main aim must surely be playoffs already but moving further up the league can only be a bonus.
To many times throughout the years when the team has not been playing well we’ve heard about threats to make changes. Most of the time the players buckle down and sort out their game turning things around. That is until this season. A struggling Giants team came into this game on a winning streak of one game after a six game losing streak. It was one of the worst displays the fans at the Odyssey arena have had to put up with and it yet again had Ed coming out with axe threats. Clearly however these threats are not working and it’s time to put up or shut up with regards to changes. MORE »
I haven’t blogged in a while, I guess there has been little inspiration to do so considering how the team has been playing but if truth be told the real reason has been the trip over to London sample a different type of hockey - NHL hockey.
Below is a little taster of what we got in terms of the physical side of the game.
The Giants had been on a 6 game losing streak and were rooted to the foot of the Elite League table upon leaving for the trip the morning after the Giants went down 4-3 to Nottingham in a game that promised so much in terms of physical play but delivered so little. We had one fight between Lewis and Shmyr with the later very reluctant to fight thoughout the bout.
Heading to London for the opening two games of the new regular season we were a little more hopeful of some fast paced slick hockey with even a bout or two of fisty cuffs.
After a tidy start to their league season on Saturday night in Belfast the Giants travelled to Cardiff to take a beating from the Devils in the Challenge Cup. Sure it’s ‘only’ the challenge cup and who really cares about that but a beating like that is never good in any competition at any time of the season. The 7-1 defeat in which by all accounts the Giants played awful in will test the resolve of the team early on as they will look to bounce back from it next weekend when they get back to league action. The only heart to be taken from this is that back in the 01-02 season the Giants opened that year with a 9-3 defeat to the London Knights only to bounce back and win the league by February so here’s hoping. MORE »
This summer may already feel like winter but it’s not quite hockey time yet. However, with the season only a few weeks away and without knowing how much blogging time I will have I guess it’s about time to look into the season and preview each of the teams with as much knowledge as I actually have of them anyway! Next up it’s the Devils: MORE »
