International Hockey

The Elite Ice Hockey League in the UK is far from over after the Sheffield Steelers stumbled to two home defeats in 48 hours.

Saturday saw the Cardiff Devils visit the Sheffield Arena and the game began as anticipated with the Steelers going up 1-0 through Doug Sheppard at 14:49.

However, the Devils ripped up the script in the second period and took advantage of the host's penalty troubles. Brad Voth and Jay Latuilippe scored powerplay goals.

The visitors weren't finished there and took the lead at 32:34 through Wes Jarvis.

It took the Steelers just 59 seconds to equalize through former Basingstoke Bison winger Brad Cruickshank, but the Devils were able to soak up the remaining pressure and the game went into overtime.

A nervy additional five minutes from both sides led to a scoreless OT and the game went to penalty shots.

After goals from Legue and Teplitsky, it was left to Brad Voth to send the Welsh side home with the extra points.

Sunday saw the visit of the Belfast Giants to the steel-city and an attempt to repeat the work of Cardiff.

An exciting first 20 minutes saw four goals shared equally between the sides.

It was evident the defenses had been spoken to during the intermission and the second looked destined for stalemate until Joey Talbot fired the league leaders back in front.

Jody Lehman continued to show coach Dave Matsos just what he has to replace next year with some fine saves, but the Giants did grab the equalizer on the powerplay at 52:29 and the game went into overtime.

One minute into the five minute OT, Steve Thornton sent the visitors home with the extra point to keep their own title dreams very much alive.

If you have looked for sports on the web or found any sports news programming on TV, you will know by now that Canada won its fifth straight World Junior title last night in Ottawa.

The Swedes seemed to come out at the start of the game trying to prove that they would not be pushed around. The trouble was that they were a little too aggressive and took a roughing penalty less than one minute into the game. Canada scored on the ensuing power play to go up 1-0. The period ended with the score 1-0.

Canada got into a little bit of penalty trouble in the second period, but Sweden could not capitalize with the man advantage. Then Angelo Esposito was able to skate out of the corner when a Swedish player broke his stick and roof a backhand to make it 2-0.

You have to admire Esposito. He could have given up on trying out for the Junior National Team because he had been cut on the previous three occasions when he had tried to make it.

Here is the Goal

The Swedes took a penalty just as time expired in the second period, so Canada started the third period on the power play. It did not take long to make Sweden pay either, as Cody Hodgson scored to put Canada up 3-0.

Sweden got as close as 3-1, but Jordan Eberle scored into the empty net to make it 4-1 with just under two minutes remaining. Hodgson added another empty net goal with about 30 seconds left to seal the deal, and Canada won the gold by a score of 5-1.

Canada was great on the penalty kill as Sweden went 0-7 on the power play. Much of the credit should go to goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who was solid and even stellar at times. He saved his best game for the last one, as did the rest of his teammates.

Here are some highlights from the game.

For more on the sports news story on the web, click Here.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

If Canada never wins another World Junior Championship for the rest of time, we can rest assured that this country's string of dominance over the past five years will never be forgotten.

Team Canada capped what was perhaps the most impressive triumph of them all Monday with a 5-1 win over the Swedes in the gold medal game.

No, they didn't run anyone over (except those poor Kazakhs), and they didn't dominate from start to finish. But that's what is so incredible about this team and this win. They didn't have the stacked roster of the 2005 squad that steamrolled the competition in Grand Forks. They didn't have the Jonathan Toews/Carey Price duo which led the red-and-white to gold in Leksand in 2007.

Many people second-guessed this team right from the start. They doubted whether an aging Pat Quinn could get the most out of a group of teenagers. They questioned the choice of Dustin Tokarski over Chet Pickard in net. They said the roster was too small. They said the blueline was weak.

Heading into the tournament, they weren't necessarily wrong. By all accounts, this team would have to fight tooth and nail to finish off the drive for five.

And you know what? They did. They showed the world how this game is meant to be played. They sent a clear message to one and all that they would not be denied. 

It takes a special kind of toughness to rebound from what the Canadians had thrown at them. John Tavares showed that toughness when he picked up the pieces and almost single-handedly led his team back from the abyss in the New Year's Eve game against the Americans.

Jordan Eberle displayed incredible mental toughness in the semifinal in finding a way to light the lamp with just 5.4 seconds remaining to save Canada's tournament and reward millions of fans for daring to hope.

What this young man was able to do under enormous pressure is simply extraordinary. Picture yourself on the ice, just seconds away from devastating defeat, with 20,000 screaming fans watching your every move and millions more holding their breath in their living rooms, the weight of a nation on your shoulders.

Most seasoned veterans couldn't perform under those circumstances. Yet 18-year-old Jordan Eberle managed to focus on what had to be done—and he did it. No one watching that night will ever forget it.

That, friends, is what separates the winners from the losers.

To quote our prime minister, Team Canada simply knows how to win. Period.

Speaking of losers, the Swedes simply embarrassed the hockey world last night. No wonder they only managed one goal; they were too busy trying to dive, flop, fake, whine, and cheap shot their way to gold.

Jacob Markstrom should be unequivocally ashamed of his antics. His teammates largely have him to thank for beginning the cycle of frustration that eventually lost them the game. He started flopping around very early on, which inspired the Canadians to bury him.

The fans in Ottawa started booing, and that rattled Victor Hedman. He mugged Angelo Esposito after a collision with Markstrom that the goaltender knew full well was coming. Things snowballed from there, and Mattias Tedenby and David Ullstrom, among others, got in on the gong show.

The Swedes simply took the wrong approach to this game. They chose the trash talk route. Yes, they badly wanted revenge for last year's loss to Canada. But the way to do that is to work your butt off and develop a quiet confidence. 

That's what Canada did. They knew they could beat this Swedish team, but they took nothing for granted. They knew what had to be done, and they went out and did their talking on the ice.

So, to John Tavares, Jordan Eberle, Cody Hodgson, P.K. Subban, Dustin Tokarski, and all the other heroes of Team Canada: You have written one of the greatest chapters of international hockey history. Remember it. Cherish it. Relive it again and again.

As Tavares shouted: "That's five, Canada, five!"

It never gets old.

Canada wins it's fifth consecutive gold!

I don't think you people across Canada really know how big this IS!—but

Tavares pulls his weight and Esposito shows the way!

The Swedes were no real threat since we managed to keep them to the outer perimeters, ever on their power plays.

Good job Team Canada, you really deserved this one!

But let me try to put things into perspective.

In what other friggin' tournament (or other world) do you Canadians think it is OK to run over the opposing goalie not once, but twice, three and four times?

You were lucky you played the "chicken swedes", or there would have been some serious blood on the ice.

Don't ever try that again. Ever.

Secondly, when are you Canadians going to stop trying to intimidate the officials? I mean—it worked real well here in Ottawa—but—isn't it getting old?

Third (and this might sound like sour grapes) but you Team Canada were unbelievably friggin' lucky.

You should have lost against the US (how many seconds before the penalty expired did he come in?!)

You really stood NO chance against Russia and the rest of that game was nothing but pure coincidence and luck! (And please don't claim anything else!). C'mon, 5 seconds to go.

But hey, I am the first to admit—a real good team IS lucky—so again, congratulations Team Canada, you deserved it!

And what else I admire in you—you never give up.

But we meet again some day.

Until then.

At the start of November, the Great Britain senior men’s side went to Sanok in Poland for an Olympic pre-qualifying tournament. Qualification for the Olympics is a long process with several stages.

Firstly there is a pre-pre-qualifying tournament, where one group of four teams play and the winner progresses. Following that there is the pre-qualifying stage where GB entered into, with 12 teams in three groups and winners of each group again progress.

The final qualifying round is then played where again 12 teams play in three groups, with the final winners in that stage progressing to the Olympics along with the top nine ranked nations who qualify automatically. Confused? It’s a little tricky to say the least.

GB were entered into the pre-qualifying stage because of their low world ranking (29th) where they faced the hosts Poland, Japan, and Romania, all of which were ranked higher than Team GB.

Coventry had a strong representation on the side with Jonathan Weaver, Ben O’Connor, Leigh Jamieson and Russ Cowley all travelling, not to mention head coach Paul Thompson and many of the support staff.

An agonising 2-1 defeat to Poland after penalty shots in the first game followed by 2-1 regulation time defeat by Japan killed off GB’s chances of progressing from the tournament. The final game was a somewhat one-sided 11-1 victory over Romania in a game with nothing on the line.

Russ Cowley had mixed feelings about the trip to Poland, “They were some good teams. We were unfortunate against Poland losing on penalty shots. Japan were good but it was only a one goal game. We needed to beat Japan to make it through, and we had our chances.

"It was frustrating as well against Poland. We could have won both games. Romania, they weren’t very good, but they were missing a few key players in that game.”

With both key games ending in one-goal defeats, what can be done to put GB ahead of the nations who are around them? “We only had one training session before we flew out, so we could’ve done with more time together. But it was a good group of guys, the squad was similar to the World Championships, so we don’t really have any excuses.”

Preparation time was something that coach Paul Thompson highlighted as well, “It’s hugely frustrating. We trained for an hour and a half before we flew out, that was enough just to walkthrough our plays on the ice.

"The fact was that we were the better team in every game, we just didn’t execute like a club team would. We just weren’t as comfortable with the system and the playbook as we could be, in particular on the powerplay."

"Poland trained together for two weeks before the tournament and I think Japan had three weeks together. We’re looking at getting more time but it’s difficult. The clubs gave their blessing and released their players, but they had to because it’s a IIHF break. Our league doesn’t stop like many others do.”

The low world ranking belies where GB compared to the rest of the nations. Japan, who went on the win the group beat GB 2-1 in this tournament, but back in 2007 when the sides last met, GB won 4-3. “No one particularly stood out”, said Cowley, “They were just solid teams. We’re ranked lower than we are because we haven’t taken part in previous Olympic tournaments.”

The rankings system is based around tournaments entered and results and since the decision was made not to attempt to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics, the GB world ranking has been hurt accordingly. There is a gap between some of the nations and GB, but in a positive way and that was shown in the result against Romania.

Thompson also commented on the opposition from the tournament, “They were well disciplined, slick organisations. The difference between us, Poland and Japan was just preparation. That’s what sets the teams apart.

"Japan are very similar to us, they have a great skating team. Poland were full of experience this time round. But in the last period of the Japan game we outshot them 15-4. Their netminder had a good game, but we only have ourselves to blame. Player for player we are just as good as either of those teams.”

“Japan take part in a tournament every year against some of the best teams, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada (although the Canadian side is a select side of European-based players). Their coach paid us a huge compliment after the Olympic tournament when he said that we broke them down better than any of those other teams.”

This is an improvement on previous years, where GB have been competitive but generally beaten comfortably. Now they are competing and nearly winning, perhaps lacking the cutting edge to take them on to a victorious tournament.

Progression takes time. GB head back to Poland in April for the Division One World Championships. Thompson said, “We need to be looking for a medal in April. It’s small steps but it has to be. But look at the average of our squad, a lot of the lads are young, between 18 and 22.

"They all have their best years of hockey ahead of them. The Under 18’s and Under 20’s are bringing players forward as well, and that step up is happening.”

When Paul Thompson took over the GB squad, the teams at all levels had bounced between Divisions One and Two in the World Championships. Now they are nearly progressing in Olympic tournaments and can genuinely believe that medals are within their grasp at future tournaments.

Improvements are happening, perhaps slower than some observers would like, but Team GB is heading in the right direction across the board.

Living in the great frozen north of Canada, makes it difficult not to be a fan of the good old hockey game. I would imagine hockey plays the same role for people living in another sub zero country called Russia.

Last night’s Canada-Russia semi-final game didn’t disappoint any hockey fans around the world.

The photo above demonstrates how Russian goaltender Vadim Zhelobnyuk and the whole Russian sqaud felt with 5.4 seconds left in the 2009 IIHF World Juniors Championship Canada-Russia semi-final.

Canada and Russia have always shared a very strong rivalry on the international hockey scene even when Russia was still part of the Soviet Union.

One just has to look back at the 1972 Canada-Soviet hockey series and how bitter the rivalry was in that series, a movie based on that series was made in 2006 for CBC.

Russia leads the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship since its inception in 1977 with 26 medals and Canada is a close second with 24 medals. Canada and Russia are the top countries in world junior hockey the next team behind these two teams is Finland with 12 medals.

With the rivalry and storied history between the Canadian and Russian junior teams, clearly Saturday Night’s semi-final game was the hot ticket. Especially considering Canada knocked Russia out of the finals in 2008 and beat them in the finals from 2005-2007.

The scoring started early two minutes into the first, as Brett Sonne put in his first of the tournament. However, in what ended up characterizing the game for the rest of the night, Maxim Goncharov of Russia scored three minutes after Sonne to tie the game 1-1.

Patrice Cormier put Canada back on top seven minutes in to the first period 2-1 only to have Dmitry Klopov score 16 seconds later. The first period finished 2-2.

The first period was high paced and finished pretty even with Canada having 11 shots on goal to Russia’s 12. Canada was more disciplined in the first period with two penalty minutes to six minutes for Russia.

The second period was rather one sided with Canada out shooting Russia 13-3 and Russia spending close to half the period on the penalty kill.

Despite Canada’s excellent power play through out the 2009 campaign, Russia managed to hold Canada to one goal in the second period due to great play in nets by Russia’s Vadim Zhelobnyuk and good defense.

The score at the end of the second period, 3-2 for Canada, which brings us to the action packed third period.

The third period started with a bang after Evgeny Grachev scored a minute into the period tieing the game once again at 3-3.

Shorthanded five minutes in, the ever so skilled forward Angelo Esposito showed why he was not a player to be passed on for team Canada. Canada gained the lead once again making it 4-3.

Not to be outdone, with the two man advantage, the persistent Ruskies came back less than a minute later on a Sergei Andronov powerplay goal, 4-4.

Now the story of the game took a turn, with two minutes and 20 seconds left Russia gained the lead for the first time in the game off of Klopov’s second, making the score 5-4.

Canada did not look as sharp as Russia in the third period and being down 5-4 with just over two minutes left, fans of Canada’s team were abandoning hope for a fifth straight gold medal.

Now Canada pulled the goalie with just over a minute left and they were making plays and peppering the Russian net. Russia had a chance in the last minute to put the game a way when a shot from Russia’s end went wide and missed the net leading to a face-off in the Russian end.

Now with desperation setting in and Canada doing anything possible to keep the puck in the Russian end, Jonathan Tavares blindly shot one at the net which was blocked by a Russian defender.

The Russian defender failed to control the puck after blocking it and Eberle snatched the puck up. With the puck on his stick, Eberle made a move and put the puck high and in to the Russian net for his second of the night and more importantly tieing the game 5-5 with just 5.4 seconds left.

The third period ended even 5-5, with the shots 13-10 in favor of Canada. Canada played a little less disciplined in the third spending six minutes in the box to Russia’s two.

In overtime the tempo was high and both teams had their chances although Canada seemed fired up and Russia seemed content in trying to wait it out until the shootout.

However, both goaltenders maintained their composure and the sudden death overtime finished with no winner. Off to the over time shootout, a fitting end to a game between a rivalry of such great proportions.

Although the Russian goaltender stopped 35 of 41 shots and Tokarski 23 of 28 shots, it was Tokarski who would steal the show.

Tokarski did not allow one Russian shooter to score in the shootout. Meanwhile Canadian shooters Eberle and Tavares both scored high on the Russian net minder Zhelobnyuk to secure a 6-5 overtime victory.

Another chapter to the epic Canada-Russia rivalry has been written. With Canada moving on to the gold medal match against Sweden and Russia moving onto play Slovakia for the bronze medal.

Sweden has not lost yet in this tournament and they have outscored their opponents 26 to 6 and interestingly beat Canada’s last opponent Russia 5-0 in the round robin. It will be interesting to see how Team Canada matches up with the Swedes and whether it will be as close as Russia-Canada was this coming Monday. Go Canada!

Hockey Canada today announced their roster for the Under-20 World Junior Championship, following the final cut of 16 players, taking the roster down to the required 22. The full roster can be seen here.

Once again, the Los Angeles Kings will be represented at this level, with some young prospects featured on the Canadian side. Last year, the Kings had four prospects on the side, not a bad feat considering there are only 22 players on the squad.

Jonathan Bernier (NM), Drew Doughty (D), Thomas Hickey (D), and Wayne Simmonds (F) were gold medal winners in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Doughty in particular was a hit at the tournament, voted as the best defenseman and making the tournament's all star team. In hindsight, this comes as no surprise given his stellar play in the NHL.

Hickey returns to the squad this year as the championships are set to be in the Canadian capital, Ottawa. Also making the final roster this year is Colten Teubert (D), the Kings' second pick in the first round of the 2008 Entry Draft 

It wasn't only Canadians that were involved in the World Juniors last year. Viatcheslav Voynov was representing Russia and Oscar Moller was on the Swedish side. Moller has since (and somewhat unexpectedly) made the jump to the NHL club, whereas Voynov is spending his first year in North American hockey in Manchester with the Monarchs.

Los Angeles is investing in the future as part of their transition from cellar-dwellers to cup-contenders. You can already see this on the ice as part of the NHL roster, with the average age of the side only a little over 24. The movement towards youth is exemplified in the selection of Dustin Brown as captain (age 24) and Anze Kopitar (21) and Matt Greene (25) as alternates.

This investment will only work if the players are scouted, drafted, and developed properly. In Drew Doughty, the Kings clearly were lucky to draft a player who was NHL ready. Other players, such as Teubert, Voynov, and Hickey, have to be brought through carefully.

Teams are beginning to understand that in the salary cap era, you need to develop your own players rather than trade and go through free agency. It's more cost-effective for an organisation to develop their own defensemen than it is to sign in free-agency. Hence the draft selections of Doughty, Hickey, Voynov, and Teubert all in the top two rounds of picks over the last two seasons.

It looks like the Kings may have actually got the jump over some of their competitors on this. Their youth movement is clearly very strong and hopefully will bring many awards and silverware to the Staples Center in years to come.

Netminders are a special breed. They are quite often seen as a mad, solitary figure, perhaps someone who is a bit strange for enjoying being shot at with a 170 gram vulcanised rubber bullet. You do have to wonder what makes players think that it is a good idea. However, every team needs a good one and this season Coventry have found just that in JF Perras, signed during the summer from Elite League rivals Edinburgh Capitals.

“I have a brother who is five years older than me and he played. It’s just one of things back home, everyone does it, you know, 6am practices, parents drive you everywhere. I think my parents got more fun out of it than we did!” JF started out like most Canadians at an early ages and began life on the ice as a forward, but soon turned to netminding.

“It was about first grade (about six to seven years old). I don’t remember changing positions, but I do remember a day at school, it was picture day and I’d just broken my leg skiing. We got a picture of me in the crease on a wheelchair with my cast on!”

Children at that age generally have no fear in most things, so stopping pucks might not seem like a bad idea. However, being the goalscorer is generally the position that gets the most attention, so why do kids turn to being a netminder?

“A lot of kids like the fancy equipment, shiny new pads and like getting all kitted up. I think once you’ve tried it, it’s either something you love or you hate it. You still get the glory being in goal, everyone notices you if you have a good game. Or a bad game too, but no one notices you if you’re average and that’s the worst thing.”

As a netminder, you often have to work harder and on more specific training than the outskaters, “Thommo works us pretty hard, we do about an hour 15 mins to an hour and a half everyday on the ice. And then there’s all the gym stuff too. No big weight lifting during the season, I do a 30 min bike ride and other stuff, just to keep loose. During the summer is when I put the weight on.

"A few of my friends from back home get together in the summer, they’re all hockey players so we get together around June time. It’s more fun that way, and that keeps you interested. I should do more on my flexibility than I do, I have a couple of small jobs in the summer, but this summer I worked out hard as I knew it was going to be a good year.”

Despite all the hard work, JF does not want to change positions now. “You always think you can play out, skate round and shoot a few pucks. But as good as I think I am, I don’t think I could cut it out there! We shoot some pucks in practice, and have a bit of fun, but that’s it.”

Being able to play the puck is now a pre-requisite for a Blaze netminder, with past players Trevor Koenig and Jody Lehman both liking to get out and get involved in the play. “I used to come out a lot more before I came over. The ice can be so bad at times. I just try and keep it simple, I’m not going to make the fancy long pass.”

Earlier on in the evening, Coventry triumphed 10-2 over JF’s former side Edinburgh. Playing against former sides is something that is relatively new to JF, “I’ve not really switched sides in the same league before. I was traded once back in juniors and played my old team Erie (Otters) when I was with the Ottawa 67’s.”

In a lot of sports, former teammates often come back to haunt you. “I don’t think that’s the case in ice hockey. There’s another five players on the ice, it’s a team sport, they’re not going to get that perfect shot on that one-on-none breakaway that you get in practice.”

Perras can identify those players that are good and will cause him and the Blaze defence difficulty, “Belfast has a couple of good quality shooters, Cheverie and Deniset. You’ve got Tessier at Nottingham, and a couple of other guys with him. Sheffield are dangerous as well. It’s different to last season, you can see who’s going to give you difficulty whereas last year I was just getting bombarded night after night and it was all the same.”

Netminding certainly is not for the shy and retiring, or those who might be scared of getting a little hurt. By rights, he should be crazy. But JF Perras seems to be very comfortable and relaxed in the Coventry surroundings.

Confidence breeds success, which is exactly what the Blaze are looking for again this season with the Canadian backstopping the way.

One of the Coventry Blaze’s new signings was a player that may be familiar to some fans from Coventry and others around the league. Sylvain Deschatelets (pronounced DAY-sha-te-lay) was a member of the 2007-08 Cardiff Devils side that finished 6th in the Elite League whilst also getting to the semi finals of the Challenge Cup and the Playoffs. He led the team in points (26 goals and 62 assists for 88 points), and finished 7th overall in league scoring.

The Blainville, Quebec native had some injury problems before he came to the UK, and spent six months out on the sidelines in Italy in a frustrating season.

When the time came to looking for teams, it didn’t appear that there were many takers.

“I spent a lot of time out, but my good friend Mike Garrow (who Sylvain played with in San Diego for several seasons) played there (in Cardiff) and he said to me that Cardiff were really interested and wanted me. Then Gerad Adams called me, and I signed for them.”

It still wasn’t all plain sailing for Sylvain. When the start of last season came round, there were still some lingering injury problems, “I was still having injury problems, and there was talk about me replacing Mark Smith from the year before who is an excellent player.

I didn’t start off well, there was a lot of pressure on me, but I put a lot of pressure on myself as well. The team didn’t play well, and the coach had to make a move and I was given my two weeks’ notice. These things are part of hockey. I was kinda mad, but I thought that I’d play, I’d show them that I was good.”

Despite the rough start, it ended up being quite a good season for Sylvain on a personal level. The points tally proved his worth and projected him into the eyes and plans of many on looking coaches. “We had so many problems though. All the injuries, the team owners were constantly trying to sell the team all season (Cardiff did indeed change hands during the off season and are now under new ownership) and they were offering the players pay cuts. It was a difficult time.”

At the end of the season, there was more uncertainty. “Cardiff said they wanted me back, they were really interested but then nothing happened. I don’t know why, but they didn’t offer a contract. I had a couple of things on the table, but nothing was certain. Then Coventry lost Sylvain Cloutier when he retired, which was a big blow for them. Coach Thompson got in touch, and said they were really interested.”

One of the things that have become apparent in UK hockey is that a lot of the recruiting is done by word of mouth.

Also during his time in San Diego, Sylvain played with ex-Blaze players Trevor Koenig and Samy Nasreddine.

“I spoke with Samy, and he told me about the history of the team, he said that if you want to win trophies, that’s where you want to play. I knew as well that if I came back to the UK, it (Coventry) was the organisation I wanted to play for. It’s the best in the UK, the team is great, the people are great, and the fans are unbelievable.”

From the preseason games, it looks like Sylvain is going to be put on a forward line with Coventry’s own dynamic duo, Adam Calder and Dan Carlson. They were three of the top seven points scorers in the league last year, which looks like being a formidable combination.

“It’s a great opportunity. You know things change over a season with form and injuries, but it’s hopefully going to work out. I’m really looking forward to it.” Sylvain feels that he is a good fit to slot in with the other two players.

“I bring size, I’ve got good hockey sense. I can dig in and bring the puck out of the corners. You know Adam is a great shooter, and Dan is great passer and works really hard. It should be a good combination.”

One of the things Sylvain is looking for this season is a better start, particularly in comparison to last year at Cardiff, “I want a better start, that’s the main thing. I’ve been skating all summer, and working hard all year long. I always seem to start slowly, but this year I’d like a big strong start.” With 3 goals and 6 assists in the 4 preseason games, there is certainly the basis of some good solid form going into the new season.

Deschatelets was a late signing for Coventry, and was brought in as Sylvain Cloutier’s replacement. The two are however very different players with different roles. They do share the same desire to win trophies, which is now something that seems to be an essential characteristic for new Coventry Blaze players.

But then if you have a successful format, why change it? Sylvain Deschatelets is another new face hoping that he can add to Coventry recent good run of trophy success.