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Historic weekend but where were GB?
I knew there something special going on last weekend when I received a text from a friend who is …well, let’s just say he has a bus pass. I didn’t even know he knew how to text. So what provoked this sudden enthusiasm for new-age techno from an old-ager?
It was, of course, the NHL exhibition game between Boston Bruins and an all-star Elite League squad in Belfast’s Odyssey Arena.
While I was content to drive the 70-odd miles to my nearest rink in Guildford to watch the Flames narrowly edge Basingstoke Bison in an entertaining derby game, my buddy-of-a-certain-age was on a hockey trip round the Celtic Fringe - Friday night in Braehead for the Clan’s first home game in the local shopping centre, then across the sea to Ireland for the Canada v Canada fun fest.
Let’s pause here and raise a glass to Todd Kelman, the Giants’ GM, for his tireless work in persuading Boston Bruins to come to the Emerald Isle.
He was helped by a local authority which is keen to promote the now peaceful city in the USA, and by the fact that the Bruins were already booked into Europe for some games in the Czech Republic. But none of that should over-shadow his key role in bringing the NHL to the province for the first time.
The game itself was hailed as a success. Reporters on both sides of the Atlantic described an unexpectedly close match played in front of an enthusiastic crowd in a packed arena. Hence my pal’s excited text. You can read more about the historic contest here - www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/article/historic-weekend-for-ireland.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=955&cHash=90d5a0b683
My thoughts on the game? My regular reader (bless you) will know that I’m a staunch fan of the GB men’s senior team, mainly because I believe that success for our national squad is one of the keys to the successful promotion of our sport.
So why wasn’t GB allowed to play against the big league team? Before you raise your hand in protest, even the best players in the country were not expected to beat an NHL club. So why not take advantage of this and assemble a team of Britain’s own elite skaters? The experience for our lads would have been priceless and it would have made the contest meaningful.
If local fans have to be catered for then by all means call it a GB Select and include as many local guys as possible. But as there were no Irish lads (from either side of the border) playing for the Giants Select, this surely proves that it was the Bruins which were the real attraction.
Let’s face it, the hockey fanatics would have turned up to see them play a local rec team!
The same could be said of last year’s Gardiner Cup in Edinburgh when two Elite club sides were chosen to play two teams from the AHL. That was another lost opportunity to give GB a run out.
Thirty years after the start of the so-called Modern Era of British ice hockey and the largest ever programme of rink building, the line-up facing Boston included just four players from this country - Stephen Murphy, Ashley Tait, Jonathan Weaver and Colin Shields - and only Murph and Weaves learned all their hockey here.
The NHL might have been impressed with their reception but they will have come away with the idea that we’re just another country that can’t develop its own players.
It’s ironic then that the player who left the biggest mark on the game was a Scot – goalie Murphy. His 22 saves kept the Bruins at bay for the first 40 minutes and he was generally held to be Belfast’s man of the match.
He was applauded by Bruins’ coach, Claude Julien, who said: "[Murphy] deserved a lot of credit for keeping his team in the game. He was outstanding tonight.”
Finally, look out for the latest edition of The Ice Hockey Annual which should be on sale in your rink on the weekend of 16-17 October. This one is the 35th (count ‘em!) and the first in full colour. Packed with stories, photos and statistics for every major club, Quotes of the Year, World Championships and much more, it’s the finest hockey read you can have without needing a mouse!
If you prefer to buy direct, go to our website at www.graphyle.com/IHA/ordering.
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1-4 |
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4-4 |
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2-4 |
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| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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4-1 |
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5-2 |
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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
