Amidst the distraction that must surely have been lingering over the Giants dressing room this afternoon on some scale or another, the team went out and put up a fine victory over the Edinburgh Capitals 3-1. The game which didn’t feature McMorrow or Shane Johnson who is out with a concussion, were able to pick up the two points that keeps them in the title race. Unfortunately Coventry themselves picked up a victory. Without McMorrow to do their fighting the Giants enforcer-elect Mark Morrison stepped up to do the fighting duties!

Currently the Giants are stuck in the middle of the second period against Edinburgh with the game delayed due to a hole in the ice in front of one of the goals. We’ve had six men out on the ice staring into a hole – a typical site around Belfast – and we’ve had three or four fire extinguishers used to try combat the problem with Co2 leaving the Odyssey Arena a probable fire hazard due to a lack of extinguishers left. No word yet on the game being officially postponed but if the problem cannot be fixed couldn’t they just bus the players up to Dundonald in full kit and have the fans follow after in their cars and finish the game up there?

Update: The Giants game was cancelled with news to follow on what happens to the fixture now? But that is what you get for ice fishing during a Hockey game.

The Giants took on the Steelers this weekend in two games that turned into two high scoring classics. In one the Giants, in front of their home crowd, had to come from behind to take a big win before going to Sheffield and beating the Steelers again by a single goal, 6-5. It was perfect hockey full of end to end goals, good atmosphere and lots of fighting. I just wish I could have been there – I didn’t even get to see the webcast.

Aside from all the goals flying into the net – which I can’t really talk much about having not been there and having not seen footage of, the games were billed as a chance to find out who is the EIHL’s heavyweight champions when it comes to the fighting side of the game.

Sean McMorrow took on Mike Sgroi in Belfast and won, and then a night later in Sheffield he beat him again which seemed to infuriate Sgroi as he chased McMorrow down after the fight was broken up like a nutcase, continuing the fight and getting beaten further. He then went after McMorrow again after they came out of the box, and yes, you can guess the outcome.

The night of fighting was rounded out when lightweights Tim Cook and Robert Farmer went at it with the Giants completing the clean sweep in the fights over the two games, and a little later on the clean sweep in the results also.

Here is a look at the fight video’s: Read More»

All season one of the things many believe has been standing between the Giants and potentially winning the league title is failing to beat the Coventry Blaze time and time again. It seems like for seasons now the Blaze team have been the team that the Giants just cannot solve and again this year the points lost to the Blaze were the points keeping them out of first place. But tonight the Giants took a first step to overcoming that hurdle and getting right into the title race by beating the Blaze 2-1 in the Odyssey arena putting them just three points back on the Blaze having played a game more. To prove how tough the Blaze have been to overcome over the years for the Giants this win was just their 16th against the Blaze in 53 games between the two rivals.

They meet again on two more occasions, both on the road and these games could well prove vital to the outcome of the championship. Winning both these games could indeed vault the Giants into first place but if beating the Blaze at all was the first hurdle, then beating them on the road in their own barn is the next one and it is bigger still.

The Giants took a first period lead in the contest through man-of-the-match Jeff Szwez who put in a real team effort all night long and was a big factor in the Giants win and would also go on to assist on the Giants game winner. Coventry tied it up mid-way through the contest though on the power play and it was late in the second when the Giants grabbed the all important and decisive goal through Pat Bateman that would stand as the game winner. Into the final five minutes and the Giants decided to shut up shop and sit back trying to hold onto the lead, striking fear into the Odyssey crowd. What was a risky move paid off though and the Blaze could not take advantage as the Giants took the huge victory.

Tomorrow night the Giants are in Nottingham for a game against the third place Panthers who tonight lost a big one to rivals Sheffield, a result which definitely played into the hands of the Giants. Here’s hoping our boys to continue this form.

It is funny how fickle sports fans are. Just a week ago the fans of the Giants were booing their team off the ice following a sub-par performance yet one week on the fanbase is full of praise for the effort and resolve to overcome league leaders Nottingham in back-to-back games in the Odyssey arena.

I know I’m late with any kind of report and if you are reading this you likely know exactly what happened at the game, but I thought I’d write a little bit of praise on the team for bouncing back. It’s way to easy to be critical when they are struggling and I was quick to point the finger of blame at coach Steve Thornton, but he rallied the troops in the right way during the week and they came up big this weekend.

By all accounts the crowds were big, the play was fast, the games were tight and exciting and overall the two nights of hockey, especially the Saturday, were throwbacks to some Giants games of old when the crowds were big, loud and the team hit hard and won big games.

The win keeps the Giants in the title race, five points behind Coventry having played the same number of games and two behind Nottingham with two games in hand. Coventry are big favorites but there are enough games left for things to change and the Giants fans will be hoping this weekends effort can continue on for the remainder of the season.