Red Devils

Come out and support the Red Devils of the future as they play this weekend at Alpine Ice (28-29 August).  At 11:30am on sat, the Canterbury under 16 team takes on Auckland followed by another game at 5pm against Southern.  Auckland plays Southern the following morning at 11:30am with prizegiving occuring after the completion of the game.  Entry for each game is a gold coin donation.  Please support the team in the inaugural year of the NZJEL.

22 August, Christchurch – The Red Devils completed their 2010 campaign with a second straight win over the Dunedin Thunder.  After taking a 9-1 lead after the 1st period, they cruised home to a 13 to 7 win.  Thank you to all the sponsors and all the fans who have supported the Red Devils all season long.

21 August, Christchurch – In the second last game of the regular season, the Red Devils pulled away with an offensive flury to beat the Dunedin Thunder 9-1.  Although the scoreline was close through the first half of the game, the Red Devils dominated possession and out-chanced the visitors.  The second half of the game saw the potency of the Red Devils offense shine through.  Game report here.  Game 2 is tomorrow with puck drop at 4:45pm.  Tickets are available at the door.

Come out this weekend to see the Red Devils take on the Dunedin Thunder at Alpine Ice.  This is the last chance to see the 2010 edition of the team.  Puck drop at 445pm.  Tickets will be available at the door.

16 August – The Red Devils return home for the last 2 games of the regular season following a couple of disappointing losses to the Auckland Admirals.  The first game saw the Red Devils tie the game late only to lose in overtime.  The next night also saw them on the wrong end of a 6-5 score decided late in the game.  The Red Devils will be playing for pride in their last 2 games and would like to thank all the fans and supporters this year.  They will be playing hard for you all next weekend against the resurgent Dunedin Thunder.  Puck drop at 445pm on both saturday and sunday.  Tickets available at the door.

Check out and bid on these auctions to experience what it’s like to be a Canterbury Red Devil for a day.  Spend some time on the ice with the team, get your own game worn jersey and watch an NZIHL game from the team bench.

Auction 1

Auction 2

13 August – The Red Devils travel to Avondale this weekend to take on the Admirals in their most important games to date.  Should the Devils win both games, they are well placed to make the finals. The likely location for the finals will be in Botany against the Swarm.  Look for a triumphant Red Devils team to return home for the following weekends games against the Dunedin Thunder.  Tickets for the last games of the regular season are still available.  Don’t miss the last chance of NZIHL action at Alpine Ice for the 2010 season.  See you at the games!

Game 28 – 25th of July 2010 Canterbury Red Devils vs. Botany Swarm

 Red Devils can’t find an answer to Nothling, lose 4-0.

 Heading into the second game of the weekend against the Swarm, the Red Devils were hoping to salvage a split in the weekend series to keep the race atop the NZIHL standings close.  Instead, Zak Nothling blanked the Red Devils giving the Swarm a 4-0 win and, more importantly, a seven point cushion on the Red Devils heading into the final weeks of the NZIHL season.

 The first 10 minutes of the game were very scrappy as both teams tried to establish their physical presence.  Swarm goaltender Zak Nothling and Red Devils goaltender Justin Findlay both made key saves in the early minutes as both teams traded momentum.  Finally at the seven minute mark, Alexandr Polozov deflected a shot from Lukas Birgel off a pass from Charlie Huber on the power-play to give the Swarm an important 1-0 lead.  The remainder of the period was scoreless as the teams traded power-play opportunities with neither able to put a goal past the oppositions goaltender.

 The second period saw the defensive battle continue as both teams were held scoreless.  As in the first, both teams had several power-play opportunities, but neither was able to capitalize.  The period also featured terrific 5-5 play and great individual efforts by several players on both teams.  At the end of the second, the score was still 1-0 Swarm.

 Heading into the third, the Red Devils knew they had their work cut out for them.  Lose the game and they would trail the first place Swarm by seven points in the standings.  The Red Devils pushed hard for the first few minutes, but the Swarm survived the early barrage and Sam Boniface scored the all important second goal at the four minute mark on assists from Alexandr Polozov and Lyle Idoine.  Again the Red Devils pressed and again Botany countered during a 5 on 3 power-play when Ian Wannamaker tipped a shot past the Red Devils goaltender on assists from Alexandr Polozov and Jamie Lawrence.  Down by three and facing a sweep, the Red Devils tried again to press the Swarm and for six minutes were able to put some pressure on Swarm goaltender Zak Nothling.    Nothling had an answer for everything the Red Devils threw at him and held them scoreless for the remainder of the game.  The Swarm added a forth goal from Alexandr Polozov on an assist from Corey Down in the closing minutes to close out a 4-0 win and a series sweep of the Red Devils.

 Total shots on goal were 24 for the Red Devils to 31 for the Swarm.

 Total penalty minutes were 20 for the Red Devils to 16 for the Swarm.

The Canterbury Red Devils simply couldn’t find a way past Zak Nothling during today’s game in Auckland against the Botany Swarm. The game started with both teams playing very defensively until the 8:28 minute mark of the first when Mitch Oak found his way into the offensive end of the ice on a breakaway from the top of the circles in. He slid the puck between Nothling’s legs to put the Devils up 1-0. It was then that Alexander Polozov decided he wasn’t going to stand for this. It only took him 24 seconds after the Devils scored to put the puck past Justin Findlay on a pair of assists from Charlie Huber and Corey Down. Not even a minute later Polozov again found himself putting the puck past Findlay; again Charlie Huber and Corey down found themselves getting assists on the play. It was at the four minute mark when the Swarm used a powerplay to their advantage.  Ian Wannamaker found himself on the receiving end of a pass that started on Corey Down’s stick and made its way to Jamie Lawrence before getting it to Wannamaker. The Devils tried to come back and rang a couple shot’s off the post but couldn’t find their legs for the rest of the first period. The first ended with the Swarm leading 3-1 and their fans were going crazy with excitement.

                The Devils came out in the 2^nd period and held the Swarm scoreless with a very aggressive forecheck and backcheck, also holding them to 8 shots in the 2^nd period. Findlay came up with some big saves to give the Devils the opportunities they needed. The Devils capitalized on their opportunities in the 2nd when Mitch Oak found himself on a receiving end of a Chris Eaden pass and redirected it past Nothling bringing the score to 3-2 in favour of the Swarm. Three minutes later Jake Krumm found Justin Fuller who then in turn found Chris Eaden who slid the puck around Nothling and put it in the back of the net. This brought the score to 3-3 however, this was the last time the Devils would be able to get past Nothling. The second period ended with the game at a deadlock 3-3.

                The third period was when the Swarm really came into their own in this game. They started the third period on a mission and 30 seconds into the third when again on the powerplay Lyle Idoine put the puck past Justin Findlay with assists going to Charlie Huber and Corey Down, landing his 4^th assist of the game.  Seven minutes later the Swarm again found themselves on a powerplay when Josh Hay found Lyle Idoine who then found KC Ball who put the puck in the back of the net putting the Swarm up 5-3 with 12:25 left to play. The Devils were unable to come back with a hard shift and just 16 seconds later Polozov found himself on a breakaway on an errant pass by the Devils defenseman, he put the puck past Findlay to get his 3^rd goal of the game. The remainder of the game the Swarm did just that, they Swarmed the Devils outshooting them 18 to 6 in the final period of the game. The Devils couldn’t find a way past Nothling and the game ended with the Swarm on the winning end 6-3.