Kingdom Of The Giants :: Belfast Giants Fan Community, News & Views
Magnificent Seven
04-Mar-2007 | Discuss this ArticleThe Coors Belfast Giants returned to their Odyssey home last night hoping to continue with their recent revival after a tight overtime win in Manchester. The six game road trip will be one that the Giants will want to forget in a hurry, coming home with one overtime win and five straight losses that effectively put paid to any title aspirations for this year.
The road trip also heralded a couple of changes in the Giants roster. Coach Ed Courtenay laced up the skates again in place of the injured Curtis Huppe, and Mike Minard's season suffered a cruel early end with an injury prior to the game last Sunday. French netminder Philippe DeRouville flew in at very short notice to assume the number one slot. Also to depart was Kevin Kelly, being replaced by local goalie, Hugh Smyth.
At the start of the first period, and in front of possibly the biggest crowd of the season, the Coors Belfast Giants seemed to freeze in the glare of fan expectations, with the Edinburgh Capitals forcing the play, and being firmly camped in the Giants zone for the opening half of the period. To all intents and purposes, it looked like the team with the shorter bench, and fewer imports were going to force the first opening. Thankfully, the Giants weathered the early storm and the period ended honours even.
Second period begain with a goal from opening face-off, Morin passing to Dutes who scored with a wonderful finish. This seemed to wake up the slumbering Giants, Jason Ruff finished off a tic-tac-toe move from Courtenay and Hutchins, Awada from Morin made it three, Dutes scored another to finish off the periods scoring, the Giants leaving the ice 4-0 up.
In the third period the short benched Caps were rapidly tiring, Courtenay turned from provider to finisher with two goals of his own, Awada also netted his second. With DeRouville bagging a shutout in the his first game at the O, lets hope the Giants can put one over on the Devils this Tuesday night.
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Next SeasonLast Game
- Sat 07 Apr
- vs Devils, OTL 4-3
- Giants Goals: Rebek, Clarke, Hoffman
- Devils Goals: Matzka, Dobben, Piggot
League Standings
| P | TEAM | GP | W(OT) | L(OT) | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giants | 54 | 46(0) | 5(3) | 95 |
| 2 | Steelers | 54 | 41(0) | 11(2) | 84 |
| 3 | Panthers | 54 | 38(0) | 12(4) | 80 |
| 4 | Devils | 54 | 32(0) | 12(10) | 74 |
| 5 | Blaze | 54 | 32(0) | 20(2) | 66 |
| 6 | Clan | 54 | 31(0) | 19(4) | 66 |
| 7 | Stingrays | 54 | 16(0) | 34(4) | 36 |
| 8 | Stars | 54 | 13(0) | 35(6) | 32 |
| 9 | Capitals | 54 | 13(0) | 37(4) | 30 |
| 10 | Flyers | 54 | 8(0) | 40(6) | 22 |
Giants' Stat Leaders
| Points | Robert Dowd | 78 |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | Robert Dowd | 40 |
| Assists | Craig Peacock | 49 |
| PIM | Adam Keefe | 247 |