Cardiff Devils and Great Britain Goalie Ben Bowns has had a pretty special year. Last season he backstopped Cardiff to their first Elite League Championship in 20 years; in April he helped Great Britain get promoted to Division 1A; and this season played European hockey for the first time before leading the Devils to defending their Elite League trophy.
"It was pretty awesome. I don't think we'll get another Championship like that at home in my career at senior level, and could we really top that after winning it?" he said of the Team GB promotion in Belfast. "Winning with your country is really special, but to do it in Belfast in front of home fans was special. A lot of the players had their families there as well which made it even better."
Thinking back to Cardiff's first CHL adventure, how would Bowns summarise it? "Frustrating! I think we went into it a bit naive to start with. We knew we had a good team and we thought we'd go at it. We went to Davos, it's at altitude and I think that got to us. We took penalties early on and were two down, then fighting all the way back," he explained. "In Liberec we started great but then sat back too much. These types of teams expose you so easily."
"It's fun to play in these games, I'm always moving and I love to be in those types of games where I'm flying across my net"Ben Bowns (6 CHL Games, 89.45% Saves)
But after two road defeats the Devils recorded some memorable wins on home ice. "To come back and beat Davos like we did, and also to beat Växjö - everyone talks about us beating Davos, but Växjö were a better team - that was unbelievable," recalled the Yorkshire native. "People said 'they didn't have a full team', but at the end of the day they still had great players in that team and it was crazy to win 5-1. I thought we could beat them, but never by that convincing a scoreline. We only lost 3-2 up there and they had some better players in the lineup, too. I'd have liked to play against Viktor Fasth, I admired him growning up and loved to watch him in the NHL."
How it's different to 'back home'? "The experience of playing in Europe and playing against different-styled teams, it really helped me adapt my game. You have to be a bit more reactive. The game in Davos, where we got lit up, opened my eyes a little," admitted the 27-year old. "After I talked with my goalie coach who gave me some areas to tighten up a bit - close your gaps, push into shots a bit more, we went from there and I brought it back into my game here and it's helped me and the team."
"The CHL a huge reason why I want to be with the Devils next season, because it's just an awesome tournament to play in," said Bowns, looking forward to 2018/19. "I think it gets some skepticism from fans of teams that aren't in it, but I think if their team was in it they'd realise just how good it is. I'd always dreamed of playing in Sweden and we did that this season. At some point I'd love to play in Germany, but whoever you draw you know they'll be a top team."
"We're not going to go toe-to-toe with the biggest teams, but if we setup right like us and Nottingham did this season then we'll take scalps. Hopefully we'll keep surprising teams."