There was no choking at the first hurdle for the Giants this year as they brushed aside the Newcastle Vipers in two games to move to the final four tournament, next weekend in Nottingham. The Giants won their home leg on Saturday night 4-1 before thumping the Vipers in their own barn 6-2 tonight. Everyone came good for the Giants in both games with the home game being especially poignant as it was the last at the Odyssey for Shane Johnson who retires at the end of the season. Johnson, the Giants first ever MVP back in their first ever season in 2000/01 and who scored two goals in the playoff final in 2003, picked up the man-of-the-match on the night.

Evan Cheverie was the Giants top man on the score sheet bagging two goals in each game while Jeff Szwez continued his clutch play with three goals over the two legs to help the Giants through.

A 10-3 aggregate victory is always pretty comprehensive and hopefully the team can build on this scoring form next weekend and win their second ever playoff crown. I’ll be back in the UK during the final four weekend but, for the second year running and third year since 2000, won’t be able to attend though temptation will be very high to book a last second flight should they actually make the final on the Sunday.

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 wasn’t a weekend to remember for the Belfast Giants as they came up short in one of their worst performances in team history that had the fans booing them off the ice. Although they fired a deceiving, and surely record setting, 72-shots on the Newcastle Vipers goal the effort against a 9 man Newcastle team wasn’t there and they blew a four goal lead to lose 6-5 after a shootout.

Taking an early 4-0 lead had the fans settling into their seats for a Sunday evening snooze as their team had it easy against a Newcastle with such a short bench that they deserved credit for even bothering to show up. Just nine men had taken the ice for the injury hit team and with the score at four they’d have been forgiven for rolling over and taking the thumping that appeared to be coming their way.

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If you listened to and believed media reports then you wouldn’t have expected to see George Awada back in a Giants jersey this season but whether it was a medical miracle or an injury that was not as bad as reported, the Giants club captain George Awada returned to game action. He picked up two goals on his return as the Giants beat Newcastle 6-2 and all reports suggest he looked full of energy, just glad to be back playing again. Somehow however Mark Morrison, with a handful of shifts in the game that included a fight, did enough to get the man of the match award but that doesn’t really matter because with Jeff Szwez reportedly out for a number of weeks with a hand injury Awada’s return is extremely timely.

Last night in the Odyssey, following a defeat to the Vipers last weekend, the Giants had the chance to exact some revenge and they certainly went about doing that in clinical fashion with a massive 11-3 victory. The eleven goals for tied a team record for goals in a game (they have done it twice before) while the total of fifteen goals scored in total tied a record for goals in a game that involved the Giants (they have done it three times before). Goals in the game came by way of Pat Bateman (2), Steve Thornton (2), Craig Peacock (2), Brandon Benedict (1), Mark Morrison (1), Sean McMorrow (1), Evan Cheverie (1) and Jeff Szwez (1).

Both Pat Bateman and Steve Thornton picked up two goals and three assists while six other players registered multi-point games including Mark Morrison who grabbed his first goal of the season. Captain and top points scorer Colin Shields took until the seventh goal to get on the board and that was only with an assist as his quiet night allowed for nearly everyone else to get on board. In fact, only defenseman Michael Jacobsen and young forward Robbie Brown failed to pick up a point.

The highlight of the night however was the McMorrow goal. While on a hat trick Pat Bateman decided to pass up the opportunity to shoot for a team-mate who normally does the dirty work with his fists. McMorrow finished the tap-in and his celebration though was one that had the Giants benched doubled over laughing and the crowd equally entertained: He threw his glove in the air and proceeded to replicate shooting it with the but-end of his stick like a someone with a shut-gun hunting a bird. I guess when you don’t score very often as an enforcer and finally get your first goal at home, you have to make the most of it. An entertainer with his fists tonight he did it by putting the puck in the net.

The win sent the Giants back on top of the Elite League at least for a day or so until Coventry, who with games in hand, played again. But the team is really coming together now, everyone is contributing and the message to the league is clear that with an 11-3 win here and an 8-2 win last week against Edinburgh, the Giants mean business. Their next opposition is indeed the Capitals on Sunday.