Inferno Match Preview - Devils Vs Caps 21/09/14

18th Sep 2014 | Posted by Simon Rafferty

Sunday sees the Devils make the long trip up to Edinburgh to take on the Capitals in the Dickensian splendour of Murrayfield Ice Rink. The Capitals are 2 wins form 3 outings in all competitions so far this season.

Last season saw four meetings between the Capitals and the Devils with the Devils sweeping the series and taking all four wins.

Looking at the Capitals team this season it seems there’s been a real change in thinking in Edinburgh this off season with an adjustment to the leagues style of North American Hockey. So gone to some extent is the team of "cheap" fast skilful eastern European imports and in to replace them are a nasty looking group the tough North Americans.

Upfront the Capitals have retained the import Jade Portwood and Richard Hartmann will again ice as player Coach.

The main additions of note over the summer being:

• René Jarolin returns to the side after a season away.
• Riley Emmerson who will provide a huge boost to the Capitals toughness who spent last season bouncing around various teams in the ECHL and CHL
• Denis Rix straight out of the NCAA from Michigan Tech
• Daniel Naslund from Sweden who played last season in france playing for Villard-de-Lans
• Greg Collins an American who put up great numbers last season at HYS The Hague in the Neatherlands where he clocked up 26 goals and a staggering 55 assists
  

Rounding out the forward group are home grown forwards Sean Beattie, Callum Boyd and Jordan Steel

In Defence the Capitals have added former Panther or “nut job” or “ out spoken social media user” (take your pick) Joe Grimaldi who posted 110 penalty minutes in just seven games for the Panther last season on his three club tour of European teams.

In addition to Grimaldi the Capitals have added Slovaks Lukas Bohunicky from the Czech league and Marcel Petran from the Peterborough Phantoms and a dual nationality Canadian/Brit Kyle Flemington.

Rounding out the D Corps for the Capitals are local players David Beatson, James Wallace and Jay King.

In Goals the Capitals have retained Tomas Hiadlovsky who posted a 88% save percentage for them last season is off to a good start this season with a 91% save percentage so far. They have also added Craig Mallinson as a back up to back up Kevin Forshall which I guess will be handy.

This on paper looks to one of the most well rounded and competitive Capitals sides in recent memory with some real skill back up by some North American crash and bang style players. One thing is for sure its going to be more fun to watch than recent seasons teams that’s for sure.

It's worth noting that Injuries and suspensions look to have thrown a spanner into the works for the Caps already as Lukas Bohunicky is currently attending physio and is hoping to be playing again in two weeks.

James Wallace will have a knee brace on for another six weeks or so and is scheduled for physio when the brace comes off. Apparently he is not planning on rushing his recovery.

Greg Collins has also been attending the dentist this week to start his new teeth process. He has been training with the team and is hoping to return to action this weekend.

In addition to this Riley Emmerson is still currently serving a 10 game ban which is under appeal at the time of writing.

The ones to watch for the Capitals so far this season look to be primarily

Dennis Rix on 2 Goals and 3 assists
Jade Portwood on 3 and 1 assist

In addition to Rene Jarolin who is a proven threat at this level and Grimaldi who could frankly do anything.

It's also worth noting that there were reports on social media of Grimaldi being benched last weekend after a fall out with coach Hartmann. How much can be read into this is hard to say.

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