Shame. My second and last game of the 08-09 British Hockey season ended in defeat for the Giants. In the two games I seen over the period I have been back in Northern Ireland the team picked up two points from a game that wasn’t a classic and lost the game that was actually fun to watch. But the scores aside it was nice being back in the Odyssey, nice to see old faces, a good attendance and a nice shiny new and very effective pre-game show. Read More»

So with the league recently announcing the all-star game being in the format of a North vs South format with the league split into two conferences it has got me wondering, mainly for fun, how the league would look if it adopted the conference format formally. What would the standings look like, who would be the 5th place team in each conference to miss the playoffs and who is the strongest conference? You know a weighted league schedule — playing teams in your own conference more than those in the others — wouldn’t be such a bad thing and when you see the conferences, as a Giants fan, you wouldn’t be to upset at seeing the 4 other teams that make up their conference.

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The Gordie Howe hat trick is when a player get a goal, an assist and a fight. It is named after a great player of yester-year who actually only achieved the statistic he is named after once in his glittering career. Still, Malcolm MacMillan done it tonight and probably not for the last time this season at the rate he has been dropping the mits and scoring the points. Tonight I seen Malcolm and his team mates in action for the first time this season and while it wasn’t the most polished performance I have ever seen there were a few standout performances and at the very least I got to see a win. Read More»

So I am getting ready to head out to the Odyssey Arena for my first Giants game of the year and what will likely only be the first of two I will see this entire season. I flicked onto the KotG forum to see any team news to be hit with the news that Steve Thornton has been handed a two-game suspension for the ‘accidental’ tripping of Curtis Cruickshank against Hull a week ago. Whoever made this decision needs hung from the rafters of the Odyssey Arena. Click below for the video. Read More»

Due to the unusual success of the Giants in the cup competitions this year they have a crowding of fixtures that means both the Knockout Cup and Challenge Cup Semi-Final home legs against Coventry will be played in Dundalk. I would assume renting the Odyssey ice was not possible and or too expensive for a mid-week game. How many fans travel down to Dundalk midweek though remains to be seen.

The Giants are playing in the knockout cup this year after pulling out of the competition last season. With there already being a Challenge Cup, League schedule and Playoff tournament, I am still not sure the actual point of the Knockout cup.