Ever witness a hockey interview that makes you want to reach in and choke the athlete? If interviews are going to be fake and somewhat scripted, then they should be done just like in wrestling.

(This story has been adapted to fit in with the EIHL)

Here’s the scene, interviewer (let’s call him Nigel) is standing in middle of the frame talking about the upcoming grudge match between Belfast and Sheffield.

Jason Ruff and Shawn Skiehar saunter into the frame on either side, staring Nigel down. He looks up; fake startled at their presence. He asks Jason what he has to say about the game…

MORE »

The Giants have been scoring goals for fun lately averaging over four per game and so it’s no surprise when you look at the league scoring charts to see three of the Giants team in the top four in scoring.  All three play on the Giants top line, Jason Ruff, Mark Dutiaume and Curtis Huppe.  Still there’s other guys around the league doing their job too so lets take a look at the different scoring categories so far this season.  It’s no surprise that the Giants feature in every category…

MORE »

Two weeks have gone by since ver 3.0 already and the month of November is coming to a close.  The festive season is about to begin and thats when the real grind starts and come the end of that and I’d say ver 6.0 of power rankings we’ll really have an idea of who is competing for the league title, who the mid-table teams are and who is going to be fighting just to make the playoffs.

In this weeks edition Belfast are finally knocked off their top prich after two weeks at number one.  Two tight wins against Edinburgh and a defeat to Nottingham seen the Giants slip back to thrid behind surging teams Sheffield and Coventry.  The Steelers and Basingstoke move up from 9th and 10th place respectivly, into the top four after excellent strings of wins each.  Cardiff and Edinburgh have fell back while the mid-table remains quite simular.

Enjoy the rankings and as always feel free to leave a comment…
(In brackets is the teams position in ver 3.0)

1. (2) Coventry Blaze: +6 / 3gp = 2.0
2. (9) Sheffield Steelers: +5 / 3gp = 1.67
3. (1) Belfast Giants: +6 / 4gp = 1.5
4. (10) Basingstoke Bison: +5 / 4gp = 1.25
5. (6) Manchester Phoenix: +2 / 3gp = 0.67
6. (4) Nottingham Panthers: -2 / 5gp = -0.4
7. (8) Newcastle Vipers: -4 / 3gp = -1.33
8. (3) Cardiff Devils: -3 / 2gp = -1.5
9. (7) Hull Stingrays: -8 / 5gp = -1.6
10.(5) Edinburgh Capitals: -7 / 4gp = -1.75

Ver 1.0
Ver 2.0
Ver 3.0

Huppe’s points streak snapped; Morin and Ski on points streak; Awada hitting top form…

It’s been a successful month for the Giants; this weekend was only their first defeat in the league in 9 games in which they had won all nine.  They have three players in the top three in league points scoring and on the season the team are currently averaging 4.15 goals per game.  The next best team to them in that category is second place Coventry with just 3.41 goals per game.

Let’s take a look at what players have been doing what with in the last month and a bit.

MORE »

Panthers 5, Giants 3

It was going to happen eventually, the Giants where on a winning streak and the Panthers where losing a lot of games.  Something had to give and well we ended their losing streak and they ended our winning streak when they beat the Giants 5-3 Saturday night.  It brings to an end a 9 game winning streak in the league for the Giants who now need to pick it up again to keep their lead alive.

MORE »

The Giants are in Nottingham this weekend hoping for two more points in their aim to extend their Elite league lead.  It was just a few weeks ago that Nottingham where up near the top of the league and looking like a real threat to the Giants but a run of terrible form has seen them slip down the table of late and after some personell changes they will see this game as the perfect chance to get themselves back on track.  The Giants have always found Nottingham a tough place to play but their form of late suggests no reason why they cant come back with the two points.

I’m currently in the airport on the way to the game to check it out, so it’ll be Sunday at least before any reports are up.  I’m off to grab a beer and start enjoying the trip.  Later…

Capitals 2, Giants 5
Capitals 5, Giants 7

Hockey double headers dont get much better than this.  I was expecting to see a huge Carlsberg banner hanging outside the arena when I walked out on Sunday night after the second game.  The Giants took all four points, there were 19 goals in all and a superb atmosphere from the travelling support of Giants fans that also brought out the best in the Capital fans.  It was probably the coldest arena I’ve been in and possibly likely to be in but there was certainly plenty of distraction to that as both teams traded goals over both nights.  The two wins extends the Giants league up top of the league and gives them nine league wins in a row.

MORE »

I’ll be off to Edinburgh this weekend to take in the double header against the Caps so there will be no game reports or other updates on the site until early next week.  A huge travelling support is expected for what is now becoming a yearly trip to Scotland for the big double header.  It will bring back memories of my last big hockey trip to Scotland when the Giants took on Ayr way back in the 01-02 season.  What a travelling support that was, six bus loads and an away arena filled with Giants fans.  Here’s hoping for some of the same this weekend.

Last years league championship banner may be falling apart after just a few weeks but the Giants certainly aren’t after beating the Bison for a third time in a row tonight 3-0.  Mike Minard picked up his first shutout of the season and newly appointed alternate captain Mark Morrison scored his forth goal of the season to extend the Giants lead at the top of the Elite League.

Box Score »

MORE »

Mark Morrison has been given the ‘A’ on his chest according to reports by Nigel Ringland on the radio this morning.  I’m not yet sure who between Kelmand and Skiehar has lost their Alternate captain status to Mo-Train but will find out ASAP. I’d imagine it may be Kelman as he is retiring this year to take up the GM post and has already started training for the position while playing out the season. 

Mo is a local Belfast boy and joined the Giants in 2004 at the formation of the Elite League and has played in each season since.  He has played in 187 games scoring 12 goals and adding 11 assists.  He is 9th all-time in games played for the Giants and 3rd among active players.  Mo is one of the heart and sole players of the Giants team and has improved by the year.  He may only get third line minutes and be the smallest guy on the ice but nobody puts as much effort into the game night in and night out as Mo.  He certainly deserves the ‘A’.  This season he has 3 goals in 15 games so far.

Its a few days late but better late than never.  In the two weeks since the previous rankings there have been a handful of games for most teams and it’s seen some interesting developments.  The rankings table continues to change as teams continue to take points from one another.  One thing consistent about this fortnights ranking is that the Giants have remained on top as the best team in British hockey in the last two weeks.  Nottingham continues their up and down ways.  From first in version one two tenth in version two they now come in forth after snapping their losing streak.  Newcastle and Hull both drop back a tad while Coventry’s good run of form has them up to second.

Remember it works on a simple but effective formula - A teams plus/minus rating over two weeks divided by their games played over two weeks.

Enjoy the rankings and feel free to leave a comment…
(In brackets is the teams position in ver 2.0)

1. (1) Belfast Giants: +7 / 2gp = 3.50
2. (5) Coventry Blaze: +7 / 3gp = 2.33
3. (3) Cardiff Devils: +2 / 2gp = 1.00
4. (10) Nottingham Panthers: +0 / 2gp = 0.00
5. (8) Edinburgh Capitals: -2 / 3gp = -0.67
6. (6) Manchester Phoenix: -3 / 4gp = -0.75
7. (2) Hull Stingrays: -3 / 3gp = -1.00
8. (4) Newcastle Vipers: -2 / 2gp = -1.00
9. (7) Sheffield Steelers: -2 / 1gp = -2.00
10. (9) Basingstoke Bison: -8 / 4gp = -2.00

Ver 1.0
Ver 2.0

Is it just me or does it feel like we’ve just went through another off season, just this time without the rumours and signings?  It seems like forever since the last game against the Basingstoke Bison at home when the Giants won 7-2.  They’ve only played once since and that was the following night so the boys will have had eleven days off by the time they drop the puck again this Thursday.  Finally is all I can say to that, but how will the break effect the momentum the team have/has built up in games lately?  MORE »

Bison 1, Giants 4

With a 4-1 win tonight on the road to go with the 7-2 win last night at home the Giants completed their weekend sweep of the Basingstoke Bison to remain top of the league.  Mike Minard kept up his fantastic weekend form by making 29 saves and letting just one goal by him as the Bison brought the game back to 3-1 late in the 3rd through Greg Owen.  Giants goals on the night game from Hutchins, Huppe, Morrison and Awada on the powerplay as the Giants went 1-3 with the man advantage.

Box Score »

MORE »

If you haven’t heard by now then where have you been?  If you missed it in the game report then I’ll put it again here.  In last night’s game Jason Ruff put in a hat trick performance and added an assist.  His second point of the night, his first goal of the game was his 200th as a Belfast Giants player.  Ruff earlier in the year became the Giants all-time highest points scorer to confirm his status among the fans as the Giants greatest players and last night he just confirmed it.  Only Todd Kelman who is still playing could come close to that 200 point mark but he has since announced he will retire at the end of the season.

MORE »

Giants 7, Bison 3 

Giants where in fine form tonight as they put 7 goals past the Basingstoke Bison to maintain their lead a-top the British Elite league.  Jason Ruff scored the teams first hat trick of the season and added an assist to move past the 200 points mark in his Giants career.  J.P. Morin added two goals, Levers and Huppe got one a piece and Leigh Jamieson got into a fine scrap in what was a top performance from the Giants team.

Box Score »

MORE »