Cardiff Devils celebrate their 30th birthday on Wednesday when Nottingham Panthers visit their Ice Arena Wales home rink (7.30pm).

While coach Andrew Lord and his Devils players, 11 points clear at the top of Elite League, focus on this crucial match their fans will enjoy what is a big event for ice hockey in Wales.

The first ever home match for Devils was at the old Wales National Ice Rink in Cardiff city centre when Ashfield Islanders were the visitors. That fixture was exactly three decades ago.

During that first season John Lawless, the man who formed the club in 1986, was Devils player-coach, manager and bus driver!

“We had to play our early matches away while the new city centre rink was completed and we rented a coach which I drove to away games,” says Lawless.

“We had 12 guys in total.”

There were Welsh derbies against Deeside Dragons and the two clubs led the way in Midlands Division Two with Devils taking top spot by two points.

That opening season was also marked by a 34-player bench clearance during their play-off semi-final against Grimsby Buffaloes.

Lawless and his family have flown in from Canada for the anniversary celebrations and he will be joined at the IAW by a number of former players including Jeff Smith, Robbie Morris, Neil Brown and Lee Cowmeadow.

Perry Olivier, aged 23, and defenceman Bill Taylor, 21, were the first imports brought in by Lawless, while he signed a couple of experienced British players in captain Paul Farmer and Max Thurgood for that opening season.

They were backed up by a group of enthusiastic youngsters.

Canadian Lawless had been offered a coaching job with Nottingham Panthers in 1982, where he would have earned £50 a week, but instead joined the new Peterborough Pirates on half that figure.

When Cardiff came calling he jumped at the chance, saying: “I chose Pirates because I wanted to build a club from scratch. We went from Division Two to the Premier with three promotions in three seasons.

“I saw Cardiff as the next step for me in terms of their new arena and the potential.”

Devils attracted a capacity 2,500 attendance for the home match against Ashfield, played on November 30, 1986, and he admits: “It wasn’t a great spectacle, but the supporters loved it. It was new to the fans, this was their team. There were hits, goals and lots to cheer.”

Lawless was small in stature, but his charisma, drive and ability helped make Cardiff Devils a powerhouse in British ice hockey.

His memorable goal celebration of mimicking ’shooting the clock’ with his stick will always be remembered, while he was nicknamed the ‘Weasel’ because he was always able to agitate opposing players.”

Lawless quickly led Devils from Second Division hockey to the top flight of British hockey – and they won the title and the Heineken play-offs in their first season at Premier League level.

The remarkable successes Devils have had over the last 30 years started that night in 1986 when Ashfield, a bunch of midlands kids with no home ice, arrived in South Wales.
Today, 30 years later, Lawless is back in Cardiff and he will be given a heroes welcome at Ice Arena Wales on Wednesday.

Elite League 2016-17 top five
Pl Pts
1 Cardiff Devils 19 31
2 Sheffield Steelers 14 20
3 Belfast Giants 17 20
4 Fife Flyers 17 18
5 Nottingham Panthers 15 17