Once upon a time this weekend of a hockey season would always fill me with joy. It was a chance to get back to the Odyssey Arena, see what they had changed since I’d been away, see how much the beer had gone up by, but most of all, see the latest installment of the Belfast Giants take to the ice. There was always a rash of new players, something that is controversial with some fans, but something that you just have to live with at this levels. Still, it was nice to see a new set of players, find out what they brought to the team and discover what this team might have to offer for the season ahead?
The Belfast Giants are into the final throws of the 2010/11 Elite League seasons and it has reached desperation stages. Actually, it has reached that horrible stage were you now desperately require the opposition to drop points in order for you to win the championship. One look at the league table and there is reason to be optimistic that it could happen. Both Belfast and Sheffield have three games remaining and the Giants trail by just the one point, but flick up the fixture list and the pessimism quickly begins to set in.
My visit back to Northern Ireland over Christmas was a great one. It always is. Well, the travel aside I suppose which was a bit of a nightmare, but the bit in between the traveling was a lot of fun; Christmas, New years, friends, family and of course a trip back to the Odyssey Arena to see the Giants. I didn’t know what to expect really having not seen them play a game in exactly two years. Did I expect the Odyssey to look bigger? Smaller? A new lick of paint? The scoreboard looked higher than before and they had new championship banners, but give or take a few subtle things, it was like I had never been away. We still parked the car in the same area, we still arrived with a few moments to spare and they still sold the watered down beer in them plastic pint cups (though in comparison to what I’ve got used to with Toronto sports teams, it’s remarkably cheap!). All in all, it was the same game-night I had last seen two years before and had enjoyed on an almost weekly basis during the hockey season for eight years prior. But what about on the ice?
I meant to write an article last week about the Giants and how they were doing given that they had hit the 27 game plateau for the 2010/11 season and marking the halfway point in their so far excellent season. But stuff got in the way – namely a new iPad – and before I knew it they had played their 28th game. Thankfully the 29th was abandoned due to heavy snow and ice (I know I’m not the only one that sees the irony in a hockey game being cancelled due to winter conditions) and so I’m only one game out when I write my half-way to glory, thoughts. Thankfully as well, the Giants won that 28th game and still sit pretty on top of the Elite League meaning that this review can be wholly positive.
Leave it to my beloved Belfast Giants of the British Elite League to release what is sure to go down as one of the great hockey music videos of all time as the players shamelessly, but brilliantly, lip-sync and dance to Mariah Carey’s classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” It’s a well put together video, and while hilarious, it is also an advertising masterstroke as the video promotes the clubs Christmas schedule of which I for sure will be attending given my upcoming Christmas trip back to Northern Ireland. The video itself has gone viral thanks to various hockey blogs such as Yahoo’s Puck Daddy and across Twitter with many hockey fans getting some festive cheer thanks to the antics of the Belfast Giants.
