Cardiff Devils Relishing Their Elite League Grand Slam Bid

Cardiff Devils player-coach Andrew Lord is relishing the chance to make British ice hockey history.

His team have already won the Challenge Cup, Erhardt Conference and Elite League title with the play-off crown now their focus this weekend.

“I can’t really put into words what it would mean to achieve a Grand Slam,” says the Devils forwards. “It’s incredible how far we’ve come in three years.
“We missed the play-offs in my first year, finishing second from bottom. To have won a league title, two Challenge Cups and back-to-back Conference trophies with his group is amazing.
“Now we have the chance to do something that’s never been done before.

“We’re rolling along nicely and hungry to finish the season off in the right way.
“Dundee are a good team, well coached, have a ton of speed and players that can break the game open single-handedly.
“We’ve had some real battles with Stars in the past and they have guys that know how to play tough hockey and a one-off game where anything can happen.

“We always put pressure on ourselves to perform and earn the win. This group really relishes the pressure and it hasn’t been any different for this coming weekend.”
Dundee coach LeFebvre says: “It’s massive for our club to get to the finals.
“Stars fans know we’re not the biggest club in the world, but they support us greatly.  The expectations are realistic and they deserve to come to the party.
“There is zero pressure on us going into this and we’re used to having that mentality. We’re not feeling it at all. One shift at a time and see what happens.
“For a long time, people were down on this group and had us dead and buried in January, but the guys played some great hockey to get us there.
“It was tough for me mentality at that time, but I had to remain upbeat to keep it going and ensure we worked our way through it.

“Cardiff are a great team with a group of good veteran guys and they’ve won every trophy going so far.
“I have a lot of respect for Andrew (Lord), who has done a great job in the last three seasons.
“We know we’re in for a tough battle, but it’s a 60-minute one-off game in a neutral venue and anything can happen.”

Elite League play-off finals weekend fixtures at the National Ice Centre, Nottingham:

Saturday, April 8, semi-finals: Cardiff Devils vs Dundee Stars (1pm), Belfast Giants vs Sheffield Steelers (5pm).
Sunday, April 9: Third/fourth place play-off (Noon), Play-off final (4pm).

The National Ice Hockey League hold their cup finals weekend at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay this weekend.

Cardiff Fire, who have won all 18 of their matches this season, play Swindon Wildcats in the second semi-final (6.30pm). The first game features Wightlink against Peterborough (2.30pm) with the winners playing each other in Sunday’s final.

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