IC Devils Champion at Ice Varsity

The Imperial Devils ice hockey team clinched the inaugural London Ice Varsity title with a 7-3 smashing of the UCL Yetis in a feisty contest that saw the Devils live up to their name, racking up more than a period’s worth of penalty minutes. After a rousing rendition of the national anthem by our resident Canadian operatic Trent Allen, the game started in earnest when barely a minute into play the Devils found themselves on the penalty kill (PK) after Rich Barlow threw a robust hit that sent the UCL player into the boards but was deemed interference.

The Yetis failed to capitalise on their man advantage, a constant theme throughout the game, and the Devils quickly went a goal up when Paul Halford pounced on a loose puck coughed up by their goalie following a stinging shot from Dan Belair. Once both teams got settled, the Devils scored two more in quick succession with some silky stick handling by Theo Sion and a laser beam of a shot from Gus Zimmerman. The momentum of the three goal advantage was somewhat dampened when the Yetis went on a 4v3 power play after Ryan Ritchie took exception to the Yetis giving it the handbags with our captain Dan and ended up in the penalty box for his efforts. Following another dubious interference call against the Devils, the Yetis reduced the deficit to two but it was short lived as Dan converted on a beautiful pass from deep in our zone by Kurt Kolb. The Devils were made to pay for their complacency, however, when the Yetis national league player found himself on a 1 on 0 and fired a slap-shot into the top-shelf to leave the game finely poised at 4-2 after the first period.

The first half of the second period was a cagey affair with lots of hits but few clear chances until a defensive lapse let the Yetis close the lead to a single goal. The Devils were unable to respond immediately, finding themselves on a series of PKs after DPFS Stefan Nubert earned a double shift in the penalty box settling a disagreement over a neck-high check from the opposition. But respond they did, when Captain Dan substantiated his title not once but twice, decking the Yetis defence out of their jockstraps and effortlessly sliding the puck past the hapless Yetis keeper. The completion of Dan’s hat-trick restored the three goal advantage leaving it 6-3 going into the third and final period.

Any hopes the Yetis had of getting back into the game were quickly put to bed at the start of the third when Paul one-timed a beautiful snap-shot off a perfectly weighted pass from Ryan. The increasingly desperate Yetis were kept at bay by a ridiculous number of unbelievable saves from our goalie Marco Hafner and some physical play that lead to our penalty box looking like a second team bench. The game ended in a convincing 7-3 victory and a thoroughly deserved man of the match went to Marco, who robbed the Yetis forwards so many times that only a bricked-up goalmouth could have kept more out. The crushing victory was rapturously received by the Imperial section of the 250 strong capacity crowd that transformed the on-ice battle into a full-scale grudge match, providing the most memorable of hockey games for all those involved.

If you missed out on the London Ice Varsity you can see the mighty Imperial Devils take on their other derby rivals the London Dragons in their final game of the season on Saturday 10th March. Face off is at 9pm at Brixton Ice Arena (a couple mins walk from Brixton Underground station on the Victoria line) and it’s completely free to watch and will be finished before the last tube. Expect a lot of goals and huge hits, following the Devils’ Varsity success they are looking to put more past the Dragons than the 16-2 drubbing on the previous outing of the two teams. Email ice-hockey@imperial.ac.uk for more information about the game or learning to play ice hockey.