Match Preview - Devils Vs Stars 10th December

8th Dec 2011 | Posted by Simon Rafferty

Saturday nights see’s the Devils in action against the Dundee Stars at home in Cardiff for the only game of the weekend. This will be the third meeting between the two sides this season with the Devils coming away the better on the last meeting in Cardiff beating the Stars 7-3 but losing away to Dundee 3-2 in a Penalty shoot-out.

The Stars have struggled to find form so far this season winning just three of their of their 21 games and in reaction to this have this week parted ways with player coach Dan Ceman, Stars Co Director Mike Ward had this to say on the decision "This was not an easy decision to make but we feel that we had to take action as performances over the past few weeks have been less than expected and the team is now in real danger of missing out on a play-off spot."

Acting quickly the Stars have appointed assistant coach Brent Hughes as Interim Coach and told the players to in meetings early in the week too "Forget the past". Hughes seems to be looking at a very much back to basics approach making this statement.

"If guys need practice in shooting then we'll stay late in and practice and do that. If we need to work on fundamentals then we'll work on those too and we'll be working hard at eliminating mistakes."

“We need to re-focus and get back on track. I've been assistant to Dan for the past two years and I learned a lot. I'll call on that experience and the knowledge I've gained from other professional coaches to take us forward. We need to start afresh with this team. And we need to turn things around quickly if we want to make the play-offs like we did last season."

Last weekend’s performances were clearly the straw that broke the Camel’s back and heralded the exit of Dan Ceman, the Stars had 3 games in 3 days last weekend facing Edinburgh at home on Friday then Coventry and Nottingham away on Saturday and Sunday.

Friday night got off to a good start for the Stars in a very even period of Hockey before a goal late in the period from Edinburgh’s Rene Jarolin and another early in the second period from Marcis Zembergs made in two nil to the Capitals. It was looking a difficult task for the Stars who have struggled for most of the season to put the puck in the net. It fell to Lee Mitchell to find a way past Nathan Craze late in the second to make the Game 2-1

Heavy home pressure in the third saw the Stars outshooting their opponents 17 to 7 but a very disciplined Capitals side inspired by Nathan Craze held on to take the win. Final score Dundee Stars 1 - 2 Edinburgh Capitals. 
Next up for the Stars was a trip to Coventry to take on the Blaze at home.

The Stars took an early lead when John Dolan fired home early in the game but only 20 seconds later it was 1-1 when the Blaze hit back with a goal from Robert Farmer. The Stars woe continued as again the Blaze scored from Farmer on the power play and not long after it was 3-1 with a goal by Frantisek Bakrlik on his home debut. Blaze continued on the attack and before the opening period was over it was 4-1 thanks to a 5 on 3 power play goal from Matic Kralj.

The second period was more subdued but the Blaze were fully in control and added two more goals to lead 6-1. Scoring coming from David Phillips and Mike McLean.

The third period went much the same way with an early power play goal by Woo-Sang Park taking the Blaze lead to 7-1; the Stars managed a late consolation goal from Brennan Turner in what must have been a painful night. Final score Coventry Blaze 7 - 2 Dundee Stars.

Sunday’s trip to Nottingham rounded out the weekend of woe for the Stars but did provide a glimmer of hope. Despite the home side starting well with Jordan Fox putting them in front early in the first the Stars then held on until David Beauregard found the net with just 21 seconds left in the first.

The Stars finally found the net with just 85 seconds of the second period played as A J MacLean netted on the power play but the Panthers regained their two-goal advantage with a goal from Robert Lachowicz to round out the periods scoring.

A goal 23 seconds into the third period from Guillaume Lepine increased the Panthers lead to three. A double from John Dolan moments later all of a sudden made it a one-goal game. The Panther steadied with a Jeff Heerema power play goal, only to see the Stars strike back with a power play goal of their own from Brennan Turner.Despite pulling the goaltender in the last minute, the Stars could not get the goal to take the game into overtime.

Speaking about the Performance in Nottingham new Coach Brent Hughes had this to say

“The guys were excellent in that final 20 minutes. We showed some excellent character in fighting back from 4-1 down before losing 5-4. Obviously, we're disappointed at the results so far this season, but I think Sunday showed that we can battle through adversity. Right now, the guys need to re-focus. We need to start afresh and move on from here, as we have to prepare for a trip to Cardiff Devils on Saturday. I've talked to the boys and I want everybody to stick to their jobs on the team. The owners of the team are obviously not happy with what has gone on so far this season and we now have to target the play-offs."

As we suggested at the start at the at the start of the year when we looked at the Stars squad (http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/news/match-preview-devils-vs-dundee-stars/) while they are stronger defensively they seem to lack any real firepower Jarret Konkle who was brought in to be there go to scorer leads them offensively with just 18 points with secondary scoring coming from Jeff Hutchins on 15 points, John Dolan on 13 points, A.J Maclean also on 13 points and Brent Hughes on 11 points.

The Devils had a rough weekend missing both Mark Smith and Gerard Adams on defence despite battling hard they lost both games last weekend first in Sheffield on Saturday and then to league leaders the Belfast Giants on Sunday you can check out highlights here http://www.cardiffdevils.com/news/4th-dec-highlights-and-post-game/
Don’t forget Saturday is the Teddy toss if you have no idea what this is check out this link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/8938111/Ice-hockey-rink-showered-with-25000-teddy-bears.html

As always well be running the “Childish and amazingly Biased” Match Night Live service for this game, at the usual location of www.theinferno.co.uk/mnl if you'd like to help out or chip in with some comments on the night please contact us at matchnightlive@gmail.com. You can also follow on Twitter for updates on @InfernoMNL

And you’re looking for somewhere to have a pint and a bite to eat before the game or a few beers afterwards we’d suggest the Pilot in Penarth which is a short trip away and will also be open afterwards for post-match drinks, directions to the pub can be found here - http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/where-to-eatdrink/