Cardiff Devils aim to secure their first domestic trophy since 2022 at the Elite League Play-Off Finals in Nottingham. They enter as top seeds following unexpected quarter-final defeats for Belfast Giants and Nottingham Panthers.
Cardiff Devils in red kit players celebrate in a huddle
Cardiff Devils last won the Elite League Play-Offs in 2022 and were beaten finalists 12 months ago [Rebecca Brain]
In a season of surprises, Cardiff Devils will hope the final weekend of the 2025-26 Elite League goes to plan.
Seeking their first domestic trophy in four years, the Welsh club go into the Play-Off Finals weekend in Nottingham as top seeds after league-winning Belfast Giants' shock quarter-final defeat by Glasgow Clan.
Manchester Storm also upset the odds to turf out 2025 Play-Off winners Nottingham Panthers, and will face Sheffield Steelers in Saturday's second semi-final.
First up though is Clan - who finished eighth in the regular season - against a Devils side who have won nine of their last 10 games, including their two-legged 6-2 last-eight win over Coventry Blaze.
"Everybody will look at the second leg that got the job done but I thought we played a very, very good game up in Coventry," said Cardiff head coach Paul Thompson.
"I felt that we could have been going into the second leg with a three, four goal lead, and then I thought on Sunday we were just clinical in what we had to do.
"We were energised, we were physical... I'm proud of the boys and the efforts they gave."
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"Thommo was really not happy on how we were performing, we had already had a few meetings this year and he always gave us a second chance," said defenceman Jimmy Oligny.
"And then that day he was just like, 'I'm done with all the babysitting'."
Oligny said a meeting in the morning was followed by a "not so pleasant" video session.
The Canadian recalled: "He basically said, 'If you guys are going to play like that, I don't mind calling some guys to come and play in your place. You guys better wake up or somebody else is going to come in and do the job for you'.
"I think it shook the team and that's what we needed.
"The following game after that, we did the right things, and we saw how much better we were.
"We were able to string a few games together and play the same way. And now we're here."
Paul Thompson watches from the Cardiff bench
Cardiff Devils head coach Paul Thompson has previously won trophies with Coventry Blaze and Sheffield Steelers [James Assinder]
Glasgow Clan may have been the lowest qualifiers for the play-offs - finishing six places and some 18 points behind runners-up Cardiff in the league table - but currently they are a dangerous side to face in a one-off game.
In January head coach Corey Neilson left the Scottish club, with his assistant, Mike Sirant, appointed as interim. Under Sirant, prior to the play-off quarter-finals, Glasgow had 11 wins and 11 defeats. However, four of those losses came in over-time or a shootout.
Add in the fact that the Glasgow club have not previously reached the Play-Offs' final four since 2014, and Clan will not roll over easily.
Thompson is fully aware of Sirant's credentials. The now 67-year-old Canadian was the first coach at Milton Keynes Kings when ice hockey was established in the city in the early 1990s. Then, apart from one season in Austria, he led the hockey programme at the University of Manitoba for 30 years until joining Glasgow in 2024.
"He's a very experienced coach and it looks like he's rallied the troops when they were going through a little downturn," Thompson said.
"They're a good team. They've just proved it by knocking the champs out. So, we're taking a deep dive into them, as they are with us, and we have to be at our best.
"Hopefully we can send them into a third and fourth game for the Sunday."
'Scary' knockout games
Jimmy Oligny (left) defends for Cardiff against Coventry's Grayson Constable
Jimmy Oligny (left) played all 54 regular season games for Cardiff Devils collecting seven goals, 18 assists and 100 penalty minutes. [James Assinder]
Oligny has competed in the extended play-off series of the American Hockey League (AHL) with Milwaukee Admirals and Manitoba Moose, as well as in Europe's IceHL with Graz 99ers, but is experiencing the knockout system in UK hockey for the first time.
"It's very scary," he admitted.
"There's no margin for error at all, which is very different from a best of seven or best of five games series.
"You could lose one period and lose the whole thing.
"I don't know what to think of it yet, but if we win it, it'll be fun, I'm sure."
There is also the unique nature of the Finals Weekend - four teams in one venue with semi-finals and final in a little over 24 hours - which can itself make success in the Elite League Play-Offs so memorable.
"My old agent, who's not with us now, Gunnar Svensson, used to say it's the best kept secret in hockey," said Thompson.
"I met up with his eldest son, Bjorn, and he said, 'My Dad would rather have been at the final four in Nottingham than a game seven in the Stanley Cup watching his NHL players.'
"Nowhere in the world does it like this. You see fans from 10 different teams, different colours all the way around the stadium and the atmosphere is bouncing, absolutely bouncing.
"It's a fantastic event, it's a great occasion for the fans."
If the Devils win, Thompson would become the first coach to lift Elite League trophies with three different clubs, but he will quickly pass on any credit to his squad.
"It's them, the players. They'll win it," he said.
"We might have the blueprint, but they're the guys that will get us over the line. Hopefully."
And Oligny says the players are determined not to let the opportunity slip from their grasp.
"We're very lucky that we're coming hot at this moment of the year," he said.
"We missed out on the league championship, missed out on the Challenge Cup and the way we're playing right now, we feel like this is ours.
"We just have to go get it."
Elite League 2026 Play-Off Finals weekend
(Seeding in brackets)
Saturday, 18 April
Cardiff Devils (2) v Glasgow Clan (8) 13:00 BST
Sheffield Steelers (4) v Manchester Storm (6) 19:00 BST
