V
Saturday 14th March: Cardiff Devils (5th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) @ Cardiff Bay Arena, F/O 7pmSunday 15th March: Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) v Basingstoke Bison (10th) @ Hull Arena, F/O 6pm
Form
Stingrays: L L W L W
Cardiff: D L L W W
Basingstoke: L L L L L
Last 3 Meetings
v Cardiff
30/12/08 1-0 L A
01/02/09 1-2 W A
21/02/09 1-7 L H
v Basingstoke
07/12/08 6-8 L H
27/12/08 5-4 L A
04/01/09 4-3 W H
Season Series
v Cardiff: 1-4, 3 points, 7GF, 19GA
v Basingstoke: 3-3, 6 points, 24GF, 23GA
Man of the Moment
Stingrays: Lee Esders (55GP 9+6)- Has scored four goals in three games and has bettered his rookie season total by six goals and five assists, with just one more game played.
Cardiff: Mike Prpich (50GP 32+29)- Leads the Devils in goals and is currently on respective runs of six points in five games and 18 points in 13 games.
Basingstoke: Corey LeClair (14GP 5+3)- Former Panther and Blaze defenceman scored a goal and two assists in two games against his former employers last weekend.
Absentees
Stingrays: Paul Moran (shoulder), Stuart Kerr (knee), Jamie Thompson (concussion)
Cardiff: Lee Cowmeadow (elbow), Marc Fulton (knee), Derek Campbell (knee)
Basingstoke: Full Strength
Other news
- Should the unthinkable happen and the Stingrays lose both of their games this weekend, whilst the eighth placed Edinburgh Capitals win both of their games, against Nottingham and Coventry, then the Stingrays battle for a playoff spot would be over, two games before the end of the season.
- Paul Moran and Stuart Kerr underwent operations to fix shoulder and knee injuries respectively. Moran, who was ruled out for the season in early January, went under the knife to heal a shoulder injury that has dogged him for a number of years. Whilst Kerr had an arthroscopy to examine the damage on a knee injury that has kept him from action for four months . The arthroscopy did not reveal any damage whilst the surgeon also cleaned up some cartilage damage which was discovered during the operation. He will now await further consultation with the doctor on whether he will be able to return for the final weekend of the season, next week.
-Meanwhile doubts have been raised over whether forward Jamie Thompson will return again this season. The 36 year old suffered a concussion against the Nottingham Panthers two weeks ago and has continued to feel the after effects of one of hockey's most common injuries.
- Basingstoke's nightmare of a season has continued in the past three months. Despite managing to get something of a full squad together, their last win came on 27th December against the Stingrays. The losing streak is the longest in Elite League history at 23 games.
- The Stingrays face a Cardiff side on the back of two wins against the Manchester Phoenix and just three weeks since their embarrassing 7-1 loss to the Devils at the Hull Arena. As well as playing the Devils on Saturday night in Wales, the Stingrays also face them in the penultimate game of the season next Saturday in a double header that seems them face playoff rivals, the Edinburgh Capitals, in the final game of the season.
- The Devils double win over Manchester in midweek has helped push the Devils above the Phoenix in fifth place. The wins sealed a mixed week for the Devils who lost to the Belfast Giants over two legs in the Challenge Cup Semi Final last weekend.
Predictions
Cardiff 3-4 Stingrays
Stingrays 3-1 Basingstoke
