Red, Fight and Blue
I don’t know why, but I had a feeling I was going to enjoy watching Coventry Blaze this year.
There was something about them in the off-season, the excitement building around impressive new high-calibre signings, a feeling amongst fans that after a season of hardship, they had finally shaken the monkey off their backs and a feeling that maybe, just maybe, they might be the dark horse of the newly-formed Erhardt conference.
And why not? No-one would have expected them to make the start they have made. In a conference where all eyes are on the big guns of Belfast, Sheffield and Nottingham, Blaze were the majority’s early vote for 5th spot. But there was no way they were going down that easily.
Something about Mike Danton’s ongoing battle with UKBA to secure his visa was reflected in the coming together of a side who seemed to be fighting against the odds right from day one – players missing, other players picking up injuries in pre-season or within the first game or two of the season. Danton, a player who somehow without even setting foot on British soil had become something of a talisman to the Blaze faithful, a spiritual captain-in-waiting, urged on his adopted British side from across the water, and they banded together to form a tight-knit unit, slick and skilled and nobody’s whipping boys, with physical presence to spare.
Young, hungry Brits fill out the gaps left by wounded soldiers Domish, Cowley, and more recently Dustin Cameron and key forward Gerome Giudice, and they went into their latest fixture against Cardiff coming off the back of a 4-2 loss in Nottingham. Could this be the night the fairytale finally got real? Would the cracks start to show?
Cardiff v Coventry is a rivalry with real legs these days. In a league where the Sheffield/Nottingham conflict is paraded around almost to the exclusion of all others, I find way more to intrigue me in the battle of Midlands v Wales, pre-season encounters only fuelling the fire as the almost farcical war of words on Twitter between Cardiff antagonist Devin Didiomete and Mike Danton transferred to the rink where even in the pre-season ‘friendly’ ex-AHL tough guy Benn Olson fought Danton’s cause and won.
This was the 2nd meeting between the two in the league, with the Blaze having shaded the first two goals to one after overtime. And the equality was borne out in the first period of the game – almost. It was a lively start, both sides showing grit and skill, both giving up a few penalties and both exhibiting a hard-working penalty kill. The only difference between the sides was a goal scored by Max Birbraer, tapped in from a well-fed pass from none other than Didiomete himself, keeping his head down for once and getting on with the business at hand.
Aside from the goal there were some memorable hits, first from James Griffin, standing up to Mac Faulkner and flooring him as the Devils player attempted an open ice hit and Olson with what looked to be a quality hit on Phil Hill but which he was subsequently called for.
Young British players on both sides were proving their worth, Griffin, Sam Smith and Dale White standing out for the Blaze whilst Ben Davies was unlucky not to make it two for Devils as he was gifted a one-on-one chance whilst his side were short-handed.
It was a really even contest and the deficit was not for lack of Blaze effort as they were doing their best to return to level terms, but the second period continued in a similar vein, with the Devils slick and ruthless on the puck whilst the Blaze worked around them, trying to make something count. The home side had the period’s first powerplay and despite another breakaway one-on-one effort for Ben Davies – more clear-cut than the first but still safely collected by Hirsch – the Blaze threatened, a good shot from Mike Bayrack the best of their efforts. They were not equal to the Devils’ penalty kill however, and just half a minute after the visitors returned to full strength they sucker-punched their hosts, Birbraer pouncing on a rebound from a Stuart Macrae effort, the chance seemingly coming from nowhere, the Devils breath-taking on the counter attack, and suddenly a tired, short-handed Blaze side had a lot of work to do. The Devils almost made it three, quick to go for the jugular and seize upon any Blaze error, Blaze almost desperate, taking shots from further and further out.
But they pulled themselves back together, Griffin continuing his assault on his opponents, this time lifting Macrae clean over his shoulder and dumping him on his backside. Captain Shea Guthrie used his greatest weapon, his beautiful hands, to try and find a way through but Devils closed in and they left him empty-(beautiful)-handed. Greg Leeb tried to go it alone too, and Blaze looked to be getting their groove back as they turned up the heat on Phil Osaer’s net with a flurry of chances. Benn Olson continued to be brick hard, checking poor Ben Davies almost over the boards onto the Blaze bench – maybe it was a vote of confidence? This seemed to spark the game into life and lo and behold just a few moments later, Guthrie leapt on a poor pass from Tyson Marsh, turned the puck over and made no mistake with his finish. 2-1. This was more like it. The last minute of the period saw a frenetic burst of activity, hits, shots and blocks galore and a buzzer to bring calm after the storm.
The third was shaping up to be a barnstormer, and it didn’t disappoint. The Devils started on a powerplay but Brad Leeb had the first effort of the period, saved by Osaer from a short-handed Blaze. The puck pinged from one end to the other as chances flew in. Mike Schutte provided one of the standout moments skating coast to coast, but his eventual shot was saved.
There were a few moments of madness as former sparring partners Didiomete and Olson were both penalised, and shortly after the Devils had a powerplay opportunity which Mac Faulkner dispatched with clinical precision just a few seconds in. 3-1. Then fortune swung the other way, a Blaze powerplay producing a goal from the impressive Mike Schutte – two goals in as many minutes. A one-goal game once again and real urgency on display from both sides now. Sam Smith was called for clattering Jamie Milam with a high stick and the Devils began an assault on Peter Hirsch’s goal, a shot bouncing off the inside of the post before two more rebound attempts made a hero of the Blaze netminder.
Even-handed once more, the Blaze began to pile on the pressure, Guthrie leading by example with multiple efforts and Mike Egener with a shot. Then an infamous Paul Thompson time out. I’ve witnessed these work on more than one occasion in the past. Would this one have the desired effect? With Hirsch pulled and under a minute to play, Blaze lined up six men in their attacking zone. It was in the script. The puck laid off to Mike Bayrack on the blue line and he made no mistake, a howitzer of a shot barely seen by Phil Osaer to tie the game 3-3. The man who seems intent to have his name on every team sheet in the Elite League proving his worth in the dying seconds of a thrilling encounter.
And so to overtime. The teams traded shots as nerves jangled around the Skydome and it really could have gone either way as first one then the other took their turn. Olson’s final hit of the game on Tyson Marsh seemed to fire up the Devils’ player however, and just seconds later he was burying the puck past Peter Hirsch. Cue wild celebrations for the men in white. And it was all over.
In contrast with my last hockey game, the lacklustre encounter between Sheffield and Nottingham, I remain convinced that this rivalry is by far the more interesting of the two in the Erhardt Conference. There was not much in the way of actual conflict on the night but that wasn’t to say it hadn’t been a full-blooded, hard-hitting, guts or glory battle, and every player gave it their all from start to finish, seemingly recognising the importance of the fixture to the faithful fans both home and visiting. And when all’s said and done, what more can you ask from two rival teams? Surely it’s the bare minimum required to foster a healthy rivalry? Someone send the memo to the Motorpoint and the NIC, will you?
