ENL New's update

We’ve had some great news about the ENL after reporting of the recent troubles faced within the Devils organisation. It's now been confirmed that the ENL1 + 2 will operate next year despite the attempt to set up an academy which was in the pipeline. After last Tuesday’s meeting, the news to continue as normal was a huge relief for everyone involved in the organisation. It would have been a huge blow if the gap between Elite and Junior hockey expanded more than it already is.

With this repreive we have to wonder will we see a change in direction of players? Will some of the prospects move on? We don’t know this info and no doubt, the club will post the team signings as soon as they sign on the dotted line.

We caught up with ENL1 Coach Mark Cuddihy regarding the news :- ""It’s fantastic news that we will continue with ENL hockey in Cardiff. ENL hockey is crucial to our young players development and a great stepping stone into full time professional hockey. Both ENL teams will play a big part in the future development of our talent, last season  our ENL 2 team used 10 sixteen year old players and some of those players will make appearances for our ENL 1 team next season whilst maintaining their under 18 hockey, by the time they reach senior hockey age we are hoping they are established players within the ENL set up, this will hopefully open doors to training with the Elite League team and put them ahead in their development. “

“For myself personally it’s great news, a lot of work and time has gone into these teams and I was devastated at the thought of losing them.  We are not out of the woods by any means though, we have to put in a lot more work to make the teams stack up financially. The guys that will be staying on have made a huge commitment to the club by accepting driving to all our away games, this will go a long way to reducing our costs. We will also be cutting down the amount of ice time we use though the week, this of course is not ideal but it’s the only way we can make it work for now. We are hoping that we can raise money through sponsorship, fund raising and increased gate’s and slowly get back to where we were.”

Looking at the ENL’s future Mark is clear on what needs to happen and what we all need to do.

“Now more than ever we need fans support, we need bigger gates first and foremost and we have had many offers of help from various supporters already. I personally recognise the help we get from the Inferno in helping to market our games and this relationship will be crucial for us going forward. “

“One thing is for sure, the ENL will need as many fans as possible to attempt to make games throughout the season, even if it’s only one. They need all the support they can. Without this setup, your Elite Devils wouldn’t have finished the season the way they did if it wasn’t for the ENL players stepping in to cover injuries. The amount of talent that is coming through in Cardiff is huge and any support from fans will help to continue this great tradition and hopefully see them play for the Elite team.”