A round-up from Door 19

by Seanna Murdock

Blog from Door 19

It has been so long since I sat down to write something not English Literature related, I've pushed my e reader to one side and sat down to think about the second half of this season, its been a very happy new year (if you're a Giants fan) the year ended and began with some brilliant wins and the Gaints firmly rooted to the top of the Elite League. The tail end of the year saw the Giants locker room need to fit a revolving door; injuries, departures, returns and arrivals, its been all go!

For weeks after the initial injury on McBride we were promised that he would be on the mend soon and return fighting fit to the Giant's lineup. He came back on the 3rd December against the Hull Stingrays and scored two, delighting the crowd and proving that he was a dominant force on the ice. Gareth Roberts also scored against the Rays making it an impressive match all round. What can't be described as impressive in anyway is the defeat to the Steelers on 9th December. I watched the match online sending updates to Pete at 5 a side, it was all looking so promising then Tait tied the game up in the dying minutes, and Legue scored a suspected off side hand passed shot in O.T. Typical of the Steelers pulling a win out of the bag at the last minute, a trait that would resonate through most of their games, struggling to pull off wins against teams like the Caps and the Flyers.

Clarke was given a six match suspension after this match for spitting on an official, this is where I have to bring in the inevitable Corey/Braehead/Disgrace incident. Corey Neilson of the Nottingham Panthers hit a puck after the final whistle and hit a child in the crowd. It was skirted over, a Panthers statement was released and it was all brushed under the rug.

http://www.panthers.co.uk/modules/News/ViewNewsItem.asp?ID=2367 The classless Panthers organisation offered a meagre apology then proceeded to talk about some other incident... surprise surprise nothing happened to Corey, there was no suspensions, no personal public apology, no disciplinary, but God forbid he expels saliva on a lino, he'd get a ban for that. Just proves he's untouchable. That needs sorted out.

Mid December was bad for injury, Hutchinson was out, Lloyd picked up an injury against the dirty Steelers, Dowd was still out, and of course big bad Clarke had his six match ban. McBride made an announcement on 16th December, he was leaving, lured by a big fat paycheck to Austria. He stretched himself to play one last game for the Giants, and played a half assed match, he got a goal and four assists but he was in the right place at the right time, he was lack lustre and not playing the way he had been when he was giving the Giants his full dedication, so off he went, and....well....we kept on winning!

Once again the Giants faced a tough Christmas schedule and a very short bench, so Mark Morrison once again graced the Odyssey ice with his presence, he stepped up and played well in his given shifts. It was good to see him back where he belongs, Walton has progressed so far this season, he is scoring goals, getting assists and racking up plenty of ice time and experience, its a pity that Morrison wasn't utilized when he was on the permanent roster, he could have been twice the player that he was.

The Caps came to town with their big gun; Jarolin, the player that every team may have been sniffing after but pledged his allegiance to the Caps and extended his contract to the 2012/13 season. But the Giants shut them out 6-0. The Giants fans waited with baited breath, the usual Christmas slump was expected, the Giants were expected to drop from their long held top of the league position. The Giants beat the Clan in Glasgow on boxing day, Lloyd scoring a hat trick upon his return. A nice Christmas present . The Clan were incensed they were out for revenge when they came to the O on the 27th, Suomalainen was on the top of his game denying the Giants any goals until five minutes before the end of the match Peaks netted a consolation goal, the Clan won 4-1, it was looking as if history was repeating itself.

It was looking as if the Giants were doomed to lose to the Devils on 30th December when McRae scored after 11 seconds, the Devils hadn't been terribly impressive this season, but they began this match like they were playing a mid league team not the top. Peaks scored two and Dignard got the game winning goal. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the treble was still alive and kicking. The new year brought many more challenges, defeats and more importantly wins and points on the board.

Dowd continued to shine through the beginning of January as did home grown Graeme Walton. It was very exciting to see the return of two old faces to the line up, mid January; back came our goal machine Paul Deniset, who in 08/09 racked up 86 points in 51 games. It boosted the confidence of the Giants with the Blaze double header. This years Blaze are nothing to be scared of, unless Guthrie is on the ice, with the departure of David 'the moan' Phillips they are slightly less annoying. The first match ended 5-3, a rejuvenated and confident Giants side, the second match ended 4-3. The Giant's victories were led brilliantly by Dowdy and Clark, two players that I hope to see back in Belfast next season.

The Panthers came back to town and spoiled the run of wins the Giants had accrued on 21st January. They played trapment style hockey, screening their goalie and not letting much past, lets face it K Hole needed all the help he could get. Lloyd picked up an injury at this match sidelining him for 4 to 6 weeks. That was a huge loss to the Giants, he was a top shorthanded goal scorer, he hit anything that moved and was an intimidating presence on the ice. Exit Lloyd, enter....Mike Hoffman!

Big Hoff was a force to be reckoned with last season, he was incredibly versatile playing both forward and defence. To all the critics who slagged Hoff off and wrote him off because hes not an out and out enforcer ate their words. He made his Odyssey come back in the second leg of the Challenge Cup semi final, he didn't fight but he made his presence known on the ice. Vanderveeken narrowly missed a minor penalty that Matzka was given instead which led to a misconduct call. I should have known when I saw Darnell that the reffing would have been awful, the call that took the biscuit though was hen Lyle 'saved' the puck inside his on net and it was disallowed because the puck "didn't go over the crease." Sort that out!

The biggest test of all came when we went to Sheffield on Sunday our title rivals were a big worry. I was shopping, following the score on twitter, cursing as I was getting the supplies in for the superbowl. There was a hell of a delay due to bad weather, then it came onto my blackberry screen Fulghum scored! It was bad enough being in Belfast, but drips and drabs of info was torturous. I got home at the beginning of the third period and it was 2-2!

I stuck Steel night live on and listened as Pelle and Hoffman scored two unanswered goals. The Giants won 4-2, it wasn't expected but a good start to Superbowl Sunday- which didn't go quite the way I wanted but hey its always fun to sit up until 3am drinking beer and eating chips and dips. The Challenge Cup dates have been decided and we're still on course for the league. THIS IS THE YEAR.

@tealgirl6

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Cardiff	0-3	Basingstoke
12th March 2006 19:00
Coventry	5-3	Sheffield
12th March 2006 19:00
Edinburgh	4-5	Belfast
12th March 2006 19:00
Newcastle	1-4	Nottingham
12th March 2006 19:00
Basingstoke	4-4	Cardiff
11th March 2006 19:00
Newcastle	2-4	Coventry
11th March 2006 19:00

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

Chelmsford	5-8	Telford
19th March 2006 19:00
Hull	5-1	Wightlink
19th March 2006 19:00
Romford	4-1	Milton Keynes
19th March 2006 19:00
Slough	5-2	Swindon
19th March 2006 19:00
Solihull	3-7	Bracknell
19th March 2006 19:00
Sheffield	1-1	Guildford
19th March 2006 19:00

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

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