Pre season friendly

[nmase20]

Just wanted to say what a great idea it is to do an ENL(NIHL) EIHL Devils preseason friendly. Great experience for the NIHL players whilst being kept entertaining/competitive by splitting the teams in two. Hats off to whomever came up with the idea.
I know people are going to moan that we are playing coventry again but suits me in brum so . Will be a good indication of how we do in our conference as well as it is most likely going to be a battle between ourselves and them for the lower end of the conference unfortunately.
Link for the devils page on the pre season friendlies:

http://www.cardiffdevils.com/news/devil ... g-in-2012/

 

[osh]

As the players won't be arriving until 2 days before the first friendly, its a pity the game schedule couldn't be the other way around i.e ENL (NIHL) Devils on Wed 29th Aug and then Coventry on 2nd Sept.

 

[davew]

Friendlies against the blaze again! Can't we face someone different, it is getting really boring, so not only 8 league and 2 cc matches we have them for 2 friendlies, 12 times this season before semi's or play-off match ups.....

 

[nmase20]

Trust people to only pick up on the negative factors.... sigh

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[bluedevil]

Sylvain Clouthier said that the Challenge Cup groups are going to be different to the league conferences, so we may not be facing the Blaze in the CC.

I'd rather face a team we'll be up against in the season as it is a good test of our abilities, it is also much cheaper to face the Blaze than other teams!

 

[davew]

Far from it, I am just coventried out...

In the last season before the league expanded, that is all we did is play the blaze, and i got sick of seeing the inside of the sponsordome.

Playing a team too often can also kill the rivalry...

Might have been good for the southern teams to have brought in a european team for the friendlies (mini tournament). The best pre season game I have seen was when we played AIK Stockholm in our BNL year (never forget the intensity of their fans as well as the game).

 

[Chris]

Agreed, it is getting a little bit mad the number of times we play the Blaze in one season, but then I guess it comes down to finances, better to have a preseason warmup against the nearest team than have no games...

For what it's worth this is the breakdown of who we've played over the last 4 seasons since we've been running MNL. Last seasons stats don't include the two games at the start of the season against the Sheffield Steelers because it wasn't their actual EIHL side that turned out in either game.

 

[TheStub]

The last 3 seasons we've played the Blaze a lot... and those numbers back it up.

I'd like to play someone different. Ideally see a match from outside the league... make the friendlies an event.

 

[bluedevil]

Wouldn't we have to pay a fee to bring in a foreign team though? I doubt it would generate much more interest than a Blaze game and end up pulling funds out of other areas.

 

[special fried rice]

I think Guildford would be a good option for a friendly.

 

[Martynwo]

I'd like to see a Bracknell, Basingstoke & Guildford mini tour playing on the Fri, Sat, Sun. Good to get the roster away to bond for a few days and have competitive matches that don't have to be physical, which a Cov game could as it would set down markers for the rest of the season.
Cost would be an issue however, loss of revenue for a home game, travel and hotel costs etc..

 

[davew]

I agree with Martyn, not only for the reasons given, but IF the league is serious in its bid for further expansion (Kelman's piece?) then Guildford have to be wooed, we already have had a rivalry with them from our BNL season. IMO they are really the only team whose owner can look to finance the team at our level, both Bracknell and Basingstoke would likely follow suit to ensure loacal derbies.

 

[danhall76]

I would have liked an epl friendly instead such as basingstoke of guildford but the Blaze will still be a good game and an early chance to see both teams.

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[Finny]

One possible problem with an EPL friendly is that they don't tend to start their season until mid-September, and might not be available to play in late August. I also wonder whether the reason the ENL game is on the weekend is because a lot of those players can't make weeknights?

I like the idea of the Southern EIHL teams arranging for a foreign team or two to come over and tour. I guess at the moment cost would be the issue.

 

[shoes_off]

12 weeks until the first game and counting :Banana :Banana :Banana

 

[WelshHabsFan]

Didn't someone say with the reshuffle you'd lost a game on the season ticket? Well, here it is.

Looking forward to the Devils v the Devils more than the Blaze purely because while it might be a very good match, it'll feel like a league game. I'd love to see a DEL team, but we'd be murdered. Basingstoke would be a fun friendly though, for obvious reasons!

 

[Ingramator]

Re: Re: Pre season friendly

Didn't someone say with the reshuffle you'd lost a game on the season ticket? Well, here it is.

Looking forward to the Devils v the Devils more than the Blaze purely because while it might be a very good match, it'll feel like a league game. I'd love to see a DEL team, but we'd be murdered. Basingstoke would be a fun friendly though, for obvious reasons!

Has it been announced that this is part of our season tickets?

 

[Sheincar]

Re: Re: Pre season friendly

Didn't someone say with the reshuffle you'd lost a game on the season ticket? Well, here it is.

Looking forward to the Devils v the Devils more than the Blaze purely because while it might be a very good match, it'll feel like a league game. I'd love to see a DEL team, but we'd be murdered. Basingstoke would be a fun friendly though, for obvious reasons!

Has it been announced that this is part of our season tickets?

Better not be. ST application says "27 competitive games" not a friendly.

 

[shoes_off]

No its ok - someone asked PR on Twitter what happens now we have one less game on season tickets and he said "We will address with 1 inclusive Challenge Cup game"

 

[WelshHabsFan]

ST application says "27 competitive games" not a friendly.

'Competitive' is a relative term. A friendly against Coventry may be more competitive than the six league games against Caps, Flyers and Stars.Maybe Hull, too. Thinking out loud though, hope it's different!