It’s That Ole Devil called Voth Again

Cards on the table, people. It’s nearing the end. I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy. But we will face it together. First I will deal with the match report-type business-like malarkey, before I descend into hysteria and launch into my man-size box of Kleenex. Dive in with me. There’s enough for everyone. Unless you have a cold. In which case, get your own.

It was the first sighting of a Cardiff Devil in the Newcastle area since way back in November, when the Welsh side were in the midst of an almighty, barn-storming, 21-game winning streak which broke the league (and possibly world) record, and they subsequently perched atop the Elite League for a time before their streak came to an end and they dropped below the Sheffield Steelers. So, a big game for us then? Er, yes. Just a bit.

Sadly I’m not best-placed to provide a detailed report this week, as I was completely cabbaged from sleep deprivation, travelling and excessive consumption of fermented apple drink in London the previous night. The game was missing something in the first period, which was no good at all from a personal point of view, as I struggled to retain consciousness, but I think what was missing was mostly, well, ice hockey. It just didn’t seem to materialise, at least from the Vipers. We seemed devoid of ideas; Cardiff play a physical game and interrupted any flow we were able to muster, and they went in at the first period break 3-1 to the good.

The Devils had the better of us for the majority of the game but it wasn’t a walk in the park for them, and although we produced little in terms of shots on goal, the ones we did produce were accurate and going into the third period we had the score back to 3-2 for a short while and it could have been game on. However our error rate was too high, we turned over too many pucks and even Charlie had an uncharacteristic wobble in goal. Simply put, the guys looked tired, and were out-played, although it’s fair to say the difference between the teams on the night should not have amounted to 5 goals, and we were once again hampered by some questionable refereeing. We also nearly suffered the loss of another defenceman when Kyle Sibley was caught in the face unintentionally by an otherwise rather belligerent Ryan Finnerty (who then proceeded to rub salt in the wound by slamming the penalty box door in Sibley’s already injured face as he attempted to leave the ice for treatment). Suffice to say, I was all kinds of worried, but thankfully Sibs returned unharmed and had I not had to make a swift exit following the game, he would doubtless have found me molesting him with grateful affection in the bar after the game. These hockey players have had some lucky escapes this season, I can tell you.

Sibley had an interesting game actually, making a few careless errors but more than making up for them with some characterful defending and some excellent shots on goal. For our only surviving import defenceman, he has been playing more like a forward lately, and I like it! (Not that John Schwarz is dead; quite the contrary actually. He appears to be living an amazing double life, and has been spotted patrolling the Vipers bench shouting orders in an Italian accent. Yes it’s true. He is our Fabio).

It should be noted that the game also marked the return of the Behemoth himself, Brad Voth, highly anticipated after his clash with our very own Sam Zajac back in November, but it has to be said he behaved himself rather well in the end (as did Sammy!) and he also did us the good service of providing probably the highlight of the evening, as he was set up in front of an empty net and yet somehow managed to sky the puck for one of the misses of the season. It was a highly amusing moment, made even more memorable by Voth’s good-natured acceptance of the heckling from the Vipers fans, giving us a wave for our troubles. All good clean fun.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the one, the only, Mr Bradley Voth. Look how fluffy! It's amazing what a simple pimp costume can do to enhance a man's natural qualities. Mean? Are you kidding me? Even Voths need love.

The defeat on Saturday, although hard fought, was expected, but the Vipers travelled to Hull on Sunday with hopes of an outside chance of nicking something from the game. I wasn’t there but I can safely say the guys gave it everything, yet again, Charlie right back on form letting in only one shot in 59 – yet another truly outstanding performance. We lost by just a single goal. However, the final nail in the coffin of our play-off hopes was tapped into place by the Dundee Stars who won impressively over a slumping Coventry Blaze side, and it’s safe to say that barring a miracle of biblical proportions, that nail will be firmly hammered in come this weekend.

Following the defeat against Hull and the realisation that we are unlikely to make play-offs the reality of the situation facing our beloved club hit me with full force. However I don’t wish to dwell on the stark truth of the matter until it’s absolutely necessary, and between now and then we have two weekends of hockey left and regardless of the league situation here is what it means: we have four games left. Four games to play our hockey and give it our all, just the way we have been, but now without fear and without pressure. Let’s go down fighting. Maybe not literally, but metaphorically. (Or literally, if necessary!) As originally quoted by the inimitable Mr Neil Young (a Canadian himself, so clearly it relates to hockey!), ‘it’s better to burn out than to fade away’, so let’s leave this league with the memory of a Vipers team who have battled for every puck, and fought their hearts out week in week out, right to very last minute of the very last period. They’re not going to forget this team in a hurry. For the Vipers fans, we’ve got four games left to enjoy our team while we still have them, and what a team they are. Let’s go down singing.