Neil Francis - Blog Post

Hello everyone

I was asked to write a blog as pay back after pranking Geraint that we had just got confirmation that Jay Latulippe was eligible to play this weekend due to his registration passing back to the Devils every year on April 1st! haha.

What a weekend! It was definitely the most unorthodox play-off series I have been involved with but it hasn't exactly been an orthodox season has it. It's no secret that the last couple of months have been very tough with us playing very short of numbers for so long. We didn't really have anything to play for and there was every excuse out there to quit. But there are some strong characters in and around this great Club and quitting was the last thing on our minds. I know personally it made me feel sick at the thought of being the first Devils side not to make it to the Elite League Play-offs, but the way things were stacked against us it was a real possibility unless we addressed it.

At this point G came up with a master-plan and that was to use every minute of every game we had left to focus on building towards our goal of making the final four weekend. There was nothing we could do about the cards we had been dealt but we could do something about how we used them. This approach gave us a renewed energy and perhaps discovered the team spirit that had only been seen in patches earlier in the season.

Each year when G and I talk about recruitment we roll out the same lines about how we research a players' background as best we can to make sure they are the right character. Of course sometimes we get it wrong, but the way we have consistently punched above our weight say we mostly get it right. You look back to this weekend and it was full of character:

- Playing with only 4 defencemen in Braehead (and 3 when G decided the only way to get a rest was to take a 2+10!), each of them playing like warriors - that's character.

- Max dropping back to D, Stu and Benny Davies digging deep to double shift in the 3rd period of a play-off game (and still getting a vital goal during that time) - that's character.

- Luke Piggott keeping his discipline after taking a few punches in the head leading to us scoring on the PP - that's character.

- Kenton battling through the pain to give the D corps some vital rest in the Cardiff game - that's character. (Thanks to all our medical staff for your huge contribution this season by the way)

- The Max-Stu-Blighter line playing an insane amount of minutes and coming away with a staggering 18 points combined in 2 games - that's character.

- Jesse stepping up to put us back in the driving seat only 1m 18s after Braehead had tied the series - that's character.

- Whits bouncing back from a mixed night in Braehead with a huge performance including one of the best back door saves I have ever seen - that's character.

- Rupe and Adam, along with Piggsie, carrying out their roles perfectly meaning we didn't have to worry about who they were playing against, no goals conceded on the weekend - that's character.

- Phil Hill going against doctors orders and insisting on dressing on Sunday in case he was needed for a shift or two, despite having his cast off 2 days earlier and still having wires in his wrist - that's character.

- Mac Faulkner travelling an 18 hour round trip just weeks after major knee surgery, Joe Myers and Chris Hart's constant encouragement for their team mates despite not getting ice time, Mark Thompson standing in for Macky to do a great job making sure all the players could focus on the games - that's character.

- CJ stepping up spectacularly with his first 2 Devils goals just when we needed them - that's character.

- and finally to G, leading by example all weekend whether it was stepping up the physicality when we needed it, making smart, simple plays all weekend and even taking a shot away from Max because he knew he would score himself! - that's where our character comes from.

I have never seen such confidence as I did in our dressing room before the Braehead game; you'd never have thought we were down by 2.

The challenge this weekend is a huge one. We've already done the unexpected and made it 10 in a row but we are a confident team right now that is full of character and we know anything can happen in one-off games.

And to help us along the way are you, the RED ARMY. Your support over these difficult last few months has been invaluable and very much appreciated by all the players and staff. I have no doubt that the support you have shown at home in recent weeks and the commitment the travelling Red Army have shown all year will transfer to Nottingham to make you the loudest fans there once again - there is plenty of character in our fan base, that's for sure.

Here's to a great weekend everybody and as Pitbull famously once said "Que no pare la fiesta - don't stop the party!"

Franny