New Season
The hockey season is back, and you can follow it all with us right here on BIH.
Stats Centre
We are working on an archive of matches, stats and players from BIH in the past few years.
Every day's a school day
Pre-season is as much about learning lessons as it is giving those desperate for just a taste of hockey that tease before the season proper begins. It’s when both teams and fans can settle in on what they want for the season. Assess what’s in front of them and bring opinion on what, if anything, needs to change.
This past weekend brought the visit of the Nottingham Panthers to the Odyssey Arena. By way of silverware, probably last season’s most successful team. While the league, once again, eluded them, the Challenge Cup and Playoff trophy reside in the NIC trophy cabinet. A needle to those Giants fans who hold a special place in their derision for the Nottinghamshire side.
So for the Panthers to return to the scene of the Challenge Cup victory was one that brought many a patron in the arena to forget the purpose of the weekend and focus on battle with what many take as a rival.
Both teams were lacking key players over the weekend, Kowalski, a key part of last seasons achievement for the Panthers had yet to arrive to the UK, while the likes of Garside and, later due to injury, Pelle were missing for the home team. So it was a chance for others to stake their claim in the side. Not least in Belfast where the availability of an 11th import would threaten the safety of a regular first team start.
Sometimes life gets in the way of hockey, as shocking as that may sound. For me this meant attending a good friends wedding on the Saturday and remaining aware for the buzz of my phone. While it may have drawn a *tut* or two from my significant other, I was thankful for those bringing me the good news of a Giants 2-1 home victory and further fuelled my enthusiasm for my first Odyssey trip of the season the next night.
Watching a new Giants side never gets any less difficult despite over 10 years experience. Picking up numbers, playing styles, positioning, shooting side and trying to understand who has been given which role or special teams berth is something that can take a few games, never mind picking it up in an immediate way during a pre-season match. But I usually pick my targets and hope that they provide the underpinning confidence in their play that the statistics we fawn over pre-season suggest.
You can’t draw too much from games like these as, like I say, they are all about learning lessons. The first combat after under a week of training camp is not a game to pin seasons on. So to take either the first games victory or second games unfortunate 4-2 defeat as a means to a seasons end is to misjudge what the purpose of the weekend is.
What I witnessed on Sunday brought a number of positive and negative responses from those around me in the “usual corner”. Some warranted, some not so. But to take any opinion at this stage is to merely vocalise what folk see as potential shortcomings and lessons that they hope the man in the suit on the bench sees also.
While this Giants team do lack in stature, this initially didn’t seem to effect their game. The grit I had hoped would be apparent was certainly displayed, not least on the British line which appeared to be a target for Lepine, Neilson and co. However Robert Dowd ensured a message was to be sent back with them, confidently sticking up for himself when roughed up by a number of the visiting antagonists.
The Giants, in Daryl Lloyd, have quite the thorn when it comes to pushing the buttons of the opposition. Constantly on the move, constantly in the face of forwards. He was entertaining to watch both on and, more importantly, behind the play where his actions would cause uproar on the Nottingham bench, and draw pointing and choice words from Rick Strachan and, on one occasion, a binned Corey Neilson.
Lloyd will make few friends across the league, but his slash’s, glove punches, late hits, trips various other behind the play antics will simultaneously delight the Giants fans while infuriating the opposition numbers. I have no doubt he’ll pick up penalty minutes galore, but if his actions bring retaliations that lead to, for example, a five minute major for cross checking for the opposition like they did on Sunday with Stevie Lee, then the Giants will have little complaint. A player I’m certainly looking forward to seeing more of.
One very noticeable and positive trait the Giants displayed on Sunday was a strong forecheck on the penalty kill. Something I don’t think I’ve seen done effectively on Odyssey since George Awada hung up his skates. The Giants played a very high line against the Panthers powerplay unit and weren’t afraid of being caught short at the back with all 4 outskaters pressing then back-checking as the clock ticked down on the penalty. I certainly hope this isn’t a flash in the pan moment for these tactics.
It is often a mis-given belief that criticism this early in the season is ill-placed. But there is a difference between out-right criticism and causes for concern or learning. These games are put in place to highlight the shortcomings more than they are to display the strengths. With that the Giants did show moments that no doubt went immediately into the notebooks of Christiansen and Stewart.
Christiansen himself admitted that last season’s powerplay, while not statistically poor, certainly left a lot to be desired with regards of form. This year he has put in place a number of players with vast experience in quarterbacking a revised powerplay ethos. This certainly needs further refining. As an example, a 5 minute major against a 16-year old 3rd choice netminder produced a single goal and a the conceding of a short handed goal. While it is easy to point fingers, I will take into account the fatigue of this being at the back end of the weekends fixtures, it is merely a point for improvement many would hope would be addressed in the season to come.
And so the week counts down to the beginning of the season proper. From the visit of the double cup winning Panthers, to the arrival of the league champion Steelers. Christiansen’s opening fixtures could not be a more stern test of the team he has put together.
The scorelines of the weekend past mean next to nothing, it wasnt about who beat who; but how the team can gel on the ice. About who works well in what system and what line. The coaches and the fans will have made up their own minds and as the season approaches hour by hour, the Belfast Giants will be refining their game with another title challenge in mind.
Will the lessons of last season be learned… We’ll see come April.
blog comments powered by Disqus0-3 |
||
| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-3 |
||
| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-5 |
||
| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-4 |
||
| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-4 |
||
| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
2-4 |
||
| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
5-8 |
||
| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
||
| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-1 |
||
| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-2 |
||
| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
3-7 |
||
| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-1 |
||
| 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
