Devils enjoying tough pre-season before 40th year

Cardiff Devils preparations for their 40th season continued with a 4-2 victory over French side Angers Ducs.

The Welsh club have also enjoyed back-to-back victories against Denmark's Odense Bulldogs.

Paul Thompson's side now face home-and-away weekends against two Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) rivals before their first competitive game in mid-September.

They face Sheffield Steelers in Cardiff on Saturday, 29 August before travelling to Yorkshire the following day.

Their final pre-season games come a week later, visiting Nottingham before hosting the Panthers in a return match on Sunday, 6 September.

Devils' squad for the 2026-27 includes four new signings and 18 returning members of their Play-Offs winning side.

However, forward Sam Duggan will be out until mid-November after an MRI scan revealed damage to knee ligaments.

Cardiff opened their pre-season fixtures with an 8-5 victory against Bulldogs, with goals from Joey Martin (2), Riley Brandt (2), Brandon Estes, Ryan Barrow, Nolan Yaremko and Tom Caron.

Martin and Estes were again on target 24 hours later, along with Evan Mosey and Panu Mieho, as they beat Odense 4-1.

Josh MacDonald grabbed the headlines against Angers. Last season's top scorer claimed a hat-trick, with Barrow scoring from a penalty shot in a hard-earned victory which pleased Thompson.

"We looked a little tired at times," said the Devils head coach. "If you know what I've been putting them through the last two weeks you'd probably know why.

"I was wondering when we'd drop off because physically we haven't stopped.

"We normally taper it down when we come into the weekend, so I was really pleased with the last five or six minutes, I thought we really pulled our socks up."

Founded in 1986, the Devils will hope to celebrate their 40th season with their first league title since 2018.

Before the new EIHL campaign gets underway they have six fixtures in the Challenge Cup - which they last won in 2017 - starting at home against Guildford Flames on Saturday, 12 September.

The Devils travel to Coventry Blaze the following day, as they compete in a group which also includes Panthers, Steelers and Manchester Storm.

Storm are Cardiff's first league opponents, at home on Saturday, 3 October, with Glasgow Clan visiting the Vindico Arena the next day.

The Welsh club's first meeting with last season's League winners, Belfast Giants, is at home on the following weekend.

The Devils face a double-header road trip to Northern Ireland on 27 and 28 February, and conclude the regular season with a home game against Panthers and a visit to Flames on 3 and 4 April.

The Devils fresh recruits for Thompson's second season in charge include three forwards - 31-year-old Panu Mieho, Canadian Thomas Caron, 25, and Jake Sacratini, son of club legend Vezio Sacratini.

They have also signed defenceman Nick Welsh from Manchester Storm and brought in Jeff Battah as the club's new goaltending and video coach.

Netminders

Ben Bowns (GB)

Christian Stoever (USA)

Defencemen

Brandon Estes (USA)

Gleason Fournier (Canada)

Tyson Helgesen (Canada)

Evan Mosey (GB)

Jimmy Oligny (Canada)

Mark Richardson (GB)

Nick Welsh (Canada)

Forwards

Ryan Barrow (Canada)

Thomas Caron (Canada)

Ben Davies (Great Britain)

Sam Duggan (GB)

Bayley Harewood (GB)

Kristoff Kontos (Canada)

Josh MacDonald (Canada)

Riley Brandt (Canada)

Joey Martin (Canada)

Panu Mieho (Finland)

Kohen Olischefski (Canada)

Jake Sacratini (GB)

Nolan Yaremko (Canada)

Saturday, 15 August

Cardiff Devils 8-5 Odense Bulldogs

Sunday, 16 August

Cardiff Devils 4-1 Odense Bulldogs

Saturday, 22 August

Cardiff Devils 4-2 Ducs d'Angers

Saturday, 29 August

Cardiff Devils v Sheffield Steelers (19:00 BST)

Sunday, 30 August

Sheffield Steelers v Cardiff Devils (16:00 BST)

Saturday, 5 September

Nottingham Panthers v Cardiff Devils (19:00 BST)

Sunday, 6 September

Cardiff Devils v Nottingham Panthers (17:00 BST)