Kingdom Of The Giants :: Belfast Giants Fan Community, News & Views
Snake, Rattled and Rolled.
09-Mar-2007 | Discuss this ArticleThe Coors Belfast Giants were back in town tonight to face the Newscastle Vipers in the third last home game of the season. Coach Ed Courtenay stated in todays Belfast Telegraph that he would continue to ice for the time being, meaning Curtis Huppe would remain on the bench. Also Mike Minard was undergoing an operation today, which meant that the Giants would not be able to utilise his coaching skills.
The Giants were hoping to continue their winning ways in the fourth game in less than seven days, and it looked like being a bridge too far as the Vipers scored their first goal with just over one minute on the clock. The Vipers were unable to continue their momentum as they received two consecutive penalties. Fortunately for the away team the Giants were unable to capitalise, and they rarely tested their back up netminder Mark Lee.
With less than five minutes left in the first period, Todd Kelman linked up with Jason Ruff to score the equaliser. But the Giants joy was very short-lived as the Vipers skated straight up the ice and scored only twelve seconds later to regain their one goal lead.
The second period started with the Giants putting on the pressure and searching for the equaliser. With Andre Payette and Shawn Skiehar going to the penalty box for exchanging pleasantries, there was more room on the ice for the Giants skill players to flourish, and Ed Courtenay combined with Jason Ruff to score the tying goal. The rest of the period saw the Vipers try to muscle the Giants and each team conceded more penalties.
Whatever Ed Courtenay said during the second period break, it certainly seemed to work as the Giants scored the go-ahead goal with Ed Courtenay and Todd Kelman setting up Jeff Hutchins with just over one minute and a half gone. This gave the large crowd a chance to really make some noise. As the period wore down, the Vipers pressed forward and pulled their impressive netminder for the extra skater. Somehow the Giants manage to control the play and Roman Gavalier released the puck for Captain George Awada to skate onto. Holding off Andre Payette, Awada managed to squeeze the puck home to seal the win.
The Giants will now get a chance to relax, enjoy and revel in some history on Tuesday night when we celebrate Todd Kelmans testimonial night. Paxton Schulte, Colin Ward, Paul Kruse, Tony Hand, Rob Stewart, Jason Bowen, Shane Johnson, Paul Sample are just some of the names to be honouring the Coors Belfast Giants longest serving member. The action starts at 19.30, and in place of the second period will be a skills competition. It is not determined yet whether it will be Theo Fleury vs the rest...
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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 |