Dion Darling writes for South wales Echo

[Matt]

I know Dion has left us to play at the Devils,but I for one rated him as a player.Here is an article he wrote recently...

Ice Hockey: Squad is ship-shape and Bristol fashionSep 16 2006

Dion Darling, South Wales Echo


It's certainly been an unusual start to the new ice hockey season for an Echo Cardiff Devils team with no ice!

But the guys are getting on with the job.

Our trips to Bristol ice rink can be frustrating in the traffic and the journey can get a bit much at times, but we all have a good laugh about it.

In a way the difficult start to the season, having to travel to find ice, is bringing us closer together.

We have a new team with lots of new signings and we are already a close-knit group thanks to the pre-season training camp in Hungary and those runs to Bristol.

The new rink in Cardiff Bay will be ready next month and we have been working hard in training, either in Bristol or at David Lloyd Leisure Club in Cardiff.

That's been a real help in ensuring we are fit as a team and we've taken part in military circuits and cycling classes.

As one of the more experienced players in the team I've been trying to help the younger guys settle in.

Some of them have not played in Britain before and I can help them in small ways.

I remember when I signed for Sheffield Steelers and came to Britain a few years ago I drove the wrong way and got lost for two hours.

If I can help the new guys avoid a similar experience I will.

Cardiff Devils are my third British club, having previously played for Sheffield and Nottingham Panthers.

The main reason I signed for Nottingham in 2005-6 was because of Blaiser (coach Mike Blaisdell) and I enjoyed my time there.
But he wasn't returning to the Panthers and I wasn't sure what direction the club was going in.


I had talked to Ed Patterson about coming to the Echo Devils and had a chat to Gerad Adams, who was a team-mate of mine at Sheffield.


He had lots of good things to say about Cardiff and I pretty much made up my mind immediately that I would be signing for the Devils.


I'd like to think that, at 31, I still have a few more years left playing hockey.


I'll know when the time comes to stop, but right now I'm feeling fit and sharp and there are plenty of guys older than me playing in the NHL.


The team here in Cardiff is looking good.


There are a lot of quality guys in the team and we have a good mix throughout.


British players are important to that and there is plenty of ability in our locker room when it comes to home-grown talent.


Jason Stone is a Welshman who is a solid defenceman, while Alex Symonds is a Brit who has shown he can step up. He was outstanding in Hungary and he's looked good in practice.


We are on the road again this weekend - to Hull and Edinburgh - but it was a terrific start when we won at Basingstoke last Saturday and we are ready for the next tests.

[mmmbop]

All the best to him!
I thought he was doing a good job for us last season

[dad]

He may have thought he was the daddy, but good luck to him non the less.

[Heanor Lair]

mmmbop said:

I thought he was doing a good job for us last season

Really

AS an enforser he wasn't up to scratch, as a D-man he was absent, and as he said he joined because Blasdell was his big mate.

Another ex Shuff disaster for us, aka Allison, Sebastian, I'm afraid.

At least we can tell him which direction the club is going - THE RIGHT DIRECTION ;D ;D

HL

[gazzathedevil]

Fair play to Dion he has made a big impression since his move to cardiff especially off the ice, on the ice i thought he was extremely solid against Basingstoke and he was policing the game like i know he can.


Glad to have him with us

[lockerbie]

I to am glad to have him with you! Didn't impress me at all last year, obvious now why he was there and possibly explains why he was so useless as an enforcer. Hope you get a better deal from him than we did.

[gazzathedevil]

lockerbie said:

I to am glad to have him with you! Didn't impress me at all last year, obvious now why he was there and possibly explains why he was so useless as an enforcer. Hope you get a better deal from him than we did.

He was never there to enforce, he has never enforced his entire career. Not his fault some fans had more expectation of him than he was ever going to give, we have Voth to enforce if needs be Dion is there to play. Which up until now he has done

[lockerbie]

Yes but we didn't have anyone else to do the enforcing unlike yourselves! Therefore our expectations were unfulfilled, hence not our fault either

[jaycourtney]

I thought Darling looked really good prior to his sholder injury, I think Dion rushed back to the line up to quickly, he never seemed to recover totally, then he badly twisted his ankle. I thought he did a good job for us. Also he never seemed to be 'fit' after the sholder problem, I thought he did a good job in the offensive zone posting
GP 37 G 5 A 17 P22 not bad for a D man 'eh?

[gazzathedevil]

lockerbie said:

Yes but we didn't have anyone else to do the enforcing unlike yourselves! Therefore our expectations were unfulfilled, hence not our fault either

What? of course its your fault lol, you cant expect to heap expectation of fighting your battles when he has never done it before. Why single dion out by the way? because he has danced a few times?


If your going to tag Dion with the enforcer tag despite him never having done it then you have to label everyone of the players the same

[matt44]

I thought Dion was good last season. He may have been off the pace due to his injuries but he put the effort in.

I for one will give him a cheer when he returns to the NIC in 2 weeks, even if he only wanted to be here aslong as Blaiser *spit* was.

Theres no way he wouldve been re-signed by Ellis anyways so he probably did the best thing.

[lockerbie]

Funny that, I seem to remember him being very much an enforcer when he played against us for the steelers.

[matt44]

lockerbie said:

Funny that, I seem to remember him being very much an enforcer when he played against us for the steelers.

here 'ere

[Matt]

lockerbie said:

Funny that, I seem to remember him being very much an enforcer when he played against us for the steelers.

I agree he was definately Steelers enforcer!!

I liked his work ethic,his leadership qualities and he was a cracking D-Man when he was fit!

[Shaggy]

At the end of the day, whether he was good, bad or indifferent... Dion simply doesn't fit into the 'Mike Ellis mould' of a Panthers team. That doesn't mean he's useless, simply that Ellis was looking for something different. Cardiff think he suits them... fair do's.

What more needs to be said?

[ted]

He wasnt bad before the injuries.

[hitman69]

Well i hope for the Cardiff faithful he doesn't split your dressing room like he did ours, Brits on one side of the room, Canadians and other imports on the other, you can do anything you want when your best mate is also the coach.

Glad to see the back of him, an ex-steeler was never going to do good things as a Panther.

H

[gazzathedevil]

hitman69 said:

Well i hope for the Cardiff faithful he doesn't split your dressing room like he did ours, Brits on one side of the room, Canadians and other imports on the other, you can do anything you want when your best mate is also the coach.

Glad to see the back of him, an ex-steeler was never going to do good things as a Panther.

H

Would be shocked if that was the case, Ed is very very high on the British players we have, his relationship with Mark Richardson for example is second to none in the dressing room. I think we will be fine