➡️ Monday Review: Thompson and the GOAT
Devils coach delighted to work with former nemesis
New Cardiff Devils head coach Paul Thompson says he’s looking forward to having Joey Martin on his team rather than against him.
Thompson gave his first interview (video below) since taking over at the Vindico Arena where he spoke of the move back to the UK and reflected on his success in Denmark.
But the thought of having Martin, a man who terrorised his Sheffield Steelers team in Thompson’s last spell here, was an exciting one.
“It’s funny, I called Joey a couple of nights ago, as I was calling round the players that we had,” he said.
“I introduced myself and I told him “Thank God when your arms go up in the air after a goal or a great play, we’re going to be on the same side’.”
“I think he’s been the best import player there’s been in the duration of his career. When I first coached against him with the Steelers, he was the best player in the league.
“Last year he showed he’s right up there still and to have him in the team again is fantastic.
“I’ve only ever heard good things about him and the kind of guy he is and I’m really looking forward to working with him.
📺 WATCH NOW: Paul Thompson’s first interview as Cardiff Devils coach (Courtesy of Cardiff Devils)
🗣️ MOORE PUSHED FOR NEW STARS DEAL
Dundee Stars defenceman Craig Moore revealed he pushed for the deal that kept him at the club for another year, which was announced on Thursday.
The 29-year-old is back on Tayside for his seventh season and looking forward to another campaign under Marc LeFevbre’s roster.
And he laughed his signing was probably one of the easiest the Dundee coach has had to sort out
“I’m excited to be back,” he told Dundee Stars TV (video below). “Dundee’s a second home for me and it was an easy decision. In fact, I went to Marc and told him I’d like to get it all sorted out.
“I was set on coming back and I’m pleased to get it all sorted out quickly. It was probably and easier one for Marc to do.
“When he first came back a couple of years ago, it was easy to return because I had played with him before.
“We’ve worked together for another couple of years and now one more. I know what I get from him, he knows what to expect from me and it works for everyone in that sense.
📺 WATCH NOW: Craig Moore chats with Dundee Stars TV
🤝 ON THE MOVE
Time to catch up with the moves you may have missed by the clubs in the last few days as the teams continue their recruitment drives for 2025/26
👔 Referred to by Paul Thompson in his interview above, the Cardiff coach has brought in assistant coach Niklas Hovivuori as his number two, who was his right hand man in Odense. As a result, Devils legend Matthew Myers has left the club after serving as assistant to Pete Russell last season - Cardiff Devils website
🐉 Coventry Blaze announced the return of Canadian forward Grayson Constable on Friday. The 27-year-old has signed for a second campaign at the Skydome - Coventry Blaze website
🔥 Three years after spending a season with them, Guildford Flames announced former defenceman Jamal Watson would be returning to Surrey for the 2025/26 season - Guildford Flames website
🟡⚫️ Nottingham Panthers announced another returnee as Ollie Betteridge put pen to paper on a new deal that will take him to ten years with the club and a testimonial to look forward to - Nottingham Panthers website
🧤 A couple of departures from Manchester Storm were announced over the weekend, with netminder Alex Oldale leaving after two years to join NIHL National League side Sheffield Steeldogs - Manchester Storm on X
👋 Then on Sunday, Storm confirmed Owen Griffiths would not be returning to the Storm Shelter in the new season. Destination unknown at the time of writing - Manchester Storm on X
🏟️ AROUND THE RINKS
Let’s take a look at what else has been going on up and down the country as we go around the rinks at other stories you may have missed:
🥹 We’ll start on a positive note with some nostalgia from the recent play-off weekend and this excellent video from Nottingham Panthers:
🦓 Prior to the beginning of the World Championships at the weekend, the Elite League announced there were officiating roles for two of our own - Elite Ice Hockey League website
🇪🇺 One of interest to Belfast Giants fans with the confirmation that the Champions Hockey League draw for 2025/26 will take place on Wednesday 21st May in Stockholm - CHL on X
👕 The creative among the Nottingham Panthers fans have until midnight tonight (Monday) to submit their entries to design the club’s pre-season jersey - Nottingham Panthers website
🇦🇺 To Australia now (yes, you read that right) and congratulations to Robert Lachowicz, currently spending his summer in the AIHL with Perth Thunder where he scored his first goal for them in Sunday’s 3-2 road win at Brisbane Lightning (Video courtesy of Banners on the Wall on X)
📰 Cole Shudra spoke with Phil Harrison at the Yorkshire Post as he looked back on GB’s recent World Championship success in Romania - Yorkshire Post website
⚫️ Cardiff Devils paid tribute to Frank Caprice, a member of the team who won the Super League in 1996/97 after the news of his death - Cardiff Devils on X
🛬 Another former Devil is returning to these shores as Mike McNamee, who played in the 2019-20 season and is now doing good things with the band, Boston Levi, will take part in Joey Martin’s testimonial next month - Joey Martin on X
🗣️ Staying in Cardiff, Devils spoke with another one of their returnees, Josh MacDonald as he discussed his return and gave his thoughts on last season
⛈️ And to end on a mysterious note, something is brewing in Manchester 🤔
🎧 EPISODE 2 GUEST REVEALED
The first podcast was a wonderful success so let’s tell you who we’ve got for you later this week.
The photo above is a giveaway so we’re delighted to tell you we’ll be joined by Coventry Blaze defenceman David Clements ahead of his testimonial this Saturday.
David chats about his big night coming up, his career with the Blaze and we hear some reflections from the recent GB campaign in Romania.
Catch it this Thursday, available to download from here or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Simply search for Elite UK.
If you want to go to the game at the Skydome this Saturday, face off 5:30pm, you can buy your tickets here.
Also, a massive thank you to everyone who downloaded and listened to our first show on Thursday, where we chatted with David Simms. If you still haven’t heard it, you can catch it here:
🙏 THANK YOU
Before we finish, we just wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks for the support, subscriptions and follows across here and on our social media channels.
Since launching on April 1st, we’ve reached and breached 100 subscribers on here, over 100 followers on X and almost 400 on the Facebook, which is incredible.
We launched the podcast on Thursday too and download numbers have been excellent so we can only thank you from the bottom of our hearts and if we can ask for one more favour, tell everyone about us.
You can catch us on social media on the following handles:
X - @elitemedia2025
BlueSky - @elitemedia.bsky.social
Facebook - Elite UK
Also, feel free to send us any feedback or questions you may have and you’ll find us on email elitemedia2025@outlook.com.
We’ll be back with another Elite newsletter and the next podcast this Thursday!
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