If you were lucky enough to have a ticket to the Belfast Giant – Boston Bruins game last night you’ll know how jealous I was about not getting to see what was sure to become one of the great memories in the already memorable ten years of the club. While their was plenty of action in the game, including the wonderful moment when the Belfast Giants took the lead after holding the Bruins off the score for over half the game, there was also loads of action off the ice as various media outlets from Boston and Belfast covered the game. The exposure was superb for the Giants and the British League as a whole. Below is links to Twitter addresses of beat writers, bloggers and other media folk covering the game as well a bunch of links to the entire weekend that I have managed to come across. As I come across anymore I will add them on. Enjoy.

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Boston Bruins arrive in Belfast

Being stuck in Canada and away from the thick of the hockey action in Belfast might sound like a strange statement to say in a hockey context, but for me – a Belfast Giants fan – knowing that the Boston Bruins of the NHL have landed in Belfast, practiced in the Odyssey, had a civic reception with the Lord Mayor of Belfast and are getting ready to face the Belfast Giants select team tomorrow night, makes me feel like Southern Ontario is some kind of hockey wilderness. Via Twitter and various websites I have at least been able to see what has been going on, follow pictures of the Bruins trip so far and find out what people are saying ahead of the game. Unfortunately the game isn’t on TV here and I’ll be out for the day so I’ll have to make do with my phone for updates and hope that sooner rather than later some online highlights become available followed by a full-game DVD for purchase. Because I’m not around tomorrow I won’t be doing any on-site updates or chit-chat but no doubt from everything I hear and everything that is written I’ll put together some sort of review of the weekend without actually haven seen it.

It’s great stuff this for British Hockey and for the sport in Northern Ireland and it’s great publicity for Belfast. I hope the Bruins are enjoying their trip and I hope we can give them a decent game tomorrow night.

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Over on my website PRBsports.com I have put up an article all about tomorrow’s epic night for the Giants against the Boston Bruins. I’ve taken the angle that not everyone reading knows the Giants and knows the British Leagues but mainly I’ve taken the approach that I am bitterly jealous that I am not getting to be a part of yet another memorable night in the Odyssey, yet extremely proud of the teams, Todd Kelman and the fans that something like this is happening. It just shows how far this team has come and the exposure gained via Tourism, media coverage and potential new fans can only ever be a good thing. Whatever the result – probably a big Bruins win – it’ll be a magical and fun night and I hope Todd’s hopes of having fans from many of the Elite Leagues teams coming to watch come to pass and that the building is rocking like it was in the old days when the east-tier – rumoured to be making an appearance on Saturday night – was a regular fixture at Giants games.

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Watching Giants GM and ex-player, Todd Kelman stand next to Bruins president and ex-legend Cam Neeley at the Bruins arena announcing this game seems somewhat surreal. When the Giants arrived in Belfast in 2000 a lot of people wrote the sport of as a novelty believing that the big crowds that came along to sell out the arena in the first few season would not last. But while the crowds are not quite at the sellout level they once where, they are still big and now, after ten seasons of hockey and 610 games, to see the Giants now only still playing and even winning (this years playoff champions), it is superb to see that they have grown to the stature that they can invite and host NHL calibre clubs to Belfast. I wouldn’t want to serve up humble pie to those non believers back in 2000 because it was understandable to believe it probably wouldn’t last this long, but I hope they are impressed with how well the team has done in the end.

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Reports have been doing the rounds today that the Boston Bruins of the NHL are to hold their pre-season training camp in Belfast and play a pre-season exehibition game against a German DEL team in the Odyssey Arena. Now it’s unlikely I’d be able to get back to see that, but if you do get the chance you should grab yourself some tickets. Okay so it won’t likely involve the Belfast Giants in any way, but who thought the day would come when an NHL team took to the ice in the Odyssey Arena? It’ll be a pre-season game sure, but the quality levels will still be high and it’ll be a big chance for the Giants fans to see some top quality hockey.

There is no news yet as to when exactly this will take place and as such no news has been released on ticket prices and when they would go on sale. I imagine the tickets will be a little higher than a standard Giants game and I would like to think regular Giants fans will get the first refusal for I’d say tickets will go quickly.