Giants-History.com » Graeme Walton

7 Giants in the British Hockey team

Richard Blayney — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:46:48 +0000

The British Hockey team coached by Paul Thompson will head to the Division One World Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia next month with seven Giants players in the squad. The tournament takes place between 17 and 23 April and Britain will be in a group with Croatia, Korea, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. The tournament will be preceded by two warm-up games against the Netherlands on 10th and 11th April in Nottingham and Sheffield respectively.

The following are the Giants players who have made the cut: Stephen Murphy, Nathan Craze, Shane Johnson, Kevin Phillips, Graeme Walton, Craig Peacock and Colin Shields.

It’s a strong squad overall and one that must feel somewhat confident about picking up some wins and who knows, maybe even promotion.

Squad in full

Goalies: Nathan Craze (Belfast Giants) Jody Lehman (AaB Aalborg, Denmark) Stevie Lyle (Cardiff Devils) Stephen Murphy (Belfast Giants).

Defencemen: Kyle Horne (Edinburgh Capitals) Shane Johnson (Belfast Giants) Steve Lee (Nottingham Panthers) Danny Meyers (Nottingham Panthers) Ben O’Connor (Edinburgh Capitals) David Phillips (Rockford Ice Hogs, USA) Kevin Phillips (Belfast Giants) Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils) Mark Thomas (Sheffield Steelers) Graeme Walton (Belfast Giants) Jonathan Weaver (Coventry Blaze).

Forwards: Greg Chambers (Coventry Blaze) David Clarke (Nottingham Panthers) Russell Cowley (Coventry Blaze) Robert Dowd (Sheffield Steelers) Mark Garside (Edinburgh Capitals) Jason Hewitt (Sheffield Steelers) Phil Hill (Cardiff Devils) Marc Levers (Nottingham Panthers) Lee Mitchell (Hull Stingrays) Matt Myers (Johnstown Chiefs, USA) Greg Owen (Coventry Blaze) Craig Peacock (Belfast Giants) Jonathan Phillip (Sheffield Steelers) Colin Shields (Belfast Giants) Ashley Tait (Ritten Renon, Italy) Matt Towe (Cardiff Devils).

Walton back for a 7th season . . . Another British goalie signs up

Richard Blayney — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:24:41 +0000

I say this each year when the Giants sign on Graeme Walton or one of the local players, but I cannot believe he is heading onto his 7th season. Back in 03-04 when he made his nerve filled debut for the Giants I barely expected him to see out that season never mind be here at the end of the decade. Wally has played 346 games for the Giants in his career now and that is good for 3rd in the all-time list. Amazing.

Also being announced was another new signing and another new British one at that. Goaltender Stephen Murphy. He replaces Stevie Lyle who last week chose to sign in Cardiff despite having a year left on his Giants contract . . . whether he was released or walked remains to be seen but the Giants were quick off the mark to replace him with a fellow Brit.

Deciding if it was the right move to go British in goals and bring in an extra import on the ice will make for good debating but the decision has been made now and it’ll be up to Thornton to put a strong team in front of Murphy. He had a very solid season in Manchester last year so the Giants will be looking for him to build on that.

It is good to see the signings coming in thick and fast, Thornton has been wasting no time in getting a core of players together before the summer months really even begin.

Giants sign on three more

Richard Blayney — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:27:11 +0000

Stevie Thornton continues to build the core of his squad for next season with three more early signings. Normally at this time of year we are sitting wondering who will be our new coach never mind talking about five signings already on the board.

The Giants today announced the signings of Graeme Walton, Stevie Lyle and Shane Johnson. They add to the duo already signed of Colin Shields and Dave Phillips.

Steve Thornton is clearly trying to get a strong group of British players together before adding more experienced import players. Lyle, Walton, Shields and Phillips all ice for the British team and are regarded among the best British players in the EIHL. Lyle and Shields especially are regarded as many as import quality leaving the Giants ten import spots to fill around these star players.

Shane Johnson has become one of the ten imports to come in, returning after his ‘return’ year last season. Johnson who played the first six seasons with the Belfast Giants left to at first retire and then become some what of a loan player for various teams around the Elite League. Last season when struck down with injuries the Giants called on Johnson who was only to happy to return. He is now back again as a permanent fixture in the line-up with some rumors suggesting that he is back on a two-year contract.

If that is the case Johnson should pass Kelman for the most games played ever by a Giants player. Although he may be getting on a bit in years, he still has the skill to play at the EIHL as show in last seasons performances for the most part. He will add serious experience and leadership to the Giants locker-room.