Cardiff Devils Confirmed Signings & Departures 2018/19
I'm excited by this signing Steve. I can't believe I've read a few negative comments about him to be honest. He hasn't even stepped on the ice. He's played in some big leagues & all better than ours. Fans ask for a guy who will protect Bowns & this guy looks like he'll do exactly that, but no no, let's focus on negative things to say!! I can't wait to see him & he looks like he's got a hell of a shot too!! Roll on the hockey season!!
Welcome to Cardiff Ben, we will love you here, and you will also love it here. Your decision to join this amazing organisation is a very good move. Great City, Great Club, Great fans it’s all looking good dude. Match night at ours is the best in the UK, you will certainly find that out. Huge welcome to you.
I have to agree with Osh. I’ve seen Blood a couple of times ‘live’ playing for the Lahti Pelicans and I’m sure he’ll do a good job for us. But Strachan was one of the best D men I’ve ever seen play on these shores and is a tough act to follow. It’s easy to forget how our defence was struggling last season before Strachan arrived. And Hotham - we’ll be lucky to upgrade on him too. I know I’m in the minority on here and I absolutely respect other peoples’ opinion (even though many people don’t reciprocate when it comes to expressing a different view!), but the one obvious area to upgrade in defence for me, was Reddick. Yes he improved when Strachan arrived and that’s to his great credit but I guess I just don’t see what others do. And yes, we all trust Lord’s judgement, but I recall on several occasions when games got tight, that Lord shortened the bench and the likes of Reddick and Batch missed out while Strachan and Hotham took the extra minutes. For me, l’m struggling to see the improvement overall on D so far this off season. Louis should be fitter and hopefully injury free which will no doubt help and let’s hope that Hotham’s replacement is stellar for this league and we can see that improvement, as I think we will need that to retain our league title. Unless of course we just blow other teams away with our scoring potential!
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Hotham is a helluva pair of skates to fill, I still find it difficult to believe he won’t be here next season ! Strachan was a quality signing that stabilised our D last season and proved to be a great coup by our organisation.
Likewise 1 day when Lordo or the Joeys, Etc decide to move on from the Devils it will be difficult but the club has to be bigger than the individual and when these big decisions come along , I trust this organisation to try to get it right ! It won’t be easy and maybe sometimes it may go wrong but I know it won’t be because they tried to cut corners or were complacent.
Welcome to Cardiff to the new players , I am sure you will love it here and a big thanks to those players who gave so much to the past 2-3 seasons!
Likewise 1 day when Lordo or the Joeys, Etc decide to move on from the Devils it will be difficult but the club has to be bigger than the individual and when these big decisions come along , I trust this organisation to try to get it right ! It won’t be easy and maybe sometimes it may go wrong but I know it won’t be because they tried to cut corners or were complacent.
Welcome to Cardiff to the new players , I am sure you will love it here and a big thanks to those players who gave so much to the past 2-3 seasons!
We really do suffer from 'fastest gunslinger' mindset now - we all assume each of our players has to all be first team all stars and every other team wants to take us down.
I'll take that position.
It's easy to talk about one guy replacing another, and all that really does is place pressure on new players - but I think the more accurate comparison is D unit to D unit, and Forward corps to Forward corps.
No team wins because of just a Weller, Strachan, Biz or A N other random super duper player. A team wins with chemistry, unity, consistency and desire. Lordo, Franny, Todd and our owners have consistently delivered this since 2014. We might not be the 1984 Oilers, but I do love our chances. Hell of a season on the cards.
I'll take that position.
It's easy to talk about one guy replacing another, and all that really does is place pressure on new players - but I think the more accurate comparison is D unit to D unit, and Forward corps to Forward corps.
No team wins because of just a Weller, Strachan, Biz or A N other random super duper player. A team wins with chemistry, unity, consistency and desire. Lordo, Franny, Todd and our owners have consistently delivered this since 2014. We might not be the 1984 Oilers, but I do love our chances. Hell of a season on the cards.
Boom. Great signing Steve and great to hear who the team is shaping up to be faster and play more with an edge.
Hedden is an absolute gem of a signing and I think him and Blood will both be fan favourites.
For those already giving their opinions on Blood compared to Strachan.....give the guy a chance. He looks a superb pick up, just what we need. A guy who can bang, clear the net, stick up for his team mates and has a boomer of a shot. If he takes some PIMs Iin doing so then fine. Guys like him are character players and him and Hedden will certainly get the IAW roaring. What more can we want???
Hedden is an absolute gem of a signing and I think him and Blood will both be fan favourites.
For those already giving their opinions on Blood compared to Strachan.....give the guy a chance. He looks a superb pick up, just what we need. A guy who can bang, clear the net, stick up for his team mates and has a boomer of a shot. If he takes some PIMs Iin doing so then fine. Guys like him are character players and him and Hedden will certainly get the IAW roaring. What more can we want???
I wouldn’t even say Strachan is ‘better’ than Blood. Just different. Strachan wouldn’t get a gig in Liiga as he’s not quick enough.
To play 3 seasons in that league you need to have something about you. He may not look a star in that league, but he’s playing against some of the best players in Europe. Blood will be quality in this league.
To play 3 seasons in that league you need to have something about you. He may not look a star in that league, but he’s playing against some of the best players in Europe. Blood will be quality in this league.
Hotham was without a doubt one of the best players we have seen in EIHL era. Weller imo was better overall as a D man and had the biggest impact I have seen in such a short time.
What I am about to say isnt a dig at Hotham at all because I truly believe he was one of the very best as I just said, however Hothams only downside was his defensive ability. He could score for fun but for some to say our D isnt an improvement so far is harsh.
Louis, Fournier, Reddick and Richie are all solid D men and can give us a great offensive dimension also.
Blood should do a great job in place of Strachan and like Steve said provide more physicality and speed compared to Tyson. So far thats a great mix.
So that leaves one final D man who im sure we wont be disappointed with. Id like to see a D man who is actually a better defensive D man to Hotham and a more mobile skater. One who we wont be relying on for goals and points and huge minutes too often............
Im sure we will load our forwards with the scoring potential which is as it should be. We should never have relied so heavily on Hotham for his point and goal production because certain forwards we not doing it.
Now I get the feeling our D men will be D men and chip in now and again but our real fire power will be up top doing all the scoring.
So overall so far I think we will actually be improving our D corp from a defensive point of view and likewise up top.
What I am about to say isnt a dig at Hotham at all because I truly believe he was one of the very best as I just said, however Hothams only downside was his defensive ability. He could score for fun but for some to say our D isnt an improvement so far is harsh.
Louis, Fournier, Reddick and Richie are all solid D men and can give us a great offensive dimension also.
Blood should do a great job in place of Strachan and like Steve said provide more physicality and speed compared to Tyson. So far thats a great mix.
So that leaves one final D man who im sure we wont be disappointed with. Id like to see a D man who is actually a better defensive D man to Hotham and a more mobile skater. One who we wont be relying on for goals and points and huge minutes too often............
Im sure we will load our forwards with the scoring potential which is as it should be. We should never have relied so heavily on Hotham for his point and goal production because certain forwards we not doing it.
Now I get the feeling our D men will be D men and chip in now and again but our real fire power will be up top doing all the scoring.
So overall so far I think we will actually be improving our D corp from a defensive point of view and likewise up top.
