It’s the end of an era.

It’s one of them days you hope never comes along but you know will eventually arrive.  Yesterday, Jason Bowen, one of the last remaining original Giants players called it a day on his career.

It was a career that spanned from the junior leagues in Western Canada all the way up to the NHL via a first round draft pick with Philadelphia and eventually all the way here to Belfast where he played for 5 of the past 6 seasons.

He leaves only Todd Kelman now as the last remaining Giant from their first season back in 2000.

In the five of six seasons Bowsey played in Belfast (missing just one season in 02-03) the big man played 261 games for the team (good for 4th all-time), scoring 30 goals and 50 assists while picking up 627 penalty minutes (good for 2nd all-time).  It’s not the numbers however that he will be remembered for but more the big hits, the big games, and the entertainment value he brought to the game..  It’s what made him a fan favourite.

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Rumours are doing the rounds in Belfast that Shane Johnson will not be returning to the team this coming season. Johnny who has been with the Giants since day one away back in 2000 may well have fallen out of favour of Ed who is looking to reshake the defence and give it a new look. Shane Johnson has completed 6 seasons with the Giants to date and is second all time in games played behind Todd Kelman who recently signed on for a 7th season in teal.

As rumoured a number of weeks ago it now seems certain that Giants backup goalie Nathan Craze will join EPL team the Bracknell Bees for the upcoming season.

A drop in standard yes, but it will certainly see the young up and coming goalie get a lot more ice time than he would have with the Giants. Still he preformed very well when he did get playing for the Giants and I for one would really liked to see us re-sign him. In a league where back-up’s are nearly always young Brits it’s going to be hard for the Giants to find someone else to cover the reserve goalie duties as well as Craze did.