Cardiff Devils start a new European adventure when Red Bull Salzburg open the ice hockey season at Ice Arena Wales on Thursday.
Head coach Andrew Lord and his Devils are competing in the Champions League for a second successive season, competing against the cream of European hockey.
“We want to make a splash in the Champions League,” said Lord.
“We might have the toughest group in the competition again this season, but we are looking forward to testing ourselves against the best in Europe.
“These games are some of the best hockey anybody could see here in Cardiff this season and we believe we can rise to the occasion.”
Devils won two of their three group home fixtures last season, beating Davos and Vaxjo Lakers, who went on to reach the CHL final before losing against Finnish club JYP.
Lord has strengthened his team again for the new season with tough guy Ben Blood, a defenceman who combines, strength and physical presence with a high level of skill, adding genuine power.
Canadian Blood has netted two goals during pre-season fixtures.
High end forwards Stephen Dixon, Mike Hedden and Charles Linglet have also joined the strong core of the roster returning from last season.
Devils have won the Elite League title for the last two seasons and are going for an unprecedented third title in 2018-19.
Their first CHL fixture is against Salzburg in Cardiff Bay on Thursday before SC Bern visit South Wales two days later.
Red Bull Salzburg are giants of the Austrian League and have built one of the biggest brands in the hockey world. Swiss powerhouse SC Bern are officially the best attended ice hockey team in Europe, averaging over 17,000 spectators every game.
After the two home games this week, the Devils are on the road to face Salzburg and Bern next week before facing their final preliminary round CHL opponent in October when they face the Vaxjo Lakers for the second straight season.
Group G is unique in the fact that Swedish champions Vaxjo played all of the other three teams at some point in last year’s Champions Hockey League – and lost to all of them on the road.
Bern and Salzburg have both played in Great Britain before and lost, but not to the Devils, while Cardiff were unbeaten at home against Swedish and Swiss opposition last season.
Tickets for both CHL games this week are on sale now ONLINE HERE or by calling 0800 0842 666 or in person at Arena reception.
Former Florida Everglades coach Greg Poss, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, is in charge of Salzburg’s team. He led Everblades to Kelly Cup success in 2012, having earlier spent eight seasons as a head coach in the German Elite League (DEL) with Iserlohn, Nuremberg and Mannheim.
In 2006-07 he led Mannheim when they became the first team in DEL history to finish in first place in the regular season, win the inter-league tournament and capture the play-off championship in the same season.
Former Maine Mariners’ American League player Poss, now aged 53, joined Salzburg after six seasons with Everglades.
His Red Bull-sponsored team have won the Austrian League title eight times in the last 12 seasons and include a number of North Americans on their roster.
Forward Ryan Duncan is a former AHL forward while has been Salzburg’s second top scorer in the last two seasons, while John Hughes is a Canadian centre who has played in Finland, Slovenia and Germany.
Bobby Raymond is a Canadian D-man and Mathieu Roy is a former NHL defenceman with Tampa Bay Lightning. Most of Roy’s career has been spent playing in the American League.
Brent Regner, a former NHL D-man with Florida Panthers, is a puck-moving player with good vision and passing, but he is under six feet tall and sometimes finds problems with big, physical forwards.
Salzburg’s netminders are American former AHL man Steve Michael and Austrian Lukas Herzog, both aged 25.
Dustin Gazley is an ex-Hershey Bears player in the American League, while Brant Harris is a fast-skating Canadian winger.
The top two teams in the group will progress to the knockout stages.
Cardiff’s Champions League group fixtures:
Thursday 30: Cardiff Devils v Red Bull Salzburg (7.30pm, Champions League)
September
Saturday 1: Cardiff Devils v SC Bern (7pm, Champions League)
Thursday 6: Red Bull Salzburg v Cardiff Devils (7.30pm, Champions League)
Saturday 8: SC Bern v Cardiff Devils (7.45pm, Champions League)
October
Tuesday 9: Vaxjo Lakers v Cardiff Devils (6.30pm, Champions League)
Tuesday 16: Cardiff Devils v Vaxjo Lakers (7.30pm, Champions League)