You wait 20 years to win a championship - then two come along at once! Cardiff Devils are celebrating after securing back-to-back British Elite Ice Hockey League titles at the weekend.

The Devils travelled to Belfast Giants on Friday knowing that victory would wrap up the regular season championship, which determines the national champion
in the United Kingdom, - and delivered in dramatic fashion when Andrew Hotham popped up with the game-winner 20 seconds from the hooter.

The 31-year-old defenceman, a key player in Cardiff's steady rise over the last
four seasons, sealed yet another trophy when he surged from deep, evaded two Giants' D-men and opened up a shooting lane from the edge of the circle. The finish was clinical, the title was won. Sunday's home game against the Sheffield Steelers was transformed into a party that not even a 3-4 loss could spoil; the three remaining games over the next couple of weeks are already a chance to celebrate with the faithful fans at Ice Arena Wales.

"We're excited," Hotham told the Belfast podcast A View From the Bridge. "It's a hard title to win, I think we've played 52 games already this year. And while
we're happy to win it anywhere, since Belfast won the Challenge Cup in our home
building this is a kind of redemption for us."

For head coach Andrew Lord, who reduced his playing role after last season's success as player-coach - Hotham jokingly suggested that his boss "doesn't have
much of a life away from coaching" - this year's win was even sweeter than 2017.

"The experience we had last year to break the curse and bring home our first title in 20 years was already such a special moment," he said. "To now be able to repeat with this group of guys is the best feeling I've ever had in the game
of hockey.

"The feeling of winning a title that is played over 56 games and eight months is hard to put into words."

Lord also spoke of the added pressure that came with entering the season as the
#1 team. "The level of expectation this season is something I've never seen before in my time as coach here in Cardiff," he said. "For the guys to do what they did, and in such convincing fashion, speaks to their character, commitment
and their passion for this organisation and fan base. To be leading the way we did for so long, with everyone gunning for us after last year and in a league that has never been so good, is full proof of just how special this group of players is."

Todd Kelman, now the club's Managing Director, reckoned that this season's win was even tougher than last year - and paid tribute to the rising standards of the Elite League.

"This season it felt a lot tougher to win games," he told the Giants' podcast. "Last year it felt almost like it was inevitable, we were really dominating it at some points. This year was different. Early in the season we were eight points behind Nottingham and everyone was talking about how good they were. We didn't change much, but things started clicking. I remember talking to [Belfast
coach] Adam Keefe, and he was complaining that they'd only dropped three points
in a month and they were still behind."

The ever-increasing competitiveness of the Elite League - which also expanded to 12 teams for the 2017-18 season, with Milton Keynes Lightning and Guildford Flames joining - has pushed up the calibre of coaching in the competition. Kelman paid tribute to Lord, and Belfast's Keefe.

"I think in the next three years or so, both of them will be on to bigger and better things, and they deserve that," he added. "It's great to see the quality
of coaching going up in this league. I think this league as a whole is a great advert for the sport."

Kelman and Lord's belief that the Elite League is getting stronger is backed up
by British teams' improving results in Europe. Last season saw Nottingham Panthers win the Continental Cup; this season the Sheffield Steelers reached the final in Minsk. In the Champions Hockey League, the Panthers went on to become the first British team to get through the group phase, while Cardiff pulled off a shoot-out win at home to Davos and thrashed Vaxjo Lakers 5-1. Securing the Elite Ice Hockey League title gives the Devils a chance to build on that promising Champions Hockey League debut and try to emulate Nottingham's
success of last year.

Before that, though, there's the small matter of the Elite Ice Hockey League play-offs, a four-game dash to glory that takes in a two-legged quarter-final and a ‘Final Four' showdown in Nottingham on 7-8 April. The play-off crown is
the one prize that has eluded Cardiff in its recent resurgence, and Kelman warns that it won't be easy to follow up the league title with a play-off win.

"There are teams in this league that have been able to focus on the play-offs, they've been resting," he told the BBC. "For us, every weekend has been a battle for us, in the championship or in the Challenge Cup hunt until the very end when we lost in the final.

"It's always very hard to win the league and then win the play-offs. It's four games and it's anyone's game. It's a great equalizer."

ANDY POTTS

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