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Ben Bowns and the Cardiff Devils looking for CHL glory
You might have seen his heroics at the 2019 IIHF World Championship. Cardiff Devils netminder Ben Bowns (Photo: Helen Brabon)

While the off-season can seem long to the average hockey fan, for players it offers a welcome period to rest and relax ahead of the new season.

That’s usually the case, but not so much this year for Ben Bowns of the Cardiff Devils.

The 28-year-old British goalie helped deliver a second straight playoff title to Cardiff, putting on a great performance in the final against the Belfast Giants where the Devils emerged victorious in a 2-1 scoreline where Bowns stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced.

There was little time for celebration though as shortly after it was time to prepare for the World Championships where Great Britain returned to the top division for the first time since 1994 and following that tournament it was the final preparations for a big day for him as he also married his long-term partner Jade.

“It’s gone like lightning, hockey finished at the end of May and then I had about two weeks of chilling” Bowns said.

“Then Tom Murdy (the Devils backup goalie) put on a stag do for us and that took about a week and the week after that we got married and then the honeymoon for two weeks.

“It’s gone really quick this summer and to be fair I’ve actually come back and feel the best I ever had.

“It was so much time away from the rink, it’s given me a bit of separation from hockey which did me well after the season.”

On the international stage, Great Britain caused a shock at the World Championships as they staved off relegation, defeating France in overtime in their final game.

Ben Bowns has made a habit of making incredible saves

Through the tournament, the play of Ben Bowns caught the eyes of the hockey media across Europe and North America after he put up some incredible performances with some highlight reel saves, including a fantastic sprawling save on this year’s top NHL Draft prospects Jack Hughes of the USA.

But despite all his plaudits, if you ask Bowns about his performance, he’s a lot more humble in his response.

“I actually didn’t think I had the best World Championships, I don’t think I played as well as I probably could have but I think it was better than a lot of people expected.

“When you first come into a league and everyone expects you to not be that great and then you play well, all of a sudden everyone thinks you’re amazing.

“For me though, there were certain areas of my game that I wasn’t happy with but saying that I think the France game was my 91st game of the season and I doubt there’s very many goalies in the world that have played that many games in a season.

“I think you should always put more pressure on yourself, but you’ve also got to be realistic. Even though I said I don’t think I had the best World Championships I’m still really, really happy with it.”

 

"We were kind of unfortunate not to get a win last year" Ben Bowns on last season's CHL campaign

The Devils are now heading into their third straight year in the Champions Hockey League, where they’ll face reigning champions Frölunda Indians, Graz99ers and Mountfield HK, preparation has begun early for the Welsh team.

With a lengthy pre-season beginning at the start of August, and six friendly games heading into their opening game against Mountfield the Devils and Bowns have their eyes on success this time around.

“We know how the CHL is going to go, I think the first year we went at teams when we probably should have sat back, and then last year I think we sat back when we probably should have gone at teams but that was just the fact our team last year was so much better than the year before, and a lot more capable at playing at that level even though we didn’t win a game.

“You look at all the games, most of them were pretty close, you look at that game against Red Bull Salzburg here we had a bit of a first period collapse but we dominated most of that game and that’s a top team in the EBEL.

“We were kind of unfortunate not to get a win last year and we’ve got to take that in, we’ll look at who we’ve got this and I’m confident we can pull something out and it’d be nice to make it out of the groups this year.”

Ben Bowns will be looking to backstop the Devils to the Playoffs in 2019/20 (Photo: Tom Hiller)

Since former player Andrew Lord took the coaching job back in 2014 initially as a Player-Coach, and now as a full-time Head Coach, one of the key components to the Devils success has been keeping a core group of players on the squad like Bowns and newly appointed captain Joey Martin.

This season, the Devils have added five new players to their roster from different backgrounds, and three of them having previous CHL experience.

One of those new players is Finnish forward Masi Marjamäki, who joined the Devils after a career which has seen him play 300 games in the Finnish Liiga, and two seasons in the KHL. Speaking after a pre-season game against the Nottingham Panthers, Marjamäki outlined his aspirations for the coming Group Stage.

“Our first goal is to get through the first round. We go game-by-game and are trying to improve our game day-by-by. We’re very excited for the CHL and looking forward to our first game.

“I’m settling in very well. Everybody has been super nice to us, the organisation has been great. I feel like we’re going to have a hell of a year.”

Hopes for the 2019/20 squad are high among the players and the fans, with all hoping the Devils can have success in the CHL as well as domestically.

“I think we’ve come with more speed again this year, more skill as well. I think that’s just a trend in this league it’s getting a lot faster it’s a lot more skill full”, added Bowns.

New Cardiff Devils captain Joey Martin celebrates a goal (Photo: Helen Brabon)

“It’s still very physical as well, it’s nice to see there’s not as many fights now because I think the league had a bit of a reputation of being a fighting league, but now you look what GB did and how teams do compete, it’d be nice for us and the Belfast Giants to do well in the CHL this year, I think the reputation is going up and that’s really nice to see.

“The guys that have come in for us so far they’ve fit in straight away, they all seem like really good guys. There’s a lot of energy in the room, there’s always energy in the room when you first come in, but this year it seems there’s a real positive energy about the place.”

Ben Bowns and the Cardiff Devils start their 2019/20 CHL campaign on home ice against Mountfield HK on 30 August. Tune in!

 
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