On 31 October 2002 while everyone else was out celebrating Halloween, I was launching this website. Back then it opened under the name belfastgiants.net and was a source for me to write about the Giants, report on games and host various stats that at times were not available on the official website. I was also studying web design and so this gave me a site with which to experiment with and in turn lead to various face lifts of the site.

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Just a decade ago the Giants were not even registering on my conscience, but within seven months of standing on Bangor seafront watching the fireworks bring in the new millennium there would be a professional hockey team in Belfast and my new found interest in this sport of ice hockey that had been slowly building over the past few years would accelerate drastically with the arrival of a team I could watch and support in person. By the end of the year I’d be sitting in their polished new, sold out, arena cheering on the new team as they won over the hearts of the Belfast people.

Ten years has went by in the blink of an eye when I think of my time following the Belfast Giants. I seen two league titles, copious amounts of great players, had away trips to Ayr and Edinburgh and the Continental Cup finals in Lugano, Switzerland. I seen a playoff championship followed by serious financial hard-times, I seen numerous playoff weekends in Nottingham both with and without the Giants team and I seen scoring standards set by players for the club that made us a team with a history. I bought various team jersey’s, went to awards dinners, contributed to bucked collections for banners, met some great fellow fans and missed just a handful of games over 8 years until I finally upped sticks and moved off to Canada. I even got so infatuated with the team that I started a website in the early years, which quickly transformed into a site dedicated to the history of the club and here I am, ten years in, sitting in Canada writing about the Belfast Giants. I’ve seen NHL games, NHL games and OHL games and while I’ve enjoyed them all I have still failed to find a team that pulls on the heart strings in the same with the Giants have, and still do.

What the Giants will look like in ten years time is anyone’s guess but when I first went to see them in December 2000 I never thought that by the end of the decade they would still be pleasing crowds and even icing a group of players born and bread in Belfast. I could wish for league titles, playoff championships and world class players in the coming decade, and that would be nice, but most of all I want to be able to fly home in ten years time to visit friends and family but also pop into the Odyssey to watch the latest Giants team doing their stuff.

Happy New Year to everyone, may your decade be a good one and may it also run hand in hand with the twists and turns of the Belfast Giants.

I’m off into the country for a few days to enjoy presents, turkey, beer and more importantly plenty of games of pond hockey. Enjoy the Giants hockey over the Christmas period and I’ll be back later next week to catch up with what has been going on. The site is now bang up-to-date so enjoy and stay safe.

Merry Christmas one and all.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been adding a new section to the site: Some of the most memorable games in team history. The section is a little short right now but it is a work in progress and in good time I hope to have added details on some of the best games in the history of the team. Unfortunately the only memorable games that will be added will be ones in which I can track down the scoring summaries for, but there are plenty out there I have yet to add and will be put more to the list by the weeks and months. If you have any suggestions of games or box-scores for some classic games then drop me an e-mail and I’ll gladly add them to the list.

Enjoy…

The Belfast Giants most memorable games

Unfortunately I will not be able to be updating the site through the months of July and August as I am going to be off working and travelling in Canada for the summer and therefore the site will be neglected for a bit. When I get back all the summer news will be added and I will be back in time for the new season – hopefully!! Sorry about that but I cant wait to get away! Have a good summer and if you have any problems I’ll do my best to check the e-mails. all the best!!!

— Ricky