Cardiff Devils captain Jake Morissette is excited about the final three months of the Elite League ice hockey season.
Mo’s men are reigning champions and stand top of the table going into their home clash with Guildford Flames at Ice Arena Wales this evening (Sunday, 6pm).
Devils have also qualified for the Challenge Cup semi-finals where they play rivals Sheffield Steelers over two legs, while they remain in the hunt for Erhardt Conference success and will qualify for the end-of-season play-offs.
“We all love being out there and everybody is looking forward to the challenges ahead,” says Morissette. “Our matches against Steelers are always fun battles.
“Tough hockey, yes, but we are all looking forward to the challenge and we certainly won’t give up the trophy without a fight.”
Devils have qualified for the final in each of the last three seasons, lifting the trophy twice and beating Steelers in the 2016-17 final at the IAW.
This seasons final will also be played in Cardiff Bay and Devils are desperate to go through again. The winners of Cardiff v Sheffield will play Nottingham or Belfast in the final.
Morissette (2), Patrick Asselin (2), Sean Bentivoglio and Matt Pope scored for Devils in their 6-2 home win against Flames in the cup, completed a 9-5 aggregate success.
“They were tough matches against Flames in the cup,” said Morissette. “They have a lot of speed, loads of skill and high quality top end players.
“We knew what was at stake and the guys engaged early on. Matthew Myers produced a major penalty kill shift for us early on and that really got us going.
“Our experience over the last four years where we have been involved in big games, tight games, has really helped us. The guys are more comfortable in tense situations.”
Cardiff were without a fixture on Saturday night, while Flames won 3-2 against Coventry Blaze.
Belfast Giants won back-to-back fixtures against Nottingham Panthers on Friday (5-2) and Saturday (6-4), while Fife Flyers defeated Edinburgh Capitals 6-1.
Flyers, who are third in the League table, travel to play Coventry Blaze at the Skydome this evening.
Cardiff stand three points ahead of Belfast and the leaders have two games in hand, while Flyers are six points adrift. Devils, though, have played three matches than Fife.
Devils match ticket information for this evening’s (Sunday) clash with Guildford and other matches is available via ONLINE HERE
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