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) Jim Gillespie & Tom and Donna Mallon
General manager Todd Kelman
Head coach Doug Christiansen
Captain Jeremy Rebek
Franchise history
2000–present Belfast Giants
Championships
Regular season titles 2001-02, 2005–06
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 or gaelic games 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.[1]

Contents

[edit] Facts

Sponsors: Stena Line (Main Sponsor 2011-present)
Founded: 2000 into the British Ice Hockey Superleague
Primary Arena: Odyssey Arena, (capacity 5,800 - 7,100)
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".

[edit] Current roster

2011–12 EIHL season

Goaltenders

Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth Joined from
31 United Kingdom Stephen Murphy L 2009 Dundee, Scotland Manchester Phoenix, EIHL
35 United Kingdom Andrew Dickson L 2011 Ballymoney, Northern Ireland Invicta Dynamos, ENL

Defencemen

Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth Joined from
3 United States Jeff Mason R 2010 Easthampton, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Kalamazoo Wings, ECHL
10 Canada Ryan Crane L 2011 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Ruijters Eaters Geleen, Eredivisie
15 United States Thomas Dignard L 2011 Reading, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Tulsa Oilers, CHL
17 Canada Jeremy Rebek C R 2011 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada Vienna Capitals, Erste Bank Eishockey Liga
18 United Kingdom Graeme Walton R 2003 Belfast, Northern Ireland No Previous Team
23 United Kingdom James Hutchinson L 2011 Tynemouth, England Braehead Clan, EIHL
37 Canada Nick Kuiper A R 2011 Beaconsfield, Quebec, Canada Graz 99ers, Erste Bank Eishockey Liga

Forwards

Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth Joined from
7 United Kingdom Mark Garside L C 2010 Kirkcaldy, Scotland Edinburgh Capitals, EIHL
8 Canada Arron Clarke L LW 2011 Peterborough, ON, Canada Kalamazoo Wings, ECHL
9 Canada Benoit Doucet L C/W 2011 Longueuil, Quebec, Canada Tilburg Trappers, Eredivisie
12 Canada Paul Deniset L C 2011 Winnipeg, MB, Canada Gothiques d'Amiens, Ligue Magnus
20 United Kingdom Mark Morrison R W 2011 Belfast, Northern Ireland Out of Retirement
33 United States Mike Hoffman R RW/D 2012 Scituate, MA, USA Las Vegas Wranglers, ECHL
39 United Kingdom Gareth Roberts R RW 2010 Belfast, Northern Ireland Dundalk Bulls, Irish Ice Hockey League
40 United States Jon Pelle R RW 2011 West Islip, New York, U.S.A. Cardiff Devils, EIHL
41 United States George Awada R RW 2011 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. Out of Retirement
47 Canada Adam Keefe A L RW 2011 Brampton, Ontario, Canada Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL
71 United Kingdom Craig Peacock L LW 2009 Peterborough, England Peterborough Phantoms, EPIHL
72 Canada Darryl Lloyd L C 2011 Pickering, Ontario, Canada Kalamazoo Wings, ECHL
75 United Kingdom Robert Dowd L F 2011 Billingham, England Sheffield Steelers, EIHL

This season's departures

Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Reason for Leaving
19 Canada Derek LeBlanc L C 2011 Personal Reasons - Later signed for Idaho Steelheads, ECHL
12 Canada Brock McBride R C 2011 Signed for HDD Olimpija Ljubljana, Erste Bank Hockey League


[edit] Retired Jersey Numbers

[edit] Notable Former Players

[edit] Captains

[edit] Head Coaches

[edit] 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
Curt 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

[edit] Honours

For more details on this topic, see Belfast Giants seasons.

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2008-09

  • EIHL Challenge Cup Champions
  • EIHL Knock Out Cup Champions

2010

  • EIHL Play Off Champions

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Kingdom of the Giants

[edit] 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
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belfast_Giants&oldid=480022514"
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