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As the curtain raises
There’s something about the opening night at the Odyssey Arena that keeps drawing me in year on year. It’s hard to put your finger on it because it’s basically just a hockey game as similar to any other, be it in the middle in November or February. But as the long hockey-less months wile away, fan upon fan keep their eye on the team waiting in anticipation as the countdown to the season ticks second by second.
That countdown reached it’s conclusion at 7pm ,Saturday 11th September and for many fans they got their first glimpse of Doug Christiansen’s inaugural Belfast Giants team.
My day began at 8am, a quick run round Salford Quays in Manchester as my participation in the Great North Run was only a week away. Cobwebs of a nights sleep filled with excited restlessness blown asunder, I collected only my passport and my Giants shirt for the short stay, before heading directly to Liverpool Airport.
The trip to Belfast would last less than 24 hours, but my sole purpose was to stand at the back of Door 17 of the Odyssey Arena with friends and open the home season somewhere I enjoy the most.
Arrival at Rockies Sports Bar beforehand brings a time when you reacquaint yourself with friends you only see for 7 months of the year. Some of the folk there I've known for 10 years now and familiarity brings the conversation to the sides of hockey we enjoy. Having had the opportunity to see the Giants away from home, some people were asking about the netminder, some about the forwards and many wanted to know just how tough new enforcer Mike Hoffman is.
As some depart to watch the warm up, looking their first glimpse of the players they will adulate for the season to come, the rest of us sink the last pint before taking ourselves through the turnstile.
Traditional standing point assumed in the arena, programme in back pocket and drink in hand we awaited the teams. It had been pointed out on arrival that the championship banners hanging from the rafters had been given a spruce up, while the ice and advertising boards had been prepared in anticipation of the NHL's own Boston Bruins.
A new addition to the Giants match night was the first to take the ice. The new mascot was introduced. The life-size realisation of Finn McCool, immortalised on the Giants badge for 10 seasons, looked more like a mixture between David Longstaff and Stretch Armstrong, but the character was no less amusing. The "mystery inhabitant" of the mascot suit certainly had an entertaining demeanour. The Giants very own "Stig" shall no doubt provide mystery and amusement as we race toward March.
The game only minutes away the Giants and Blaze took to the ice. The champions of last seasons two major trophys were welcomed by the lowering of the Giants Playoff Championship banner. Another reminder to all those lucky enough to have been there of a glorious moment in the history of the Belfast franchise.
The Giants had arrived home with an impressive opening two games, 3 points from 4 being no mean feat when asked to open your season on the road. Back to back games against the reigning league champions provided no less a stern test for Christiansen's men.
Paul Thompson, like his Coventry teams of the Elite League era, draws mixed emotions from opposition fans. Equal measures of envy and respect accompany one of the British games most successful coaches. But as the puck is dropped all that is set aside and desire for victory is all the Giants faithful care about.
A quick pace to the game right from the off saw the Giants under the cosh. And it was Blaze staple Russ Cowley who briefly silenced the expectant Belfast crowd with the first Odyssey goal of the season.
There is an abundance of new talent in this new Giants squad and it was they who pulled the score back. You can see folks beady eye on the new players, they want to suss out their game early in order to pick one as a "favourite", be it to get their name on the back of a replica shirt or just to crow about in the bar after the game.
For me Richard Seeley is a player who has caught my eye in the two games I've seen so far. Tough, tenacious and tempered, the D man has shown immense ability for this league and was certainly a wall Coventry's Luke Fulgum struggled to pass in the early stages of the game.
Mike Hoffman has been brought in by Christiansen as a new style enforcer and is quite the departure from his predecessor. Where McMorrow was there to provide a pantomime villan to opposition fans, his remit outside of the antics was (and, I’d say for Dundee, is) somewhat limited. A lot of fans loved him. I can’t say I agreed and was thankful upon his departure. Hoffman is a tonic long needed based on his early involvements. His equalizing goal and subsequent assist to Peacocks eventual game winning goal showed a player with physicality, and the mental grip on the game to push through a player and still place a pass onto a stick for a great finish. While “The Sherriff” crows on his imaginary ‘Heavyweight Title’, it seems Hoffman has a far greater and substantial prize in mind.
As I’ve mentioned the Giants ran out winners of the game and took their 2nd win of the season (if you count the meaningless Charity Shield game) over Thompson’s side. Thomo will be mildly concerned at the slow start his team have achieved in the burgeoning season. However few have any doubt that the leagues most successful coach will have the nuance to make any change if required, it will also depend on how much faith he has in his initial selection.
I didn’t find the ability of the netminder, Jaeger, to be that impressive. He does have the speed to counteract his height and span on the ice and was able to move quickly to stop shots (and a couple of very poor breakaway attempts by a mis-firing Colin Shields). But it is here where the confidence starts to fade as his rebounds seemed to lack control. A Blaze fan with a dodgy ticker may need to avert his gaze on a number of the poorly controlled shots the Blaze new arrival dealt with. Jaeger took a knock in the game that hampered his pace but still showed glimpses of ability that may come good if he can settle into the role.
An empty net goal sealed the victory, Thommo looking to salvage a point in the dying seconds by withdrawing Jaeger, but to no avail. Former Giant Sean Selmser won the draw in the Giants zone, but the puck fell loose and Bayrack put the victory beyond doubt. A fabulous opening to the home season and the reaction of a crowd nearing 5000 or more shared their appreciation.
There was also that sense of relief. The season had begun, the waiting was over and the anticipation of what the team’s ability could reach was initially fulfilled, for now. Chat after the game once again turned to the new players. Hoffman coming in for significant, and rightly deserved, praise.
The party continued will into the night and as I climbed on the plane the next morning back to Liverpool, wearing exactly what I’d arrived in, I wondered if “flying visits” home merely for hockey games were worth the time and expense. RyanAir are soon to withdraw their service from Belfast City Airport and as such these flits to the homeland will become significantly more expensive.
But as much as I enjoy traveling to away games and the sometimes siege mentality of being a minority fan in a foreign arena, it can’t substitute for the rush of a home game. The Giants fans don’t lack passion for their team at home, and win or lose the game has thrived far beyond the lifespan many local sports critics scoffingly gave it in the infant years. So the answer I came to very quickly was yes. It is worth it not merely for the hockey, but for the craic, which even when the team have waned, has never followed suit.
In saying that, the next trip home was never in doubt.
Let’s see what you have got ‘Boston’!
Patrick Smyth
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-3 |
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4-5 |
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1-4 |
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4-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
2-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-2 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
3-7 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
- Adam Walker
- Alex Birch
- Andy Pierce
- Chris Gent
- Christopher Beal
- Craig Simpson
- Dave Simms
- Elliott Stanley
- Gareth Chalmers
- James Broughton
- James Gordon
- Katy Madgwick
- Luke Catterson
- Mark Briggs
- Mark Duell
- Mat Young
- Patrick Smyth
- Promotion
- Russ Morrell
- Seanna Murdock
- Stephen Dowson
- Stewart Roberts
- Tom Forster
- Vicki Smart
- William Lyon
