Belfast Giants

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Belfast Giants
City Belfast, Northern Ireland
League Elite Ice Hockey League
Founded 2000
Home arena Odyssey Arena
Colours

White, red & teal

              
Owner(s) The Odyssey Trust
General manager Canada Todd Kelman
Head coach Canada Paul Adey
Captain Canada Adam Keefe
Website www.belfastgiants.com
Franchise history
2000–present Belfast Giants
Championships
Regular season titles 2001–02, 2005–06, 2011–12
Playoff championships 2003, 2010
Knockout Cups 2008–09
Challenge Cups 2008–09

The Belfast Giants are an ice hockey team from Belfast, Northern Ireland that compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League. Home games are played at the 7,100-capacity Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

Currently the Belfast Giants are sponsored by Stena Line and are known as 'The Stena Line Belfast Giants'. The previous major sponsors were Aer Lingus, LBM, Coors Fine Light Beer and Harp Lager who sponsored the Belfast Giants in sequence since their inception.

Sectarianism had long been seen as a significant problem in some sports in Northern Ireland. When the club was established, the Belfast Giants were keen that the club not attach itself to a particular faith or community, instead wanting to represent Belfast as a whole. A number of policies was subsequently introduced to try to ensure this. Particular clothing (such as association football replica shirts), which might have displayed a person's political or religious affiliation, were banned and flags were not permitted to be brought into the arena. The national anthem of the United Kingdom, traditionally played before games at other arenas in the Elite League, is not played before Giants games. These policies have been successful and the Giants have quickly built a large and enthusiastic fanbase who did not have to fear the sectarianism that marred other sports in the province.

Initially members of the now defunct Superleague, the Giants won the championship in 2001–02 and were play-off champions in 2002–03. With the Superleague's demise, there were concerns that the Giants would not survive because of major financial problems which had developed. Running up debts of £600,000 and facing the threat of liquidation creditors voted to accept 20p in the pound allowing the club to continue. One company was believed to be owed nearly £65,000.[1]

However, with the creation of the new Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) for the 2003–04 season, the Giants survived. The Giants finished 4th in the league's first season, but failed to reach the post-season play-offs..

The Giants finished runners up in the 2004–05 season behind the Coventry Blaze but were winners of the Cross-over League Cup, which was played with teams from the BNL.

In 2005, The Giants unveiled NHL All-Star and Olympic Gold Medal winner, Theo Fleury who made his debut against the Edinburgh Capitals. The Giants won 11–2, with Fleury scoring a hat-trick. With 4 additional assists and a fight under his belt, he was named man of the match.

Besides Fleury, several other players who previously played in the NHL have played for the Giants; Paul Kruse, Jason Ruff, Paxton Schulte, and Jason Bowen, Bowen and Kruse having played almost 600 games between them.

The Belfast Giants currently have one supporters' club: the Official Belfast Giants Supporters' Club (OSC). There are also several popular fan websites and forums that support the Belfast Giants in their own way.[2] With an average attendance of 3,932, the Giants are one of two Elite league ice hockey squads among the most popular teams of the continent, along with the Nottingham Panthers.[3]

Facts

Sponsors: Stena Line (Main Sponsor 2011–present)
Founded: 2000 into the British Ice Hockey Superleague
Primary Arena: Odyssey Arena, (capacity 8,000)
Training Arena: Dundonald International Ice Bowl
Uniform Colours: White, Red, Teal, Black
Logo Design: shows Finn McCool with a hockey stick.
Mascot: Finn McCool and Subman (Sponsorship Deal with Subway)
Motto: "In the land of the Giants, everyone is equal".

2013–14 roster

Netminders [4]
Number Player Place/Date of Birth Catches Acquired Joined from
31 Stephen Murphy [5] Scotland Dundee, Scotland
(1981-12-11) 11 December 1981		 L 2009 Manchester Phoenix (EIHL)
35 Andrew Dickson [6] Northern Ireland Ballymoney, Northern Ireland
(1987-11-02) 2 November 1987		 L 2011 Invicta Dynamos (ENL)
Defence [4]
Number Player Place/Date of Birth Shoots Acquired Joined from
3 Jeff Mason [7] United States Easthampton, MA, United States
(1981-08-11) 11 August 1981		 R 2012 Lillehammer IK (GET-ligaen)
6 Robby Sandrock [8] Canada Williams Lake, BC, Canada
(1978-03-10) 10 March 1978		 R 2012 SERC Wild Wings (2.Bundesliga)
13 David Phillips [9] England Beverley, England
(1987-08-14) 14 August 1987		 R 2012 SønderjyskE (AL-Bank Ligaen)
24 Calvin Elfring [10] Canada Lethbridge, AB, Canada
(1976-04-23) 23 April 1976		 L 2013 Straubing Tigers (DEL)
25 Cody Brookwell [11] Canada Calgary, AB, Canada
(1986-09-14) 14 September 1986		 R 2013 Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL)
62 Kevin Phillips [12] England Beverley, England
(1986-05-01) 1 May 1986		 R 2013 Braehead Clan (EIHL)
Forwards [4]
Number Player Place/Date of Birth Shoots Position Acquired Joined from
7 Mark Garside [13] Scotland East Kilbride, Scotland
(1989-03-21) 21 March 1989		 L C 2010 Edinburgh Capitals (EIHL)
9 Evan Cheverie [14] Canada Charlottetown, PE, Canada
(1980-05-06) 6 May 1980		 L F 2013 HC Morzine-Avoriaz (France)
10 Dustin Whitecotton [15] Canada Cherryville, BC, Canada
(1979-05-03) 3 May 1979		 L C/LW 2013 Straubing Tigers (DEL)
12 Jeffrey Szwez [16] Canada Etobicoke, ON, Canada
(1981-06-16) 16 June 1981		 L F 2013 EHC Freiburg (Germany3)
19 Colin Shields [17] Scotland Glasgow, Scotland
(1980-01-27) 27 January 1980		 R C 2013 Sheffield Steelers (EIHL)
22 Kevin Saurette [18] Canada Winnipeg, MB, Canada
(1980-06-27) 27 June 1980		 R RW 2013 ESV Kaufbeuren (2nd Bundesliga)
32 Robbie Brown [19] Northern Ireland Belfast, Northern Ireland
(1990-11-30) 30 November 1990		 R RW 2013 Wightlink Raiders (NIHL)
39 Gareth Roberts [20] Northern Ireland Belfast, Northern Ireland
(1986-01-10) 10 January 1986		 R RW 2010 Dundalk Bulls (IIHL)
47 Adam Keefe [21] Canada Brampton, ON, Canada
(1984-04-26) 26 April 1984		 R RW 2011 Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL)
68 Chris Higgins [22] United States Lynnfield, MA, United States
(1986-04-30) 30 April 1986		 R F 2013 Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
71 Craig Peacock [23] England Peterborough, England
(1988-08-08) 8 August 1988		 L LW 2009 Peterborough Phantoms (EPIHL)
72 Darryl Lloyd [24] Canada Pickering, ON, Canada
(1984-02-10) 10 February 1984		 L LW 2011 Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL)

Retired jersey numbers

Former players

Captains

Nat Name Tenure
United Kingdom Jeff Hoad 2000-02
Canada Paul Kruse 2002-03
Canada Jason Ruff 2003-04
Canada Shane Johnson 2004-05
United States George Awada 2005-09
Scotland Colin Shields 2009-11
Austria Jeremy Rebek 2011-12
Canada Adam Keefe 2012-

Head coaches

No. Nat Name Tenure
1 Canada David Whitles 2000-03
2 Canada Rob Stewart 2003-04
3 Scotland Tony Hand 2004-05
4 Canada Ed Courtenay 2005-08
5 Canada Steve Thornton 2008-10
6 United States Doug Christiansen 2010-13
7 Canada Paul Adey 2013-

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the Top 10 Points Scoring Leaders for the Belfast Giants:

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player POS GP G A Pts
George Awada RW 298 136 157 293
Jason Ruff LW 194 100 145 245
Todd Kelman D 419 73 141 214
Shane Johnson D 437 52 136 188
Ed Courtenay RW 125 58 129 187
Curtis Bowen LW 219 84 103 187
Paxton Schulte RW 233 81 101 182
Colin Ward LW 233 84 93 177
Curtis Huppe RW 144 82 91 173
Kevin Riehl C 177 61 112 173

Last Updated: 13 May 2009

Honours

2000–01

  • ISL Second Team All-Star: Kory Karlander

2001–02

  • Superleague Champions
  • ISL First Team All-Star: Mike Bales, Rob Stewart, Kevin Riehl, Sean Berens, Jason Ruff

2002–03

2003–04

  • EIHL First Team All-Star: Jason Ruff

2004–05

  • British Cross-League: 1st Place
  • EIHL First Team All-Star: Tony Hand
  • EIHL Second Team All-Star: Martin Klempa and George Awada

2005–06

2008–09

  • EIHL Challenge Cup Champions
  • EIHL Knock Out Cup Champions

2010

  • EIHL Play-off Champions

2011–12

  • Elite League Champions

2012–13

  • Erhardt Conference Winners
  • EIHL Second Team All-Star: Robbie Sandrock

References

  1. ↑ Giants on the rocks, BBC Sport, 22 June 2003. Retrieved 30 June 2012
  2. ↑ Kingdom of the Giants
  3. ↑ "Swiss on top of Europe". IIHF. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "2013/14 Roster". Belfast Giants. Retrieved 14 November 2013. 
  5. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/stephen-murphy/
  6. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/andrew-dickson/
  7. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/jeff-mason/
  8. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/robby-sandrock/
  9. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/david-phillips/
  10. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/calvin-elfring/
  11. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/cody-brookwell/
  12. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/kevin-phillips/
  13. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/mark-garside/
  14. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/evan-cheverie/
  15. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/dustin-whitecotton/
  16. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/jeffrey-szwez/
  17. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/colin-shields/
  18. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/kevin-saurette/
  19. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/robbie-brown/
  20. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/gareth-roberts/
  21. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/adam-keefe/
  22. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/chris-higgins/
  23. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/craig-peacock/
  24. ↑ http://www.belfastgiants.com/roster/darryl-lloyd/

External links

Preceded by
Sheffield Steelers		 Superleague Champions
2001–02 		Succeeded by
Sheffield Steelers
Preceded by
Sheffield Steelers		 Playoff Champions
2002–03 		Succeeded by
Sheffield Steelers
Preceded by
Coventry Blaze		 Elite League Champions
2005–06 		Succeeded by
Coventry Blaze
Preceded by
Sheffield Steelers		 Playoff Champions
2009–10 		Succeeded by
Nottingham Panthers
Preceded by
Sheffield Steelers		 Elite League Champions
2011–12 		Succeeded by
Nottingham Panthers
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