The Cardiff Devils won the British Elite Ice Hockey Championship last year, and are in the midst of a so-far healthy defense of that title. Jon Sutton chats with star Forward Matthew Myers.
You’ve come back to Cardiff after a glittering career at other clubs, what are some of your highlights, playing-wise?
I’ve been lucky enough to play for my country 80-plus times whilst also winning a lot of trophies. I’ve played on some great teams over the years. The 2 stand-out wins would be with Nottingham when we won the grand slam and last season with Cardiff when we won 3 out of 4 trophies on offer narrowly missing out on the fourth in overtime.
Which was your favourite location, outside of Wales?
My wife and I really enjoyed our time working, living and playing in Nottingham [for the Nottingham Panthers]. We made a lot of friends for life there and we still keep in contact and go back to the city when we get the chance.
Playing with Team GB, you must have had some opportunity to travel, can you tell us your favourite place to play?
Well I’ve been on many trips and they have all been great. We have such a brilliant group of guys in the GB set so it’s always fun. The place I would say stands out most for me most was Japan as it’s not a place you get to see all the time so that was great. Breakfast was weird though; curry and mackerel!!!
You’re clearly at home in frosty conditions. Do you have a favourite spot in the world for winter adventures? Or do you prefer to escape to the sun?Â
I love the sun, but I also love the snow in countries that can cope with it. Having played hockey here for so long I’ve not had many winter adventures. The 2 that come to mind was the one year I played in the USA where we had loads of snow which was great and the other winter fun was when I was about 15 and I went skiing in the French alps. Thoroughly enjoyed skiing and look forward to doing more when hockey finally comes to an end.
If you could recommend one place in Wales to someone who has never visited before, what would you pick and why?
There are so many great places to go but the Gower is great, especially Worm’s Head is great. It’s located just off Rhossili beach and in the sun it’s gorgeous. My wife and I stayed at the Worm’s Head Hotel for a few nights exploring the area before then hitting up an Elton John concert at the Liberty Stadium. Cardiff is a wicked city and last summer I walked up Pen-y-fan. I’m not a great walker but the view from the top was unbelievable.