We all know that our coach Ed Courtney will bow out at the end of the season and leave the Giants for pastures new. The upcoming games (at least two, at the most four) will be the last of Courtenay’s professional career and he is looking to leave the sport a winner.

Courtenay’s career is a storied one. He has came through the junior systems, worked his way up to the NHL and seen everything there is to see in the minor league circuit. That trail took him to the British Super league, back to America and finally to the Giants where he will make his final stand as a player over the next week. MORE »

You don’t need to have to think back far to remember the Giants season without Stevie Lyle. It was only about 42 games ago and the Giants season was in turmoil and changes needed to be made. Ed Courtenay went out and brought in Stevie Lyle to tighten up the goals and at the same time picked up Pete Campbell to add to the scoring. It turned the Giants fortunes 180 as the team started to win games and climb up the table. MORE »

Ed Courtenay is scoring for fun right now and has just turend 40 years of age this week. He’s playing like a man almost half his age and but for the slower speed in his wheels you would certainly pass his play as that of a 25-year old. Courtenay has been the dominant points leader in the Giants team this season and anybody who has played on a line with him has scored for fun.

Even the young Leigh Jamieson has 10 goals so far this season. Normally a third line player with the Giants, Jamo can credit his most productive season yet to playing on a line with Ed Courtenay and Pete Campbell. Just take a look at Scott Cameron. He was scoring over a point per game along with Ryan smith on Courtenay’s line until Ed split the line up, sent Smith packing, and put Cameron on a line with Awada and Lewis. Cameron has struggled in front of goal since then, though that’s not to take away from the fine work he has still put in - he is continuing to have a terriffic year. MORE »

We all know the Giants are in fine form and have now won thirteen games in a row but take a look at the table below for a breakdown on how each player has produced over the last eleven games. Pete Campbell and Ed Courtenay are averaging over two points per game while Dutiaume, Sutter, Awada and Shane Johnson are all scoring at least one point per game. Even the secondary scoring the Giants rely on from time to time throughout the year are on their best form - Carlyle Lewis who has been as busy with his fists lately as he has with his stick has eight points in ten games played and Jamieson and Morrison each have six and four points respectively.

Giants 11 Game form:

NO.  PLAYER            POS   GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
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12   Peter Campbell    C     11   10   15   25   14
72   Ed Courtenay      RW    11    7   17   24    7
14   Mark Dutiaume     C     11    7   11   18   17
21   Shaun Sutter      RW    11    7    7   14   10
41   George Awada      RW    11    5    6   11    4
 4   Shane Johnson     D     11    2    9   11   42
24   Carlyle Lewis     LW    10    2    6    8   59
 6   Leigh Jamieson    LW/D  11    5    1    6    2
19   Scott Cameron     C     11    4    2    6    6
25   Trevor Johnson    D     11    1    5    6   30
77   Roman Gavalier    D     11    1    4    5   20
20   Mark Morrison     RW     9    2    2    4    7
 8   Lewis Christie    D     11    1    1    2    2
42   Paul Moran        C      7    0    2    2    7
18   Graeme Walton     D     11    0    0    0   26
30   Stevie Lyle       G     11    0    0    0    2
 1   Adam Cree         G      2    0    0    0    0
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Last night’s game marked the first ever professional goal by Lewis Christie. He tallied a second period goal against Manchester on a feed from Mark Dutiaume.

Sitting looking at the box score of Wednesday nights game it suddenly occured to me why Dutes dropped the gloves and went after the Vipers.  It wasn’t a reaction to something someone said . . . He was on for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick after earlier scoring a goal and getting an assist.  Dutes picks up the first Gordie Howe of the season!

P.S.  For those unaware, a Gordie Howe hat trick is a Goal, an assist and a fight in a game.  Usually pretty rare.

It could have been worse, much worse and Carlyle Lewis will be thanking his lucky stars that he will only miss a few weeks of hockey action after a skate blade cut open his leg spilling blood onto the ice in Edinburgh on Saturday night ending the second period early. He was able to leave the ice under his own power but was rushed immediately to hospital were he was told that he would need emergency surgery but after further examination the doctors realized that the cut was not as deep as they thought. He received stitches to close the wound and was discharged late Saturday night. He will most likely be out two weeks to let the leg heal completely.

It’s never fun to see a man loose his job just a few weeks prior to Christmas but it was a position the Giants were in and it was a decision Ed had to take to appease league rules. We had 11 imports and with the league rules stating only ten and with everyone now healthy in the Giants lineup someone had to go. According to Ed it was between three men and Troy got the chop.

Troy had been playing very well lately, a top stay-at-home defenceman and so a few eyebrows were raised at the choice but then what player wouldn’t have raised a few eyebrows if he had been cut. Everyone has been playing pretty well. I’d love to know what it was that made Ed decide on Troy but so long as the team continue to win games then we’ll never know and never need to know. I suspect it came down to Age. At 37 Troy is probably in his final pro-season whereas a younger guy like Trevor Johnson has years left to give and would be seen to have more of a future potentially at the team.

Make no mistakes Ed will live or die by the decision should results not go our way but nobody wanted to be in Ed’s position to make such a decision and so whatever decision he made had to be supported and we’ll trust his decision going into the double header in Edinburgh this weekend.

There were times earlier this year we were happy with Courtenay making any changes to improve the team and given the chances we all would have liked his job to make the changes as people debated and generally agreed for once on the message forums on who had to go.

But now Ed is in a position that nobody is envious of. He must pick a player to cut from a side that has been winning. MORE »

Let’s get down to the bone here. Prior to Pete Campbell’s arrival the Giants record through 11 league games was 3-8. In the seven league games since arriving in Belfast from Basingstoke we have gone 6-1 . . . A complete reversal in form. Now other guys like Shaun Sutter, Shane Johnson and particularly Stevie Lyle all arrived around the same time as Pete when the teams fortunes changed but individually Campbell has been a revelation to the up turn in our form. He has scored seven goals and eight assists in seven league games - 9+9 in 9 games including the challenge cup and he has points in all but one of the seven league and two challenge cup games. MORE »

Just when you thought the Giants had made their changes and could now settle down to play some hockey the team have yet another player change on the cards. Back-up goalie Hugh Smyth has resigned from the team and will be replaced by young Adam Cree. Smyth who has not played a minute of hockey for the Giants this season has been nothing more than a warm-up goalie and bench door opener as the Giants have seen a starting goalie come and go. Now on their second starter of the season the Giants have had to act quickly to replace Smyth with their second back-up of the season. Rules state that a team must have a back-up goalie dressed on the bench at all times. At this time of year back-up goalies are few and far between, especially in the Elite League where teams see them more as something the rules say they must have more than a position they wish to utilise. MORE »

Trust the week that I’m away for the Giants to have their most news-active week of the season. Latest rumours/news suggest that struggling Giants forward Ryan Smith has left the team for the lower-German leagues were he originally came from. MORE »

It’s quite the heading but the rumours were true. The Giants indeed did snap up Stevie Lyle and Campbell upon their leaving of the Basingstoke Bison. The good news of depth to the squad was hampered with the news that top goal scorer, Scott Cameron has a broken foot and will be out for a number of weeks.

Theres a saying that when your luck is out, it’s really out and that is the case with the bottom of the league Giants. Three major injuries to import players in three weeks will mean the Giants will continue to play short benched even with these three signings. Campbell and Lyle will add some much needed depth to the team. MORE »

Just when we thought we had moved into a season that would not include an original Giants player we were wrong.  Giant for the past seven season Todd Kelman will be stepping into the breach once more dear friends as news broke that Roman Gavalier has picked up a knee injury that will keep him out of the side for at least three weeks.  Todd thought he had retired but he should have known better.  You never retire from Belfast!  MORE »

So it’s been a busy week or so in the Belfast Giants, at least for the typical June it has.  We’re not used to player signings this early in the season yet they have been coming pretty fast so far.  Theres even the shape of a good team already in place and you can see Ed Courtenay building his core.  On top of some of the re-signings there have been some familuar faces moving on to pastures new while there has been a few new faces addded with the latest of them being tough guy Carlyle Lewis.  MORE »