I thought it worth pointing out that the two minute minor for holding at 16:56 by Evan Cheverie in Sunday’s game against Coventry tied the all-time most penalty minutes in a season in team history and 31:03 Pat Bateman’s two for hooking broke it. The Giants now have 1418 penalty minutes on the season with the old record having been set way back in 2003/04 at 1418. Below is a look at the penalty minutes racked up through each season so far with no doubt more to come this season.

2000/01: 1155
2001/02: 978
2002/03: 1246
2003/04: 1414
2004/05: 1079
2005/06: 1369
2006/07: 1385
2007/08: 1045
2008/09: 1170
2009/10: 1418

That wasn’t the only record broken this season, so far. Colin Shields 101 points on the season broke the all-time marker previously set by Jason Ruff and Theo Fleury at 94. Then there is Jeff Szwez whose incredible 17 powerplay goals and 8 short handed goals are new team records and he has also broken Curtis Huppe’s record of goals per game ratio by scoring in unbelievable 0.85 goals per game. On top of all that there are his 39 goals, which have edged ahead of the previously all-time high of 38 in a single season by Jason Ruff (03/04) and Paul Deniset (08/09). Not half bad for a guy who joined the team quite a way into the season. Colin Shields is on 38 goals also and with games to come they could be fighting it out for that record.

And finally you have Stephen Murphy who smashed the single season record for shutouts. He is currently on 8.

With anywhere from 2 to 4 games still to come for Shields, Szwez and Murphy there is opportunity to build on these records and so I’ll wait until after the season to write something in depth on each guy and their record breaking seasons. If 09/10 is to be remembered for anything, it’ll be for players setting new individual high’s in club history.

George Awada has scored more goals and more points than any Giants player in team history and tonight he racked up his 300th point in a Giants jersey. The milestone moment came when he scored a goal at 3:20 of the second period in the teams 4-1 win over Cardiff with the assist on the goal going to Pat Bateman. Awada later added his 301st point as a Giant when he grabbed an assist.

It’s been a rough season for Awada with injuries keeping him out of the line-up but he’s back on the ice now and looks set for an extended run in the line-up. It’s great to see a Giants player hit the 300 point mark in just the teams 10th season of existence. Let’s hope George is around for number 400 in a few seasons time.

The Giants won 8-0 tonight in Newcastle but the big moment was the eight and final goal scored by Jeff Szwez at 54:10 as it marked the 2000th goal in Belfast Giants history. Considering it took until the end of the fifth season (11 March 2005) to score 1000 this one came about half-a-season ahead of schedule. Here is what I wrote about the 1000th goal almost five years ago (time flies!)

Today’s game against the Nottingham Panthers was no ordinary league game. Well it was, but there was an extra to it for the Belfast Giants — today’s game was the 500th in the history of the club — and although a 1000th game will really be cause for celebration, I didn’t want to wait until some time in 2017 to write about it. Forget about the pathetic score, this is a moment many people never thought they would see. Read More»

Tonight’s game has last years champions, Coventry Blaze coming into town for a top of the table clash. There will be a lot on the line as each team look to get one over the other in the championship race. It won’t decide the league title but it will be a huge momentum booster for whoever comes out on top. Read More»