The Giants sunk to their worst defeat of the season on Thursday night when they took a 6-1 hammering by the Sheffield Steelers. The team looked like a squad that has lost all confidence since their 16-game winning streak was snapped about a month ago. MORE »

Take a look at the Powerplay rankings in the Elite Leauge to this point in the season. For those who thought our PP was bad it’ll make interesting reading and for those that thought it was good it will still make interesting reading. I didn’t think it was anywhere near as good as 23.6% but then again thats what you get with a set-up man like Ed Courtenay and guys who are willing to screen the goalie like Carlyle Lewis and Shaun Sutter.

            PL  OPP  GF  GA   Pct
Belfast     51  229  54   4  23.6
Coventry    53  301  67   2  22.3
Sheffield   56  265  53   2  20.0
Basingstoke 54  220  41   6  18.6
Nottingham  55  325  59   8  18.2
Newcastle   53  257  45   8  17.5
Edinburgh   54  302  51  14  16.9
Manchester  52  276  44   6  15.9
Cardiff     54  279  44  10  15.8
Hull        54  333  26   5   7.8

Info obtained from THF via KotG

It was one of them games that didn’t really matter other than pride and keeping some kind of momentum going. Unfortunately the Giants came away with neither dropping the road game 5-1 against the Panthers. Mark Morrison got the Giants only game in what appeared to be a night off for everyone. The Giants will now regroup as they come home for two games this coming week on Thursday and Saturday night.

The fight for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place is still alive and it will dictate who plays who come the playoffs. The Giants will need to keep an eye on that though I dont believe there will be any easy oposition and in a two-leg knockout series even a poor team can beat a good team. Thats what takes away from the playoffs for me but thats another argument for another time.

The Giants found their winning grove this weekend on the road with two victories over Basingstoke on Saturday and Manchester on Sunday. It will hopefully tone down the fears of some that the team were on the verge of a collapse with news finally breaking of Ed Courtenay leaving the team at the end of the season. As I believed this has not effected performances and the team proved it this weekend. Ed Courtenay called out some of his players in the press last week and it appears also to have done the trick.

Players like George Awada who have struggled in front of goal all season came good with a pair of goals on Sunday night to add to the one he scored on Saturday. That will please the fans to see their captain stepping it up on the score sheet as the playoff roll round.

The Giants will remain on the road next weekend with a Saturday night game in Nottingham before returning home for three home games.

Is it just me or are the Giants fans eating some kind of mind bending drug that I am not yet aware of? I mean some of the things our GM Todd Kelman has had to respond to lately, to quell the panic, are quite ludicrous. I am seriously questioning the reasoning of the hockey knowledge among our fan base more and more by the day. Thankfully however, when I talk to fellow fans that I know, my faith is restored in our fans, so I therefore ask; who are these idiotic people, where are they hiding and who is feeding them?

“I received loads of emails, phone calls and written letters over the last few days on this subject. Some of them were in support of Ed, some were questioning his commitment, some were just rants that made no sense at all. I read and listened to them all, which is why I am writing this response.
–Todd Kelman, February 15, 2008

We win 16-games in a row and then after a few slip up’s people are seriously questioning the commitment of our coach just because he is leaving? Killer should not have to come out and appease the fan’s every other week when some people start to panic that something, anything, could be going wrong.

As Todd clearly said, and a lot of us already knew, Ed was going to be leaving at the end of the year. Does that mean that suddenly now that it’s become public knowledge that he’s going to bomb the season?

Ed Courtenay is a winner, he is a professional and he is a respected hockey player. He has put up huge numbers this season - potentially record breaking numbers - he has lead us from bottom of the league into respectability. He has made the right changes when we have been poor and not been afraid to let players go who have not been up to scratch.

If Ed Courtenay was not committed to the cause, whether he is leaving or not, would he not have just quit when the going got tough back in September? I feel the man is not going to be allowed to go quietly into the night unless he brings us the playoff championship back to the Odyssey.

Seriously, who finds it beneficial to rant to our General Manager like some have felt it necessary to do so?

‘Beware one and all, Ed Courtenay is really the anti-Giant and is leaving at the end of the season!! He is taking us all down with him. Jump ship while you can!! Todd, how can you let something like this happen?’

Man, have I just woke up in some alternative reality?

Calm down, don’t panic, talk to the sane - hear what they have to say - All is still well and Courtenay is still onboard, steering our ship.

As I said a few days ago and I will say again - Ed Courtenay has done us a favour. Unlike the year when Tony Hand decided to walk away - he kept the organisation hanging on, wondering and waiting before rejecting a contract and leaving us searching at the last minute for a coach to build a team in a month. (Thankfully that all worked out perfectly, but it could easily have been oh so different).

This time we have a General Manager who has all the time in the world to find the right replacement for a man who has been a great coach - and that is due in part to Ed being up front with the club from the start.

I just hope some others finally wake up and send Courtenay off with the credit he deserves.

“When the cow is down, the butchers are plenty”

I’m not sure who said that, but I heard it for the first time about another hockey team somewhere else in the world at some point during our 16-game winning streak and for some reason I instantly thought of the Giants fans. I remember saying to someone, “I dread the moment this streak ends, someone or something is going to be a fall guy . . . There will be hell to pay. In Belfast nobody is satisfied”. A good thing or a bad thing aside, it is the bare facts. MORE »

Not much to say about that one. Better off forgetting about it. The Giants were poor and the Steelers wanted it more. Should I go into detail? I’m not so sure I could be bothered but maybe when running this website it’s kind of a responsibility! With the league clearly out of sight before the game began I think some players are taking their foot off the pedal with a long stretch of games coming up before the playoffs.

The other belief, and the more realistic one, is that some guys are playing hurt - and I think it’s showing. The defeat last Saturday to Coventry has got to be a major blow and has taken the wind out of their sails. A big 16 game push to get in contention only to blow it over one weekend. MORE »

There have been rumors doing the rounds this past week that Dundalk may be ready to enter a team into the EIHL next season as the league looks to expand. It may answer why the league was looking to up the number of imports, if they are expecting more teams to join the league.

The Giants have played four games out of Dundalk already this season as the home team and the Giants fans have taken over the arena, selling it out on their last trip and making a serious amount of noise. With that, it poses the question, could Dundalk create it’s own set of fans to do the same? MORE »

The Giant hopes of a league title this year may not be over after last weekends events but there’s still a lot to be positive about. The Sunday night defeat to Manchester that also seen Coventry winning was the real killer blow, especially when Coventry had been trailing 2-0 for part of the game. To be honest though I was nearly glad Coventry took the win. Had they lost as well as ourselves I would have been absolutely gutted that we didn’t take advantage of the slip-up. As it turns out even if we had won in Manchester the gap still would have been to much to have realistically made up. 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 »

The Giants lost their winning streak in brutal circumstances last night to the Coventry Blaze in front of a sell-out crowd in the Odyssey. It was sickening to witness and a harsh way for the dream to all but come to an end but nobody will be upset with the Giants performance on the night. The Giants conceded the final goal in overtime from a point shot that netminder Stevie Lyle would like to have back.

Still, the PR work was a winner. A sell-out crowd for the first time in years will have had everyone on the edge of their seat. A terrific atmosphere and an end to end hockey game that really could have went eitherway. If not for draws not existing in this sport, I would have said the game deserved to end in a tie. MORE »

Make no mistake about it, this is the game of the season, the one we have all been waiting for.  This is a must win for the Giants and if they do indeed keep their winning streak going tonight they will move three points ahead of Coventry in the title race.  Yes the Blaze have four games in hand but the pressure will really be on.  Even going into tonights game the Giants have the mental edge knowing they are top of the league now and that the Blaze are coming off a two-game losing streak. MORE »

Last night the Giants finally got to were the players and their fans want to be, on top of the Elite League. It was far from a classic game but then who on earth cares. The Giants got the 3-1 win against Hull and propelled themselves to the upper echelons of British hockey. According to word at the game the Giants become the first team to have owned every single position in the league table at one stage or another. The good news about that kind of statement is that the direction of the team has been the right one.

It puts them one point ahead of the Blaze, the first time they’ve been knocked off the top spot for nearly the entire season, but leaves the Blaze with four games in hand. The Blaze come into Belfast tomorrow night and a win for Belfast there would put the Giants three points clean, even with that four extra games played.

Make no mistake about it, now owning the top-spot will be a big psychological edge going into the battle with the Blaze. The Blaze have lost their last two games and so with the Giants now on top they will feel even more added pressure to win their four games in hand.

Great work Giants on the finest turn around in the history of British Hockey.