Devils thrash Clan in Elite League
Cardiff Devils bounced back after heavy defeat against Manchester Storm by beating Glasgow Clan 6-1 in the Elite League.Josh MacDonald opened the scoring for Devils, who had lost 6-0 to Storm last Sunday.Cole Ully levelled for Clan in the second period but goals from Riley Brandt, Tyler Busch and Bradley Schoonbaert put Devils firmly in control,Cole Sanford and Ryan Barrow sealed the win for Devils, who are away to Dundee Stars on Sunday.
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BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
'Really special' - Devils celebrate GOAT Martin
"It's difficult to describe the impact Joey Martin has had on this organisation on and off the ice."For managing director Todd Kelman, Cardiff Devils' number 88 is, "our best player over the last decade". For most fans, forward Martin is simply the GOAT - the greatest of all Saturday (17:00 BST) at the Vindico Arena, the 36-year-old from Ontario joins a select group of players the club has hounored in recent seasons; Great Britain internationals Mark Richardson, Matthew Myers, Josh Batch and Ben is the first non-British player to be awarded a testimonial game in the past eleven years of the current ownership."I'm extremely grateful, it's really special, it's made me reflect on all the years I've been here."I always feel very fortunate that I landed at this club and have so many great memories that I can look back on," said Martin. Martin first joined the Devils in 2014 and after a brief spell away during Covid returned in his first five-season spell with Cardiff, he won the league's Forward of the Year three times, Player of the Year twice and made the league's All-Star team every the 2024-25 season - his ninth at the Welsh club - he became the highest scoring import player in Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) history and was Devils' Players' Player of the Year."As the league has improved, he has still always been one of the top players," added Kelman on announcing Martin would be back for a 10th campaign in a Devils jersey. "We are very lucky to have had him all these years." 'My love for the game started in the driveway' Martin was born and bred in the small city of Thorold, ten miles west of Niagara Falls on the United States border."Like most Canadian kids my love for the game started in the driveway and the street playing with my brothers and friends and then in the winters on the frozen lakes and ponds," recalls started his junior hockey with local club Thorold Blackhawks, then as a teenager he joined Aurora Tigers in the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League, winning the 2007 Canadian National Junior Championship, the Royal Bank hockey followed whilst studying physical education at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, sometimes in front of 17,000 after captaining Omaha Mavericks in his final student season, in 2011 Martin went professional with Ohio-based Toledo Walleye."Going from school to the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) was a bit of an adjustment. Sometimes you play four games in five nights, a lot of road trips on the bus, it's a bit of a grind," added ECHL sits third in the North America hierarchy, below the American Hockey League (AHL) and the dream destination for all hockey players, the globally-dominant NHL."I had a few different call ups [to the AHL] with Houston Aeros, Texas Stars and Bridgeport Sound Tigers."After three years of that, getting called up and sent down, I was over that whole lifestyle and that's why I ended up pursuing options over here [the UK]." 'I thought, oh no!' In late July 2014 Martin received a call from an old Toledo teammate, Doug Clarkson, who had signed for a British club under new ownership – the Cardiff Devils. They were looking for a centre-mid forward and wanted to know if Martin was the time Martin knew very little about professional hockey in the UK."I thought that people generally came here and did their master's degree at the end of their career," he remembers."I knew it was more of a North American style, it was physical, they had enforcers, so I thought it'd be similar to the East Coast Hockey League but other than that I wasn't familiar with Cardiff, the club or the history."I kind of made a quick decision and I'm very happy with that decision now!"Martin also had no idea that his new hockey home, Devils' ice rink, was just a timber prefab, clad with bright blue tarpaulin."I remember coming on the bus and seeing this big, beautiful glass building and I said, 'Wow! That's a beautiful arena.' And they said, 'No, that's the international swimming pool, the arena's round the corner'."And then we kept driving and I saw the Big Blue Tent and I thought, 'Oh, no!'"But we had a team that just embraced it, we actually loved playing in the tent. It was a hostile environment for other teams, it was definitely an advantage for us." That first season for Martin saw the Devils unexpectedly reach the Challenge Cup Final, where they faced the sizeable challenge of taking on Sheffield Steelers in their own Sheffield was, though, a huge migration of Welsh fans from Cardiff, one that lives long in the memories of those that were there."I remember stepping on the ice for the warm-up and seeing half that arena filled with our fans. I remember thinking this is pretty special," said Martin."That's when you really saw how much it meant to the club, to the fans."Goals from player-coach Andrew Lord and centreman Chris Culligan gave Cardiff a 2-1 victory to lift their first trophy in eight years."Winning that game was awesome, just to see the look on everybody's faces and the joy especially with the season before being a tough one when they hadn't made the play-offs," Martin added."The expectations weren't for us to even be there, let alone win it. It was a really special moment."Over the next four seasons Cardiff Devils experienced a golden period winning the league twice, the 2017 Challenge Cup and two Play-Off hockey in the UK was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Martin went to Norway, playing in front of reduced crowds for Stavanger Oilers though eventually their 2021 season was curtailed before the Elite Hockey Ligaen then joined Graz99ers in Austria who were more than aware of Martin's qualities after he had been a crucial part of Cardiff's two group victories against them in the 2019 Champions Hockey halfway through the season Martin decided it was time to return to Cardiff."I really enjoyed my time in Graz, but I just felt that I wanted to come back to a club where the expectations were to win, and I wanted to be back in that kind of culture."And it just felt like the time to come back home." 'It's been an awesome ride - I never want it to end' Somewhat unexpectedly for Martin, the first two seasons after his return were trophyless for in January 2025 the Devils won their first European title - the IIHF Continental Cup. "That was the third year in a row of us being in that competition and I felt in the years prior we had a good chance to win it but let it slip," Martin said."I think we were just laser focused this year and it was a huge deal not just for us players, all the fans and all the people in the organisation."Following that win the Devils' chase for the league title fell away to finish in fourth place having also lost the Challenge Cup final to Belfast Giants in feels the extra games played competing in the Continental Cup, and the squad being blighted by injuries thoughout the season, caught up with them."We were playing three lines it felt like for months, and that's hard to do when you're playing three games a week, back-to-back games on the weekend and injuries keep piling up," he said."We held on for as long as we could but it just came to the point where the wheels fell off. It was tough to be a part of."We're not the only team that goes through this, but we were hit pretty hard by injuries this year."It was a campaign so nearly polished off with the shine of a second peice of in the final game of the season Cardiff lost the Play-Off final in double over-time to Nottingham - a tumultuous final that will not be forgotten soon by Panthers fans and neutrals who witnessed the for the Martin and his Devils team-mates losing that epic final, where they came back from 3-0 down to force over-time, will simply rankle forever."We were stunned for a few days to be honest, it's still hard to reflect on because we were so close to winning a trophy that I think this group deserved," reflects Martin."I think losing that Play-Off final ignited something in me that I just wanted to sign back to get another chance to win another trophy."I'm very proud of what we've done here over the years, a lot of success, a lot of good times, a lot of hard work, but I feel that we're not done yet."We need to have some more trophies; we need to create some more memories and hopefully we can do that."If you look at where the game has taken me, I feel fortunate, it's been an awesome ride. I never want it to end."
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Plans drawn up for 3,000 capacity ice rink arena near Trafford Centre
Plans have been submitted for a new 3,000-capacity ice rink and sports arena in Greater TraffordCity Arena development has been proposed for a site near the Chill Factore indoor ski centre and the Trafford Centre. As well as hosting a range of sport the arena will also convert into an event space that will host virtual reality immersive experiences, small concerts, screenings and live approved, the land would be acquired from regeneration specialists Peel Waters and operated by the Planet Ice group, which operates 14 other similar venues across the UK. The company's managing director James Whittaker said it would be a "huge leisure and retail destination"."There is no other destination in the country that brings together everything that's available here in one place," he said."There's a lot of other things this arena cold be used for whether that be music events or boxing."Peel Waters said if planning permission was granted construction would be predicted to take between 12 and 15 purpose-built facility could also provide a further boost for the Manchester Storm ice hockey team, which has confirmed it in negotiations to play at the new new area would able to accommodate an additional 1,000 fans and spectators in comparison with their current site in Altrincham. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Duggan returns as Devils 2025-26 roster takes shape
Sam Duggan is the seventh member of Cardiff Devil's 2025 Continental Cup winning roster to commit to another season with the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) British forward is returning for a seventh 26, joined the Devils in November 2018 and has played over 400 all-competition games for the Welsh in Reading, he began his career at Bracknell but played four years in Sweden from the age of of the Great Britain team who earned promotion to the top tier of the World Championship by winning Division I Group A in May, Duggan has lifted the EIHL play-off trophy twice with Cardiff in 2019 and 2022."Sam is one of my favourite players we have ever had in Cardiff," said Devils managing director Todd Kelman."He brings so much to this team, some of what the fans see on the ice and so much that they never see in the locker room and away from the rink." Duggan scored four goals and four assists in 52 league games last season as well as two play-off goals as Devils reached the final where they lost to Nottingham Panthers in double was a part of Cardiff's league-best penalty killing unit which recorded an 83.23% success rate."He is a glue guy for this club and part of that is because of the work ethic he puts in every shift and the positive energy he brings with him wherever he goes," added Kelman."I wish all players loved coming to the rink as much as he does."He scored some big goals for us in play-offs, and I think there is more of that to come next season."The 2025-26 season will start in September, though Cardiff begin their pre-season campaign against French side Gap Raptors on 16 side - now coached by Paul Thompson after the departure of Pete Russell - have already re-signed defencemen Evan Mosey and Gleason Fournier, and forwards Ryan Barrow, Kohen Olischefski, Josh MacDonald and player of the year Joey Martin who will return for a 10th have also added a new signing in American defenceman Brandon Estes from Danish League side Odense Bulldogs.
