Cardiff Devils players, fans and management get together for an end-of-season celebration this evening with the pain of missing out on Elite League glory fresh in their minds.
Head coach Andrew Lord and his Devils won back-to-back League titles over the last two seasons, but missed out on becoming the first club ever to win three in a row.
They finished level on points with champions Belfast Giants after losing 3-1 against Coventry Blaze in their final match of the regular season.
More than 300 Devils supporters were at the Skydome intent on watching their team crowned champions again and they were effectively one goal short.
Coventry scored a late empty net goal to clinch victory at a time when Cardiff had opted for an extra skater in a desperate bid to tie the game and force overtime.
Blaze celebrated wildly when they won even though they finished eighth in the table and only just qualified for the end-of-season play-offs.
There is no question this is a golden era for Cardiff Devils. Over the last five years since Lord was appointed player-coach by new Canadian owners led by Calgary-based Steve King they have finished first twice, second twice and third once.
Remarkably, if they had earned a mere five more points at the right times Devils would have won the title in every one of those seasons.
Cardiff are the most consistent team in Elite League since 2014 and have also won the play-offs, Challenge Cup and two Erhardt conference titles.
Netminder Ben Bowns, Josh Batch, Mark Richardson, Joey Haddad, Joey Martin, Jake Morissette and Matthew Myers are the core players who have been in the team since Lord took charge.
“We’re all hurting,” says King. “A crushing end to the regular season. Red Army fans been behind us from the start and the support in Coventry was immense.
“When emotions calm down, I’ll be in a better spot to appreciate all that this team and especially @AndrewLord17 had to go through in what was easily our most challenging year. For now, congrats to @BelfastGiants on a huge season.
“Yes, it hurts. Now we turn our attention to playoffs.”
Devils were rocked by player departures during the season with Ben Blood headed off to play in Finland, while American D-man Tom Parisi left without playing a match. The American was introduced to home fans before a Viola Arena match the day after flying in, but then went home a couple of days later.
Justin Faryna was another player to shock Cardiff by returning to North America mid season.
Blood sent a message to the club, saying: “Dev brothers, I’m proud of you. I love you. Keep your heads up.”
Tonight’s end-of-season awards night at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cardiff will be a far more muted affair than the Devils faithful were hoping for, but Lord and his team can relax for a few hours before focusing on the play-offs.
“It was gut-wrenching to miss out on the title,” said Lord. “We have more than enough character to come back strong next weekend,”
“You work nine months day-in and day-out and to lose on a tie-break was brutal.
“We have one heck of a hockey team. We’ve played so much quality hockey all season long.”
Lord will think long and hard about his team for the play-off semi-final games against Sheffield Steelers next weekend. James Livingston was a healthy scratch from the matches against MK Lightning and Coventry, but must have a good chance of starting.
Lord, general manager Todd Kelman and the Devils owners are also already planning ahead for next season when Cardiff play in Champions League hockey for a third successive season.
Ice Hockey Elite League play-offs, semi-final schedule
Belfast Giants v Coventry Blaze
Belfast: Saturday, April 6 (7pm); Coventry: Sunday, April 7 (5,15pm)
Cardiff Devils v Sheffield Steelers
Sheffield: Saturday, 6 April (7pm); Cardiff: Sunday 7, April (6pm)
Nottingham Panthers v Fife Flyers
Fife: Saturday, 6 April (7.15pm), Nottingham: Sunday, 7 April (4pm)
Glasgow Clan v Guildford Flames
Guildford: Saturday, 6 April (6pm), Glasgow: Sunday, 7 April (6pm)
The play-off finals weekend is in Nottingham over the weekend of April 13 and 14.