While the fans of the EIHL are getting loaded up on booze in various watering holes across Nottingham city centre on the Friday night of the playoff weekend, the great and the good of the EIHL and those who were willing to shell out on a ticket, will be at a venue in the city to see who gets awarded what for their play this season at the EIHL awards dinner.

There are eight awards up for grabs and four Giants players have been nominated. Colin Shields is in for three awards with Colin Murphy up for two. Jeff Szwez and Tim Cook are in for one award each, so the Giants are well represented. Actually, there should be five Giants players in for awards but more on that at the bottom of this blog.

Here are the shortlists for each award:

Goalie of the Year
Peter Hirsch (Coventry), Stephen Murphy (Belfast), Cody Rudkowsky (Edinburgh).

Defenseman of the Year
Tim Cook (Belfast), Wes Jarvis (Cardiff), Jonathan Weaver (Coventry).

Forward of the Year
Greg Chambers (Coventry), Luke Fulghum (Coventry), Colin Shields (Belfast).

British Player of the Year
Stephen Murphy (Belfast), Colin Shields (Belfast), Jonathan Weaver (Coventry).

Newcomer of the Year
Owen Fussey (Edinburgh), Cameron Mann (Nottingham), Jeff Szwez (Belfast).

Elite League MVP
Greg Chambers (Coventry), Luke Fulghum (Coventry), Colin Shields (Belfast).

Coach of the Year
Doug Christiansen (Edinburgh), Corey Neilson (Nottingham), Paul Thompson (Coventry).

‘The Sean McMorrow’ fans Favorite*
Jade Galbraith (Nottingham), Luke Fulghum (Coventry), Colin Shields (Belfast).

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Todd Kelman, GM of the Giants, has spoke for the first time since news broke this weekend of an indictment from the United States out against team enforcer Sean McMorrow for trafficking drugs across the Canadian/US border between 2005 and not surprisingly the Giants are backing their player.

“We’re backing him 100 per cent until we find out otherwise,” said Kelman, who had yet to speak directly to McMorrow as of Sunday afternoon.

“He’s innocent until proven guilty in my eyes, and until I hear differently then I’ll back Sean. I know him well enough to know he’s an outstanding guy and has been great for us in the community.

“He’s been an outstanding individual and a great part of the team. I’m sure it’s been a shock to him as well, it came out of nowhere from our end.”

— Todd Kelman talking to Sky Sports

I’m glad to hear this and I hope McMorrow is able to clear his name sooner than later and get back to playing though at this late stage in the season, who knows if he’ll make it back in time for the playoffs or not?

Whether McMorrow has flown back to the States already or whether he is in communication with his lawyer from Northern Ireland is not known though Kelman did seem to hit that McMorrow was talking to his lawyer from Belfast.

Reports have suggested that Sean McMorrow has flown back to the States to try clear his name after news broke yesterday that he had a criminal indictment out against him, accusing him of trafficking drugs. McMorrow who activly interacts with his fans on Facebook, had the following message this morning:

Sean McMorrow is accused of nasty, untrue allegations – number one priority is to clear my family name – I am shocked and very upset about this…thanks to everyone for their support and patience for me to clear my name of this

No word as of yet from the Belfast Giants though I would assume they will stand beside him while he is still innocent until proven guilty. When or if we seen McMorrow again I would assume will come down to how quickly this process runs.

I wish him well and hope he does indeed clear his name. It just seems so strange that allegations from over five years ago have suddenly come out now.

I got a link to a news story coming out of Rochester, USA on the WHEC.com website today and after picking my jaw up off the floor I have decided to copy it here and let you make of it what you will. I will go back and read it a few more times and make sure my eyes are not playing some kind of crazy trick on me.

He was known as an enforcer during his time with the Rochester Amerks. Now, I-Team 10 has learned of a criminal indictment against Sean McMorrow, accusing him of trafficking drugs.

McMorrow was a popular player and active in the community during his four seasons with the Amerks but during that same time period, the FBI says he was bringing significant shipments of marijuana across the border from Canada.

Now there is a warrant for the arrest of Sean McMorrow.

This week, a federal grand jury handed up a two count indictment, accusing the former Amerk of peddling drugs he brought across the border.

McMorrow knew how to electrify the crowd. As an Amerk from 2002 to 2006, he never backed down from a fight. But I-Team 10 has obtained a federal indictment handed up this week in Rochester. It accuses the 28-year-old of conspiring with others to distribute marijuana.

Defense attorney Lawrence Kasperek said, “Our position is Sean is innocent of any charges regarding these circumstances. I don’t know what the nature of the government’s proof is yet. We just learned of the indictment ourselves.”

Federal authorities say he smuggled more than 100 kilograms or roughly 220 pounds of marijuana through customs from Canada.

“It was several trips across the border over that time period from 2003 to April 2005. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Harvey would not provide details of how the investigation came about or why the charges are being brought now, five years later. He did, however, say that it does not appear McMorrow was trafficking the drugs while travelling across the border with the Amerks. “I have no information that he, in any way, utilized his position as an Amerk to engage in this type of activity. As far as I know, it was separate.”

I-Team 10 contacted the Amerks this afternoon. The front office declined comment as McMorrow played here under different ownership.

But don’t expect McMorrow to appear in federal court right away. He’s currently playing hockey in Belfast, Northern Ireland and may have to be extradited in order to answer to the charges.

Harvey said, “We have to go through a process of trying to locate Mr. McMorrow specifically. Yea, there is an arrest warrant for him and we will pursue that with due speed.”

McMorrow was twice named amerce man of the year in 2003 and 2006, for his service to the community. On his bio page with the Belfast Fiants, he says “I take pride in being a good role model for the kids that come to see us play.”

Kasperek said, “He’s known for his commitment to young people. He’s been a, frankly, liaison for a number of hockey teams he’s belonged to and he’s always acted in the best interest of the children.”

These criminal charges seem to contradict his community good-guy image.

Harvey said, “Well, I don’t know what would be out of character for Mr. McMorrow, I just know what the allegations are in the indictment.”

Currently there is no scheduled court date for McMorrow to appear. His attorney did say they will be in communication with the U.S. Attorney’s office to try to arrange for his appearance.

If convicted, McMorrow could face up to 40 years in prison.

Click here to read the indictment.

Sean McMorrow? Really?

Well all I can say and all I will say is that while this is of course no conviction of guilt, it will be interesting to see how the Giants go forward with it. I suspect they will have to take McMorrow out of the line-up for the time being until he decides what his next step is. It’s unfortunate on many levels this news, but even on the most basic level for Giants fans it’s a shame as McMorrow has been a fan favorite for the Giants this season with his many fights and entertaining style of play. McMorrow has also unofficially been the Giants community rep this season making numerous public appearances and has, in his short spell, gave a lot back and is in the process of arranging an inline skating school for young people and recently said he planned to stay on in Belfast this summer and run a Hockey school. All that though is the least of his worries now and while I don’t know him personally and I certainly cannot condone what he is alleged to have done, as a Giants fan, I can only wish him the best going forward.

The Giants took on the Steelers this weekend in two games that turned into two high scoring classics. In one the Giants, in front of their home crowd, had to come from behind to take a big win before going to Sheffield and beating the Steelers again by a single goal, 6-5. It was perfect hockey full of end to end goals, good atmosphere and lots of fighting. I just wish I could have been there – I didn’t even get to see the webcast.

Aside from all the goals flying into the net – which I can’t really talk much about having not been there and having not seen footage of, the games were billed as a chance to find out who is the EIHL’s heavyweight champions when it comes to the fighting side of the game.

Sean McMorrow took on Mike Sgroi in Belfast and won, and then a night later in Sheffield he beat him again which seemed to infuriate Sgroi as he chased McMorrow down after the fight was broken up like a nutcase, continuing the fight and getting beaten further. He then went after McMorrow again after they came out of the box, and yes, you can guess the outcome.

The night of fighting was rounded out when lightweights Tim Cook and Robert Farmer went at it with the Giants completing the clean sweep in the fights over the two games, and a little later on the clean sweep in the results also.

Here is a look at the fight video’s: Read More»