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Giants still struggle on
Blog from door 19
Tuesday 28th December 2010
Belfast Giants vs Cardiff Devils
There were several surprises (not all good ones) that were, needless to say more than a little unexpected at the Odyssey on Tuesday as I arrived for the Giants/Devils match up. It was the continuance of the Giants post Christmas malaise as they couldn't seem to win a match at all. The Devils had sneaked up the table entering the Giants' home ice on a fourteen match winning streak; with everyone concentrating on the Giants, Panthers, Chavs and Steelers, nobody consciously realised that the Devils were creeping up the league table, just one of those teams that were tough to beat but hardly a threat. How wrong was that assumption? Not surprising was the low quality and frankly incompetent refereeing but I feel like going down this road brings to mind the phrase ' flogging a dead horse' suffice to say it was a major joke. However the poor officiating cannot be wholly blamed for the home losses. I refuse to go down the 'our team are awful' route (FYI man behind me broaden your vocab from 'rubbish' and 'awful' its getting incredibly boring now). We will obviously drop a few games, we can't win every match twelve nil, it would end up getting very boring, very quickly and nobody would go to see that; if that's the sort of thing you're after I think the Harlem Globetrotters are back on tour soon; that's the only chance you'll have of seeing a guaranteed win. (A little side note to the guy at the bar in Rockies; when chatting up a girl it's a bit stupid to go around declaring that you're on first name terms with Todd Kelman and that you're going to demand your money back for a 'terrible performance.' Wonder if he rang T.K. up? Course not! Its not one of the terms and conditions of the match that 'the Giants win or your money back.' Do you think that the Dundee fans asked for their money back after every match in their losing streak at the start of the season? No, because they understand the nature of a hockey match)
The final surprise of the evening came in a six foot five package. If someone had told me a week ago that I would be chatting to and having a photo with the nicest resident of Cardiff, Mr Bradley Voth, I'd have said they're mad, but well I think you can see where I'm going with this. He’s a true gentleman off the ice and a wind up merchant on the ice, a real character I love to hate, gracious in winning admitting that the Giants were difficult to beat at home and discussing the Devils' winning streak.
With a match pint I made my way to my seat for what I knew was going to be a difficult match. The intro was played and both teams took to the ice. There were a lot of hard hits from the Devils, both teams finding it damned near impossible to find the back of the net. That was until Michel and Adams set MacRae for a goal just after nine minutes into the first. There were no more goals scored in the first period, the pressure was on after a home loss against Braehead on the 26th and the change in fortune of a win against the Clan on the 27th. The atmosphere was tense, the Devils had a psychological edge over the Giants, having the lead going into the second.
The second period was the 'Pelle show' with the former CHL player scoring two goals. A power play opportunity set up by Weller and Matzka less than a minute into the second, Pelle flicked the puck past Murph and lengthened the Devil's lead. Pelle wasn't finished there; two minutes later Matzka and Birbraer set him up for another goal. It was a steam rollering, Stevie Lyle was having a fantastic game, looking as if he was going to have a shut out on his former home ice.
The away side went into the locker room after the second, smiles on their faces safe in the knowledge that they had most definitely accrued two points from the current league leaders. The third period yielded no relief for the Giants, there was a fair amount of backwards and forwards, neither teams defence letting the puck near their nets. MacRea gave the Giants their best opportunity with a two minute penalty for hooking, Welch and Cook set Bayrack up at the fourteen minute mark to net the Giant’s only goal of the match. Matzka waited less than a minute to answer that goal and locking down the score at 4-1. Yes it was disappointing, but the better team on the night deserved the win.
Thursday 30th December 2010
Belfast Giants vs Newcastle Vipers
Coming from two home defeats it was essential that the Giants to put up a good fight and save some face against the struggling Vipers. My brother-in-law had been at the Braehead and Cardiff games with us and we were joking about, blaming him for jinxing the Giants. The evening began well with a match pint and getting some raffle tickets for the game worn Sample jersey, and although I didn't win it I didn't mind giving some money to a struggling team. The original 2010/11 Giant's video filled the arena and everyone cheered as the Giants skated onto the ice. Although it seemed like a sure win we would once again leave the match sans points. The Giants had taken on board the criticism and spent the bulk of the first period trying to check various Vipers and missing the puck. Less than two minutes into the first Prpich deflected the puck past Murphy and there was an audible groan, it was turning out to be a carbon copy of the last two home matches, the visitors scoring first and ending up with a win.
It was a very physical match and the Giants looked tougher, but the play got sloppier. It was also plain to see that Benny and Garside were far from match fit and although it was good to see them returning to home ice it seems to be too soon. Just under the nine minute mark Carroll doubled the Vipers' score leaving the crowd silenced. How could one of the worst performing teams in the league be beating the league leaders? Effinger was having a great match, out playing expectations. The Giants fired everything but the kitchen sink at him but if he didn't stop them, another Viper beat him to it. The second period allowed the Giants to pull back a goal and momentarily there was a spark of hope, that the home team could possibly win. Returning favourite Hoffman scored despite a bit of the tussle in front of Effinger's net.
The third period began with the Vipers ahead by a goal, and the Giants took control, showering Charlie Effinger with shots but nothing getting past. With five minutes to go Jon Gleed finally got the puck past him. I breathed a sigh of relief, but no sooner had I done that, a disastrous line change from the Giants left Jaroslaw Rzeszutko one on one against Murph and he didn't miss. It was like being stabbed in the heart.
The Vipers played well as did their netminder we hadn't a hope of putting another puck past Effinger even with the extra man advantage. Once again I haven't seen any positive results from the 'pulling of the goalie tactic' so I feel vindicated in my estimation of it.
On our way out of the arena a fan started shouting abuse at Doug Christiansen, saying he should resign, a sentiment I believe is shared with some over opinionated fans on message boards. My god get over yourselves! The man had us top of the league with a short benched team, you weren't calling for his resignation then! Jeez, give the guy a break we will win some lose some- its the nature of the game. At least we're not the Blaze - now there's underachieving and spectacularly at that
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-3 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-5 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-4 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
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 |
||
| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
||
| 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
