“To these players,” says Ed Courtenay, gesturing towards his team coach, “this is the NHL.”

Remember Ed Courtenay? How could you forget. He was our stick tossing, high scoring, play making on/off player coach for three years. He was a line-mate to Theo Fleury, one of the most devastating duo’s ever to play together in British Hockey history. Yep, how ever could you forget. Well, he is still playing, still toiling out there on the minor-pro-bush-league circuit, a mercenary, a soldier of fortune, a one time NHLer now playing at a level below the British Elite League. Courtenay is in it for the money and for the love of the game and Ollie Williams of the BBC ran an excellent article on Courtenay’s journey from the NHL to Altrincham where he continues his playing career alongside the man he replaced as coach at the Giants, Tony Hand.

“As much as I wanted to get to 20 years, I was ready in year 17. But the job market out there is not the easiest, is it? Out there in the real world. And if you do have a job, you’re not giving it up to get on the dole. So it worked out for both of us: the team and myself.

— Ed Courtenay, Oct ’09

Amid all the fighting and the debating about the morals of it, one thing that has been overlooked is the return of Ed Courtenay onto the Odyssey ice. Ed Courtenay was a great player for the Giants in his time here and the coach that lead us to our second ever league championship and for that I’ll always be grateful as a fan. I wasn’t at the game last night but watching the highlights video on the post below it was great to see him on the ice again.

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If the PR people had their way the paying public going to the Giants v Vipers game this weekend can expect an all out war to ensue followed by the suits that fill the corridors of power at Elite League towers running onto the ice throwing out suspensions like rice at a wedding. According to the Giants website, Todd Kelman has requested a league presence at the game with the belief that the Vipers will do everything in their power to goon it up on the Giants players. Have we forgot about our newest signing?

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Remember Ed Courtenay? Of course you do. Well if rumors coming out of Cardiff are to be believed it seems he is set for a return to British ice hockey, just six months after retiring, to play for the Devils. Having retired on a few occasions to be bench boss for the Giants but later coming back to play Ed Courtenay might well be the most retired/un-retired hockey player of all time.

I have a little section on this site dedicated to the legends of the Belfast Giants. In order to be part of this exclusive group you have to be no longer playing for Belfast and you have to have been a star in your time here and a player people are going to really remember ten years down the line. The latest member — Ed Courtenay

Maybe I’m wrong but I believe all the ones on the list deserve to be there and I know I for sure will remember them ten years from now. Courtenay who spent his time here as player/coach, was never too far away from the top of the scoring charts in the league and was never to far away from the correct end of the table as a coach. Sure things started badly last season but Ed turned it around as the Giants gained — if anything — some respectability.
Anyway, that isn’t what Ed will be remembered for in his time in Belfast, it is more likely to be things like:

The Playmaking
The stick throwing
The League title
The Ed/Theo combo
The two playoff final four appearances

There’s no doubt Ed has left his footprints on the Giants history and that is why, now that he has moved on and retired, that he finds himself being added to the exclusive group. I put him in there — there really was no need for a vote.

If you do believe there is someone in there that doesn’t deserve to be there or there is someone missing from the list that should be there feel free to leave a comment. I cannot guarantee it will be taken into consideration however!!