This is it… All up for grabs now and needing just a little favour from our Scottish neighbours as well!

Yep, the Giants are at home tonight against Newcastle with a win required and hoping that Edinburgh can deliver the goods against Coventry and take the championship race down to the final day between the two teams slugging it out – in Coventry: Blaze v Giants.

I’ll be getting some text updates from the game tonight and trying to hunt down what is going on between Coventry and Edinburgh. It would be nice just to get the chance to win it off our own bat tomorrow night. If you get the chance and aren’t at the game, tune into Giants TV for the live feed from the Odyssey and if you can’t do that, then keep up to date here…

It’s not looking good for the Giants now following a 3-2 defeat to Edinburgh were they split a two game series against the Capitals on the road. A game misconduct to Jeff Szwez put the Giants down a man and with Shane Johnson and Sean McMorrow already out, what must have been tired legs, could not come through with the victory. That isn’t to blame Szwez however, he’s a player that plays on the edge and sometimes you know he’ll go over it. Still, it’s a disappointing result.

Those that seen the game – that is both sets of fans – were extremely critical of the referee who botched a number of calls including one where a Edinburgh powerplay goal was ruled out when the referee realised he had given the Caps a two man advantage when it should have been a 5-on-4 powerplay.

It’s easy to be very critical of some referee’s at the Elite League level who sometimes seem a little out of their depth, but then the same could be said for some players. Of course fans have a right to vent their fury towards the referee after coughing up their hard earned money. It’s always worth remembering though that the EIHL hasn’t got a back log of people wanting to referee in it’s league and without some of these guys you mightn’t have a league. It’s unfortunate there isn’t more refereeing talent in which to be critical of, but that’s the league we’re in.

The title isn’t officially gone for the Giants yet but they are going to need Coventry to fall apart soon. Coventry haven’t taken massive advantage of the Giants defeats in the run-in to the title and the same could be said for the Giants, but while the gap isn’t too huge there is always a chance.

And if now? Well, there’s always the playoffs.

Amidst the distraction that must surely have been lingering over the Giants dressing room this afternoon on some scale or another, the team went out and put up a fine victory over the Edinburgh Capitals 3-1. The game which didn’t feature McMorrow or Shane Johnson who is out with a concussion, were able to pick up the two points that keeps them in the title race. Unfortunately Coventry themselves picked up a victory. Without McMorrow to do their fighting the Giants enforcer-elect Mark Morrison stepped up to do the fighting duties!

As per the Belfast Giants:

The unfortunate abandonment of Saturday’s game against Edinburgh requires the game to be replayed in full. Despite a very congested fixture schedule, the Capitals have agreed to play on Sunday 14th of March with a 5pm face off.

Tickets from the original game on Saturday 27th February will be valid for the replay match on Sunday 14th March. If people did not hold onto the tickets, they should contact the point of purchase to obtain a duplicate ticket.

Odyssey Box Office (028) 9073 9074
Belfast Giants Office (028) 9046 0044

“We would like to apologize to everyone that was in attendance on Saturday Night,” said General Manager Todd Kelman. “Due to problems with the ice, the game could not continue, and although Odyssey Arena staff did all they could, the situation could not be rectified in time. I hope everyone will come along to the rearranged game.”

Re-scheduled Date:
LBM Belfast Giants v Edinburgh Capitals
Sunday 14th March at 5pm (doors open at 4pm)

The Edinburgh Capitals are looking to re-schedule their game on Monday 15th March against the Cardiff Devils. An official announcement from the Capitals will be made later this week

Currently the Giants are stuck in the middle of the second period against Edinburgh with the game delayed due to a hole in the ice in front of one of the goals. We’ve had six men out on the ice staring into a hole – a typical site around Belfast – and we’ve had three or four fire extinguishers used to try combat the problem with Co2 leaving the Odyssey Arena a probable fire hazard due to a lack of extinguishers left. No word yet on the game being officially postponed but if the problem cannot be fixed couldn’t they just bus the players up to Dundonald in full kit and have the fans follow after in their cars and finish the game up there?

Update: The Giants game was cancelled with news to follow on what happens to the fixture now? But that is what you get for ice fishing during a Hockey game.