Giants 2, Blaze 3

The Giants tried yet again to mount a last period comeback after two periods of poor play but where denied this time by a strong Coventry Blaze defense who held out the Giants late surge to take the win 3-2.  They where also aided yet again by yet another diabolical refereeing decision by Mike Hicks who ruled out a perfectly good Curtis Huppe goal late in the 3rd.  It’s the second time in as many games against the Blaze this season that Hicks has ruled out a late goal that could have changed the game…

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Tonight sees the final game of September when the Blaze fly in for their second meeting of the season with the Giants and their first in the Odyssey.  Traditionally the Blaze have been a dummy team for the Giants and the Giants have always struggled to pick up results, after all the Blaze remain the only team out of the 5 who have tried so far this season to have beaten the Giants.  Belfast will be hoping to change that tonight as a big rivalry from last season looks set to continue.

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This weeks powerplay magazine published the statistics of the Elite league referees so far this season with regards to penalties awarded to the home team, visiting team, totals and average penalty minutes per game.  The six referee’s in the league are ranked by average penalty minutes per game and it doesn’t make surprising reading…

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Vipers 1, Giants 2

The Giants made it a four point weekend when Jason Ruff fired home the only goal in the penalty shootout tonight to defeat the Newcastle Vipers for the second time in two nights.  His goal gave the Giants the win in a game that was tied 1-1 after 60 minutes and overtime.  It’s the Giants second shootout of the season and they have won both.

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Jason Ruff goes into Newcastle tonight needing just two points to tie the Giant all-time points scoring lead currently held by Curtis Huppe.  Ruffles currently sits on 185 points thanks to 72 goals and 113 assists in 139 games.  Curtis Huppe who reached the 187 number in 219 games left the Giants at the end of the 04-05 season to join Nottingham after 4 seasons in Belfast.  Tonights game against Newcastle faces off at 6.30pm.

All-Time player Stats

Giants 5, Vipers 1 

Jeff Hutchins is not a popular guy in Newcastle.  He was the guy who took a stick to the face from Vipers fan favorite Mel Angelstad last season that lead to Mel leaving the Newcastle team.  The Vipers fans have never really liked Hutch much since that incident and they aren’t likely to like him much more now after he scored two goals, one on the powerplay and one short handed to help the Giants hammer last seasons playoff champions 5-1.

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The Moblix Vipers roll into town tonight out of form, struggling to get to grips with the clamp down on penalties and desperate for a win.  Expect a fast paced game, with a shed load of penalties and finally our first scrap/scraps of the season.

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It’s been revealed that the final spot in the Giants roster has been won by Gareth Martin.  After holding open tryouts before the start of the season Ed couldn’t settle on either Gareth or Davy Morrison to take the final forward spot in the team.  He gave each a two game tryout and the chance to train with the team for the past two weeks and today he made his choice.   Gareth played with the Giants team in 03-04 in the new look Elite League but was not re-signed when Tony Hand came in the following season.  Martin is expected to play 3rd line right wing this weekend against Newcastle.

On this day in 2002 the Giants beat the Bracknell Bees 11-2 to record the highest score line in team history.  The Giants would go on to finish 2nd in the league to Sheffield that season but would win the Playoff Championship and would also feature in the Continental cup finals in Lugano, Switzerland.  Following this season Bracknell would stop  playing at the highest level in British hockey and have not returned since.

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As you may remember when purchasing your season ticket for 24 home games that with the inclusion of Hull and there being a home challenge cup game, four extra games would be made available to buy.  Well yesterday the Giants organisation announced what them four games are.  The 14th October vs Hull, 27th October vs Manchester, 2nd December vs Sheffield and the 10th February vs Newcastle.  Upgrades are available until Friday 6th October.

Now is it just me or does something not seem right at all about this or am I the only one thinking the Giants organisation has pulled a fast one on its loyal fans? …

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On this day in 2003 Cardiff beat the Giants 3-2 in the Odyssey with the second Cardiff goal marking the 500th goal the Giants have conceded in team history.  As a point of note the Giants are less that 50 goals against away from conceding their 1000th goal in team history.

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…To the NHL?  Yes it seems Theo might well be heading back to the big show after his year in Belfast.  Theo who used the season in Belfast to revive his hockey career and get back in game shape dominated in his solo season in the Elite league and may now feel ready to step back into the big time.  With his personal demons appearing to be well behind him, the one time Stanley cup winner and Olympic gold medallist who married just this summer after his short but great spell in Belfast may well be a regular fixture on our NHL viewing program this coming season.  How great that would be.

To hear more click here to be taken to the Sportsnet.ca video.

On this day in 2002 the Giants raise the super league winning banner at the Odyssey arena.  It marked their first ever league championship win in the 01-02 season.  That coming season they would go on to win the playoffs and the next year another banner to mark that achievement would be unveiled.

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Bison 3, Giants 5 

Giants beat the Bison tonight 5-3 after an empty net goal to make it two wins from two this season and send themselves to the top of the Elite League. Jeff Hutchins had his best night in a Giants jersey picking up two goals and two assists and other new boy Mark Dutiaume grabbed his first goal as a Giants player on the way to their third victory in four games and their first in regulation.

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Giants 6, Steelers 5 (AOT)

It was a very disappointing start for the Giants as they found themselves 4-1 down going into the final 12 minutes of play, but the Champions rallied in fine style to take the win 6-5 in overtime with a Curtis Huppe power play goal.  They now sit 3rd in the table with 4 points in all and go to Basingstoke tomorrow trying to make it a 4-point weekend.  They will be playing the game however without defensive forward Shawn Skiehar who picked up a match penalty in tonight’s game and registered the most penalties by a single player in one game in Giants history

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