Last year I done a season preview of each team but to be honest I just don’t have the time right now as well as the knowledge of each team. It has been such a busy summer that I have only really been able to follow the Giants progress and if other teams is anything like the Giants, their line-up’s will have changed so much that any honest assessment would be useless until I had seen them all play. Teams who finished bottom last year could well be near the top this time out and vise-versa. That is the beauty of ice hockey though. The standings are never easy to predict and especially with the Elite League where the majority of teams are on one-year contracts teams can change so much between seasons. So the following is just a flash guide to the season with just a little bit on each team and what you MIGHT expect to see from them. Of course in 7-months time you could read back on this and see it as nothing more than rambling gibberish. MORE »

Last night the Giants finally got to were the players and their fans want to be, on top of the Elite League. It was far from a classic game but then who on earth cares. The Giants got the 3-1 win against Hull and propelled themselves to the upper echelons of British hockey. According to word at the game the Giants become the first team to have owned every single position in the league table at one stage or another. The good news about that kind of statement is that the direction of the team has been the right one.

It puts them one point ahead of the Blaze, the first time they’ve been knocked off the top spot for nearly the entire season, but leaves the Blaze with four games in hand. The Blaze come into Belfast tomorrow night and a win for Belfast there would put the Giants three points clean, even with that four extra games played.

Make no mistake about it, now owning the top-spot will be a big psychological edge going into the battle with the Blaze. The Blaze have lost their last two games and so with the Giants now on top they will feel even more added pressure to win their four games in hand.

Great work Giants on the finest turn around in the history of British Hockey.

That title is the vibes I got from reading what the Blaze coach had to say about the game tomorrow night. By all accounts the only way to beat the Giants is to choke the life out of the game. Sit back and defend, put five men behind the puck and try steal a goal or two. Opening up and going toe-to-toe with the Giants is impossible. These are not my words, but the thoughts of the Hull Stingrays coach Rick Strachan. MORE »

Back over the border with all two points . . . A little late with the blog but here none the less . . . MORE »

Shaun Sutter hit two goals on Saturday night and the seasons first hat trick on Sunday night to total five goals and help the Giants on their way to back to back wins over the weekend. It keeps the Giants in touch with the top teams as the season revival continues. The weekend also seen the long awaited return to the ice of Roman Gavalier - shaved head and all. He’s added a bit of much needed depth to the Giants defensive corps allowing Todd Kelman to go back to were he feels he belongs - In his suit, up high looking down on the action like a true G.M. Joining him in the ‘box’ up in the rafters was Trevor Johnson . . . Still not completely healthy.

Anyway, a strong, comfortable performance against Hull followed up by a shoot-out win against the Bison was just what this surging Giants team required. The lines finally seem to be gelling and everyone settling into their roles. The top line of Lewis - Campbell - Courtenay looks a threat every shift with Ed’s play making abilities, Campbell’s sniping and Lewis’ physical approach. Lewis’ ability to plant himself in front of the opposing goalie on the power play is also something we haven’t seen since the departure of ‘goalie screening expert’ Paxton Schulte back in 2004. The ‘checking line’ for what of a better word of Awada - Cameron - Sutter have been outstanding. Not to mention Sutters goals, Cameron brings an exceptional amount of skill and speed to the line and with Awada and Sutter on his wings willing to spend the entire game fighting for the pucks in the corners and around the opposing goal. Then we have the ‘energy line’ for what of a perfect word to give energy and allow the import boys a breather on the bench. Jamieson - Moran - Morrison have been in great form and have an uncanny ability to keep the puck in the opposition zone for prolonged amounts of time at times.

The Giants get the week off of action until this Friday when they face the Blaze in what really will be a bench mark game - A game that will really let them know where exactly they stand in their hopes of turning the season around.

Unfortunately I won’t be at it so no doubt I’ll miss a classic.

Stingrays 1, Giants 7

No the headline is not a joke, I only logged onto ih-update midway through the third period and had to refresh twice as well as check I had the correct game before believing what I was reading. The Giants were leading 5-0 and went on to win 7-1 in their best performance I would imagine of the season. All that with a very short bench on ‘D’ with Gavalier AND Trevor Johnson both out of the line-up with injuries. This was the Hull team that the Giants could not score against just last weekend in Dundalk. The Giants put seven past them tonight with DeRouville only falling less than a minute shy of picking up his second shutout of the season. For all the critisism that’s came his way this season he’s certainly been keeping them out of late. MORE »

Giants 0, Stingrays 2

Take note of the title. The Giants fans went on a road trip yesterday evening to catch their teams home game against Hull Stingrays. It was the first time the Giants have played a home game outside the Odyssey Arena since it has been opened. Remember the first half of the 2000-2001 season the Giants played home games on the road while the Odyssey was built. The trip to Dundalk did not change the Giants fortunes however as the defeats continued. This time the Giants sank to a new low, getting shut out by a team that from pre-season we really thought we should have beat. MORE »

The Giants have made two changes to their season schedule.  The home game with the Hull Stingrays, scheduled for Thursday February 7, has been brought forward a week to Thursday January 31 and the meeting with the Sheffield Steelers, which had been due to take place on Saturday February 9, has been moved 24 hours to Friday February 8.

View the fixture list

This summer may already feel like winter but it’s not quite hockey time yet.  However, with the season only a few weeks four days away and without knowing how much blogging time I will have I guess it’s about time to look into the season and preview each of the teams with as much knowledge as I actually have of them anyway!  Next up it’s the Stingrays: MORE »