Belfast Giants


The Belfast Giants are an ice hockey team from Belfast, Northern Ireland that compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League. In the 2018–19 season, they were the Elite League champions and Challenge Cup winners. Their main sponsor is Stena Line and home games are played at the SSE Arena Belfast.
The Giants have currently won 11 major honours, including five league championship titles, as well as three Erhardt Conference titles.

History

The Giants had originated in 2000 and played their first match against Ayr on 1 December.
Initially members of the now defunct Superleague, the Giants won the championship in 2001–02 and were play-off champions in 2002–03. With the Superleague's demise, there were concerns that the Giants would not survive because of major financial problems which had developed. Running up debts of £600,000 and facing the threat of liquidation creditors voted to accept 20p in the pound allowing the club to continue. One company was believed to be owed nearly £65,000.
However, with the creation of the new Elite Ice Hockey League for the 2003–04 season, the Giants survived. The Giants finished 4th in the league's first season, but failed to reach the post-season play-offs..
The Giants finished runners up in the 2004–05 season behind the Coventry Blaze but were winners of the Cross-over League Cup, which was played with teams from the BNL.
In 2005, The Giants unveiled NHL All-Star and Olympic Gold Medal winner, Theo Fleury who made his debut against the Edinburgh Capitals. The Giants won 11–2, with Fleury scoring a hat-trick. With 4 additional assists and a fight, he was named man of the match.
Besides Fleury, several other players who previously played in the NHL have played for the Giants; Paul Kruse, Jason Ruff, Paxton Schulte, and Jason Bowen, Bowen and Kruse having played almost 600 games between them. Kevin Westgarth is the latest incumbent from the NHL to don the Giants jersey, arriving from the Calgary Flames after several seasons in North America's top league.
The Giants have also had many Belfast natives on their roster including fan favourite Mark Morrison, Graeme Walton, Gareth Martin, Gareth Roberts and Robbie Brown.
Recent History
Belfast Giants were added to EA Sports' NHL 20 game, enabling players to take control of the Giants in the Champions Hockey League.

Arena

One corner of the SSE Arena is known as 'Boomerang Corner' and a large group of fans who generate noise, bang drums and start most of the chants sit there. It is named in memory of long time Giants fan Stewart Boone. Any fans are invited to watch the game from the ‘Boomerang Corner’ as this section of the stadium is not reserved seating.
There used to be a traditional 4 sided scoreboard suspended over centre ice, but this has been replaced by two large video screens, one behind "Boomerang Corner" and the opposite corner of the arena for scores, replays, info etc. Two traditional scoreboards are located near the other two corners.

Team culture

With an average attendance of around 4,561, the Giants are one of twelve Elite league ice hockey squads in the UK. They are the 3rd best supported team in the UK and 70th in Europe. The average attendance in the Elite Ice Hockey League is 2,678.
Sectarianism had long been seen as a significant problem in some sports in Northern Ireland. When the club was established, the Belfast Giants were keen that the club not attach itself to a particular faith or community, instead wanting to represent Belfast as a whole. A number of policies were subsequently introduced to try to ensure this. Clothing or flags which might have displayed a person's political or religious affiliation were banned from the arena. The national anthem of the United Kingdom, traditionally played before games at other arenas in the Elite League, is not played before Giants games. These policies have been successful and the Giants have quickly built a large and enthusiastic fanbase who did not have to fear the sectarianism that marred other sports in Northern Ireland.

Facts

Current squad

2020-21 Elite League season squad

Former Giants

Retired jersey numbers

Head coaches

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the Top 10 Points Scoring Leaders for the Belfast Giants:
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
PlayerPOSGPGAPts
Colin ShieldsC/RW370159297456
George AwadaRW376149187336
Craig PeacockRW341140159299
Evan CheverieLW23991183274
Jason RuffLW193100145245
Todd KelmanD41873141214
Shane JohnsonD49154145199
Rob SandrockD22449141190
Ed CourtenayRW12458129187
Curtis BowenLW21984103187

Honours

2000–01
2001–02
*
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
*
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
*
2012–13
2013–14
*
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
*