✍️ Wednesday View: A quiet weekend away
Play-off reflections after a blockbusting couple of days
The play-off blues have officially kicked in.
The euphoria and excitement of what transpired on Sunday night turned into the gloom that that’s it. The season is now over. The abyss of summer has begun and the thought of any meaningful domestic action until August, at least, has taken over.
Don’t be sad that it’s over. Be glad that it happened.
The celebrations then the collective stunned reaction that two game-winning goals in overtime in the play-off final had been wiped out. Fans revelling in seeing Belfast and Sheffield go no further than the semi-finals. Clangus dancing his way to another dance off victory. It all happened.
The colours of all teams all over Bolero Square throughout the weekend, rivalries put aside for the sake of a friendly drink and a laugh. “Where’s your treble gone?” sang by the Steelers fans, who had, ironically, saw their treble go. Yep, it was real.
It’s one mad fever dream, but we go back every year and do it all again. Four sets of fans start the weekend with hope and nerves. The others are just there for the party.
The 2025 edition was another successful event for the Elite League in a format unique in ice hockey circles all over the world and a couple of days on, fans are still talking about it, sharing photos and reflecting.
There’s always talk about how the play-off format can be improved or even prolonged, but one thing is for sure, this weekend is here to stay.
Three of the four games showcased all that is great about the sport in this country. We had the storylines, the drama and the entertainment.
Would Belfast complete another treble? Could Sheffield hang on to their last piece of their treble from 12 months ago? Could Cardiff add to their Continental Cup? Could Nottingham complete a great season in the best possible way?
Only one came true and it was the latter as they put everyone through the wringer to do it.
The players gave their all, overcoming those two goal review goals wiped in overtime to play out the ultimate drama in front of an arena full of fans fully engaged, but desperate to see the winner so they could go on and enjoy the rest of their night.
The Panthers’ win was a popular choice for reasons we touched upon in our review on Monday and the photos and videos we’ve seen in the celebrations have shown what it means to those Nottingham supporters.
The fans continued their own celebrations of a fine weekend of action in the various popular pubs and bar in Nottingham’s city centre, determined to squeeze out the enjoyment as much as they could.
Now we’re looking to weekend in a futile attempt in the hope a fixture might appear. In the meantime, we’ll just have to wind ourselves up with excitement over signing news and rumours and some GB action soon enough.
2024/25 – completed!
🖤 FOR THE LOVE OF DANNY 💛
You would have been hard pushed to find anyone begrudging Danny Stewart his moment of glory on Sunday night after leading his Panthers team over the play-off title.
Danny has been around the Elite League for almost two decades and after tasting some ups and downs as a player and as a coach, it was good to see him smiling.
Anyone who deals with him on a regular basis will know he’s an engaging character, someone who loves to talk about the game in this country and is all over everything.
He arrived on these shores in 2006 with a Coventry team at their peak and helped them win three league titles, a Challenge Cup and a Knockout Cup, a now defunct competition.
Stewart never won the play-offs, but after four years with the Blaze, took on a player-coach role with Newcastle Vipers in what was their final season in 2010-11 as he replaced Rob Wilson.
It was probably the most difficult circumstances for a rookie coach to step in as Vipers toiled on and off the ice, leading to their eventual and sad demise.
He joined Fife Flyers in 2011, the team who replaced the Vipers in the Elite League and a shake-up mid-season as the Kirkcaldy side struggled saw Stewart work alongside Todd Dutiaume as a player-assistant coach then later associate coach.
It set him up nicely for a romantic return to Coventry as their head coach in 2016 and he established them as a mid-table, play-off team in eight years. In the current climate, it is perhaps their ceiling.
Of course, they were third when Covid curtailed the 2019-20 season as Blaze were picking up momentum and whether Danny could have really given them a shot at the title remains filed in the “what if” section.
Now, a year after taking the reins at Nottingham Panthers, he’s transformed them inside a season into a trophy-winning team and the future is brighter, completing Danny’s own steady rise in the game as a coach.
The fans love him, even though there were some unimpressed by his appointment a year ago. It’s amazing what winning trophies does to your popularity.
He probably hasn’t bought a drink since the celebrations kicked off on Sunday night, with eager Panthers fans keen to buy him one as a mark of their gratitude.
But as we look ahead, next season is going to be a lot of fun as Danny looks to build on what he’s began and dare we say it, a possible title challenge.
Who knows what might happen, but Danny deserves to enjoy this as much as possible after such a rewarding campaign. After all, it’s not every day you add something shiny to your mantelpiece.
🔴 RUSSELL LEAVES DEVILS…FOR DEVILS
Cardiff Devils and head coach Pete Russell have parted ways after two years, the club announced on Tuesday.
Russell took over in May 2023, replacing Brodie Dupont and led the team to a second place and fourth place in his two campaigns as well as winning the IIHF Continental Cup earlier this year.
Devils managing director Todd Kelman said: “Pete is a great person and a great coach.
“We won a European Championship under his leadership and made two finals this season.
“I want to thank Pete for everything he did for the team over the past two seasons and wish him well going forward.”
Later in the day, it was announced Russell would be returning to DEL2 in Germany where he would be taking over at Bad Nauheim.
The club, from the state of Hesse, is where, ironically Cardiff captain Mark Richardson played for a year because of the Covid pandemic in 2020-21.
“I am very much looking forward to this new challenge. Bad Nauheim has a great ice hockey tradition, a great environment and emotional fans," Russell said in a statement of his announcement.
🏟️ AROUND THE RINKS
Time to take a wander up and the country and pick out some of the articles and posts you may have missed in the aftermath of the weekend in Nottingham.
🙋 A reminder the annual Elite League play-off jersey auction is still going on and will close next week - Elite League auctions website
🧤 Belfast Giants held their awards night on Monday with one player proving to be a safe pair of hands in three of the categories - Adam McKendry for Belfast Telegraph (website)
👕 Staying with Belfast and the jerseys have been released for Adam Keefe’s Testimonial in June - Belfast Giants on X
🥹 Nottingham Panthers players remember Adam Johnson in their post game celebrations on Sunday night at Bolero Square - Nottingham Panthers on X
🏆 On Monday, Nottingham Panthers were invited to League Two football team, Notts County’s game against Cheltenham where they paraded the play-off trophy - Nottingham Panthers on X
💪 An exhibition is set to open in Kirkcaldy at the end of the month to mark 40 years since Fife Flyers’ British Championship victory, a key moment in the club’s history - Allan Crow for Fife Free Press (website)
😬 After trolling Panthers fans last week, one man is checking if the coast is clear - David Simms on X
👊 One former Coventry Blaze pays tribute to his former coach after weekend success - Nathaniel Halbert on X
📺 HIGHLIGHTS
Semi Final 1 - Belfast Giants vs Cardiff Devils
Semi Final 2 - Sheffield Steelers vs Nottingham Panthers
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We’ll return on Friday with a look ahead to the World Championships, which begin on Sunday.
Catch you then!