Cardiff Devils Secure Home Advantage for Continental Cup Final Bid

The Cardiff Devils will compete for the Continental Cup trophy this January with the advantage of playing on home ice. The team’s Vindico Arena previously hosted the Continental Cup final group in January 2024. This marks the second consecutive year that Cardiff’s Vindico Arena will serve as the venue for the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) second-tier European competition. The competition for the trophy will follow a round-robin format, featuring HC Arlan (Kazakhstan), GSK Katowice (Poland), and Bruleurs de Loups (France) alongside the Devils from January 16-19. This marks Cardiff’s third consecutive year participating in the competition. They secured their spot in the final group by placing second behind HC Arlan in the third-round group held in November. In their last game, they suffered a 6-3 defeat against the Kazakhstan team, which holds the top ranking among the four participants in this year’s final. The Devils are currently the lowest-ranked team. During last season’s final group stage, Cardiff secured one victory out of three games, a 3-2 win against Katowice, who are set to return to the Welsh capital in 2025. Despite this, the Devils concluded the season in third place for the second consecutive year, following losses to Denmark’s Herning Blue Fox and Kazakhstan’s Nomad Astana. A modification to the January format will see matches scheduled for Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.