Who we want and don’t want back for next season

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
They’re clearly very good in their era.

And obviously they didn’t have the same training etc as they do now. So maybe they would have been had they gone through the same training etc.

But the pace of the game in general is considerably slower.

Atmosphere is very good though…

I
That's an interesting comment about the speed of the game. I always find that matches seem slower on TV, so it would need good off there was some objective way to measure it.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
It was fun going up to the centrum. The ice there was massive (I think a couple of meters wider and longer than our standard 60x30 at IAW). The thing was that it suited the devils well and we had some good wins there.
Great memories. Rob Dopson, Scott Young, Sam Groleau, Jiri Lala, Jamie Steer, Mark Montanari, Shawn Byram the list goes on. They had some fantastic players in the late 90s
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
Great memories. Rob Dopson, Scott Young, Sam Groleau, Jiri Lala, Jamie Steer, Mark Montanari, Shawn Byram the list goes on. They had some fantastic players in the late 90s
What's interesting is when you see the son of one of them playing in the NHL, like Bowen Byram.
 

kettdevil1

Well-Known Member
Great memories. Rob Dopson, Scott Young, Sam Groleau, Jiri Lala, Jamie Steer, Mark Montanari, Shawn Byram the list goes on. They had some fantastic players in the late 90s
Some tremendous players in that list, Lala was one of the best skaters I have ever seen, absolute joy to watch him play. Byram was great fun as well, took no nonsense and there was always an air of uncertainty about him. I am trying to remember who was Ayr player who provoked Andy Bezeau in the famous 'Bezeau versus the Bench' brawl and have a feeling it might have been Byram involved
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
Some tremendous players in that list, Lala was one of the best skaters I have ever seen, absolute joy to watch him play. Byram was great fun as well, took no nonsense and there was always an air of uncertainty about him. I am trying to remember who was Ayr player who provoked Andy Bezeau in the famous 'Bezeau versus the Bench' brawl and have a feeling it might have been Byram involved
And you haven't even mentioned my favourite non devils ISL player - Paxton schulte.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
Some tremendous players in that list, Lala was one of the best skaters I have ever seen, absolute joy to watch him play. Byram was great fun as well, took no nonsense and there was always an air of uncertainty about him. I am trying to remember who was Ayr player who provoked Andy Bezeau in the famous 'Bezeau versus the Bench' brawl and have a feeling it might have been Byram involved
Trumbley mate.
 

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
Agreed. I think a good comparison in Wales is 70’s rugby. Gareth Edwards wouldn’t have stood a chance against the gym monkeys of today, but rugby is essentially a different game now.
Thats a very good point, factor equipment used today is far more advanced than back in the 80’s & 90’s which does give an edge as does skills training.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
Some tremendous players in that list, Lala was one of the best skaters I have ever seen, absolute joy to watch him play. Byram was great fun as well, took no nonsense and there was always an air of uncertainty about him. I am trying to remember who was Ayr player who provoked Andy Bezeau in the famous 'Bezeau versus the Bench' brawl and have a feeling it might have been Byram involved
Another great Ayr player I forgot to mention was Alan Schuler. In my opinion one of the most underrated Devils defencemen of all time. It was just a shame he only spent 2 years here and we didn’t win anything in that time. Had he been a Devil for another year or two or had we won the league during his time as a Devil I think his name would come up more when we discuss Devils greats.
 

kingmo19.1

Well-Known Member
Depends what you’re looking for, but there’s no stats to support that those players were better than the ones we have today. In fact, I’d say some of them would be pretty average in the EIHL as it is today.

If you felt it was more exciting, that’s entirely subjective and can’t be measured in stats. I don’t agree, but again, opinions. In terms of stats though, clearly we should be grateful for some of what we have.
Forget stats, think quality!

Brabant, Hand, Moria, Priestley, Matulik etc would have torn the EIHL to pieces this season.

If you want to talk stats, does not bear thinking about how many they’d be scoring against the 2021-2022 teams of Fife, Manchester etc etc ….

Like comparing Liverpool to Cardiff City in terms of team quality.

The CCS would have lasted about 5 games in the ISL days before being physically destroyed by the D they’d have faced every week.
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
Another great Ayr player I forgot to mention was Alan Schuler. In my opinion one of the most underrated Devils defencemen of all time. It was just a shame he only spent 2 years here and we didn’t win anything in that time. Had he been a Devil for another year or two or had we won the league during his time as a Devil I think his name would come up more when we discuss Devils greats.
Now this is going to be a controversial opinion, but I never liked schuler. Yes, he scored some nice goals, but I thought he was too easily out muscled, and at times was a defensive liability. For me Martin Lindeman was just about the best of that era.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
Now this is going to be a controversial opinion, but I never liked schuler. Yes, he scored some nice goals, but I thought he was too easily out muscled, and at times was a defensive liability. For me Martin Lindeman was just about the best of that era.
Lindman was our best Dman of the superleague era in my opinion, we just only saw him for one season unfortunately. I liked Schuler though. He was in a terrible Devils side in his first season (1999/00) but I rated him.

We’ll get told off in a minute for all this reminiscing on a ‘who do we want back next season’ thread haha.
 
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august04 2.0

Well-Known Member
Lindman was our best Dman of the superleague era in my opinion, we just only saw him for one season unfortunately. I liked Schuler though. He was in a terrible Devils side in his first season (1999/00) but I rated him.

We’ll get told off in a minute for all this reminiscing on a ‘who do we want back next season’ thread haha.
You could make an argument for Lindman being the best ever Devils D man, absolutely top class.

I still can’t believe the original poster thinks the CCS line, with a couple of pros not long out of college hockey are comparable with the greatest forward line in Devils history and one of the best in the modern era of the British game. Anyone who was lucky enough to have lived through the Superleague era and still watches the game now, knows the real score. Pre Covid, the EIHL was getting there, perhaps at ISL level - it’s nowhere near that level this past season though, which is why there is such heavy points scoring this year - also aided by the ludicrous roster restrictions, which meant teams icing under strength was the norm. I’m hoping we return to better days next year.
 
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august04 2.0

Well-Known Member
Agreed. I think a good comparison in Wales is 70’s rugby. Gareth Edwards wouldn’t have stood a chance against the gym monkeys of today, but rugby is essentially a different game now.
I think you’ve picked the wrong player completely to compare 70's rugby with the game today. If there was one player from that era that could still have been a star today, it would have been Gareth Edwards. The complete rugby player, a supreme athlete too let’s not forget, who would still have had the physical ability to compete with modern day scrum halves.
 

Gazr76

Active Member
That seemed like an interesting idea - so let’s look at some stats:

In 1996-97 in the league (a very good year for the Devils):
Matulik - 59 pts (31:28) in 49 games 1.2 ppg
Hodge - 50 pts (17:33) in 41 games 1.2 ppg
Thornton - 31 pts (13:18) in 26 games 1.2 ppg

2021-22 in the league (a good year for the Devils)
Cox - 64 pts (21:43) in 58 games 1.1 ppg
Coughler - 39 pts (24:15) in 37 games 1.1 ppg
Sandford - 54 pts (25:29) in 55 games 0.9 ppg

But the standard of opposition (leaving Sheffield aside for a second) was much, much worse in 96/97.

Bracknell, Newcastle, and Basingstoke we’re made up of some pretty low level players.

And even the big boys were top heavy.

Bit of nostalgia creeping in here and colouring the past a nice rosy tint I think.
Yeah but they achieved these numbers in the Superleage which is really quite something as the league was such a high standard. I know a lot of people say the EIHL keeps getting better and better and that the standard of hockey is high. But the standard and calibre of the players in the ISL was just crazy.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
That's an interesting comment about the speed of the game. I always find that matches seem slower on TV, so it would need good off there was some objective way to measure it.
Yeah I agree. The standard and pace of EIHL matches seems much better live. It can look very pedestrian on Premier Sports. Probably doesn’t help if you watch Colorado v Florida before Cardiff v Fife tho…
 
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Vogon

Active Member
I was quite impressed by the standard of the EIHL when I saw it on tv after a long break. I think something it lacks compared to watching the nhl is that you don't here any sounds of skates/sticks on the ice (which you do hear in person, obviously) which can make it seem flat
 
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