Inferno Blog - Luke Piggot

Hi there Devils fans!

The sun is finally out in Cardiff and that can only mean 2 things 1. Games of Cooler in the sun with our shirts off and 2. Nottingham finals are upon us! We have normally mixed in a few games of outdoor Cooler (headers and volleys) by this time of year but the weather has prevented that so far. Luckily this week “bench press” Hilly got a chance to show off his peck to calf ratio and Adam his 1 ab after practice whilst DJ deadpuck serenaded us with great summer jams such as Mariah Carey-Hero, Celine Dion – my heart will go on and ‘NSync - bye bye bye. We did toy with idea of making Benny wear a helmet during these games to prevent him from headbutting the lamppost again but he assured us it wasn’t necessary and he’d be extra careful.

So it’s the final week of Hockey in the 12/13 season and we are gearing up to Nottingham finals weekend! How many people out there had their doubts we’d be able to say that at come this week? Well it was never in doubt within the dressing room. G has been drilling into us the last 2 months that this was what we were preparing for, these final 4 games, 12 periods, 2 weekends and 4 wins. We’ve been hit hard this season by injuries but that has never altered the attitude and ethos of our team throughout the year.

I have watched the Devils reach the finals every year of the Elite League’s existence and I certainly wasn’t going to be a part of a team that was the 1st not to make it and that was the attitude of every guy in the room this weekend. I felt we played a good road game up in Braehead and especially the 3rd period was huge in shifting the momentum for the 2nd leg in the BBT this weekend. A lot of the talk recently has been about how some of us Brits have been stepping up the last few weeks and I feel that the play of some of our most senior players is sometimes overlooked. Stu, Blight, Max, Ty, Smiths, G, Ritchie, these guys are having to put up 30-40 minutes whilst we are short-benched and that is an incredible amount of ice time to be playing and still be productive. This weekend our older guys led from the front and really stepped up to yet another level right when we needed them and pushed us through into the finals. Sunday was just one of those games where every guy knew their job, what they had to do and everyone had the belief we were getting to Nottingham right from pre-game all the way to that final whistle and it was really something special to be a part of. As a side note I was chuffed for CJ to get his first 2 goals on the weekend, getting them in such an important game will be a memory he will have forever and he deserves all the praise he has been getting for his play recently!

I remember Stu saying “This is how all great movies start” (not surprisingly it’s not how Battleship or Real Steel starts Benny……)and that could not be more true for us right now. The feeling in the room is great, there is little pressure on us other than to perform and that’s a nice position to be in as we know we just have to each go out there and do our jobs as best we can and believe that will bring us through each period. We plan to play it a period at a time, 6 periods of hard work can bring us home a trophy and that’s our goal.

Nottingham weekend is the spectacle we all look forward to every year and this year is no different. I’m glad guys like CJ and Rupe will get to experience this weekend like I got to last year, it’s invaluable, and they played a big part in helping us get there. We know the fans will be as loud as ever and that helps to spur on every player on the ice! So be loud and proud on Saturday Red Army we will be doing all we can to give you that little extra encouragement to have a few more beers after the games!