Belfast Giants

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The Belfast Giants Ltd. was founded in 1997 by two Canadian businessmen, Bob Zeller and his associate Albert Maasland, after Zeller was in talks with the British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL) to launch a new franchise in the United Kingdom. The city of Belfast was chosen, with its new £92 million Millennium Commission project, the Odyssey Complex, due to be completed with the addition of a deal brokered between the Odyssey Trust and facility management company SMG to house the new hockey team in the arena. On 22 March 2000, the BISL confirmed that the Belfast Giants had been accepted into the league to begin play in September for the 2000–01 season.

In order to build a competitive roster for the new club, Bob Zeller approached Bracknell Bees championship-winning head coach Dave Whistle to become the first head coach of the Belfast Giants. Initially, Whistle was sceptical, deterred by having seen the violent footage of The Troubles on North American news media. In response, Zeller invited Whistle to visit Belfast and experience the changing city first-hand. Following his visit, Whistle agreed on a 3-year deal to coach the Giants. Whistle's roster recruitment began by looking toward his championship team in Bracknell, signing seven core players from that team to build upon in Belfast: Shane Johnson, Todd Kelman, Rob Stewart, Todd Goodwin, Kevin Riehl, Paxton Schulte, and Colin Ward. The captaincy was awarded to incumbent signing Jeff Hoad, with assistants Jason Bowen and Colin Ward.

The Giants formed in the immediate aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement. During the Troubles sports played a role in the sectarian divide among communities in Northern Ireland, but ice hockey was brand new and did not carry any historical affiliation with either side of the conflict. Giants CEO Robert Fitzpatrick said "Right from the start, the Giants was a place where everyone was welcome. I mean everyone: Protestants, Catholics, the LGTB community, it doesn’t matter. Everyone is equal". In the years since the club's formation the Giants have provided a common interest for people to come together in a safe, family friendly environment.^[6]

The beginning of the inaugural Giants season was marred with difficulties as the opening of the Odyssey Arena was delayed until early December 2000. This meant that the Giants were forced to play their first 15 games of the season on the road, without consistent ice-time for training or practice. Regardless, the Giants made their debut on 16 September 2000 against the Nottingham Panthers losing 5–1, with Kory Karlander scoring the club's first ever goal. The next evening, the Giants would travel to Bracknell in an unwelcome return for Whistle and his former Bees core. The Giants came out on top 6–5 after a shoot-out for their first ever win. However, the Giants would win only 4 out of 15 games to start the year.

Finally, the Giants played their first home game against the Ayr Scottish Eagles on 2 December 2000 to a sell-out crowd of 7,300 in what Whistle described as an "awesome spectacle" despite a 2–1 defeat. In the first period, Paxton Schulte would score the only goal for the Giants and fought Trevor Doyle shortly after, cementing his overnight status as a cult player for the hometown fans. The home ice proved to instigate a turn in fortune for the Giants mid-way through the season, playing in front of a consistently sold-out Odyssey Arena. The Giants would finish the season with a respectable 17–16–6–9 record, finishing in 6th place, and progressing into Group A of the playoffs to then be knocked out with a 3–3 record. The Giants saw more success in the Challenge Cup, finishing 1st in the group stage to progress to the two-leg semi-final against the Sheffield Steelers. The Giants won the first leg, 2–1, and lost the second leg, 7–0, for an 8–2 aggregate loss.

Dave Whistle re-signed ten members of the original line-up for the Giants second season, adding only six to the new roster; defencemen Chad Allan and Terran Sandwith, forwards Curt Bowen, Dave Matsos and Jason Ruff, and Mike Bales in goal. Jeff Hoad, Jason Bowen, and Colin Ward would retain their roles as captain and assistant captains respectively, to be joined by Sandwith as a third assistant captain. The season began with an exhibition tournament, the BT Ice Cup, hosted by the Giants with invitations to the London Knights, Eisbären Berlin, and the Frankfurt Lions.

In their first league game, the Giants suffered a 9–3 defeat to the London Knights. This would be followed by a succession of sub-par performance on the road. By late September, Whistle decided to bring in centre Sean Berens to bolster the Giants offence. Berens' arrival and subsequent placement on the first line with Riehl and Ruff would prove a catalyst for the Giants' success to come. The Giants would go on a 9-game unbeaten streak shortly thereafter, which was broken by two losses, the first away in London and the second at home to the Nottingham Panthers on 16 October, which would be their last home defeat of the season. The Giants would then win 7–2 at home against Ayr to gain 1st place, where the team would remain for the rest of the season.

Following a 4–1 win at Sheffield on 17 January 2001, the Giants travelled to Bracknell needing only 1 point to win the league. On 19 January, in a poetic return to Bracknell for Whistle and his former Bees core, the Giants would force a 2–2 draw with the home side to clinch their first ever championship with a league record-breaking 16-game unbeaten streak. Upon their arrival back in Belfast, the Giants were welcomed at Belfast City Airport by over one thousand boisterous fans. Unfortunately the Giants would struggle with a championship hangover as the team botched come playoff time, not making it past the qualification group. The Giants would, however, advance to the Challenge Cup final for the first time in their history, only to be stifled 5–0 by the Scottish Eagles. That particular match became known amongst fans of the Belfast Giants at that time as 'Black Sunday' A reference to the jersey worn by the team during the match, introduced for the occasion of their inaugural Challenge cup as well as the day it was played on and the heavy defeat by a team that had suffered crushing losses to them during the regular season. Hockey fans who watched that game and also watched the Winter Olympics Men's Ice Hockey final later on/in the early hours of the next day would have seen Theo Fleury, a later Giants signing receive his gold medal as part of the winning team.

With the eventual demise of the Superleague in mid-2003, there were concerns that the Giants organisation would not survive because of developing financial issues. The club ran up debts of approximately £1.4 million, with Maasland saying that the Giants were "by far and away the worst business [he had] been involved in". One partner company was believed to be owed nearly £65,000. However, facing the threat of liquidation, creditors voted to accept a 20p-to-the-pound pay-out, allowing the club to continue under new ownership of local businessman Jim Gillespie and join the newly established first-tier of British ice hockey dubbed the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).

The Belfast Giants have won seven EIHL regular season titles – the most recent of which came during the 2022–23 campaign, six Challenge Cup titles (including in 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22. 2022–23 and 2024–25), and two play-off championships.

Belfast Giants were added to EA Sports' NHL 20 game, enabling players to take control of the Giants in the Champions Hockey League.^[7]

The 2019–20 EIHL season was cancelled on 13 March 2020 with the remaining league fixtures and subsequent play-offs scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Challenge Cup was the only competition to see a winner crowned.^[8]

The 2020–21 Elite League season – originally pencilled in for a revised start date of 5 December – was suspended on 15 September 2020, because of ongoing uncertainty over coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The EIHL board determined that the season was non-viable without supporters being permitted to attend matches and unanimously agreed to a suspension.^[9] The season was cancelled completely in February 2021.^[10]

In March 2022, the Belfast Giants won their fourth Challenge Cup title after beating the Cardiff Devils 3–2 in overtime at the SSE Arena. The victory made head coach Adam Keefe the most successful in Giants history.^[11] The Giants then clinched the 2021–22 Elite League title in April, after a 2–1 shootout victory over the Sheffield Steelers.^[12] However they missed out on the treble after losing the 2022 EIHL play-off final 6–3 to the Cardiff Devils.^[13]

The Belfast Giants won their fifth Challenge Cup in March 2023 following a 9–3 victory against the Fife Flyers in a sold out SSE Arena.^[14] The following month they clinched the 2022–23 Elite League title with a 6–1 victory against the Guildford Flames, thus making them the most successful team in the Elite League era as of 2023.^[15] They then completed the Elite League grand slam with a 4–1 victory over Cardiff in the play-off final – becoming the first team to win all three domestic trophies in the same season since Nottingham in 2013.^[16]

Head coach Adam Keefe, who played for the club with distinction from 2011 to 2017, had his former jersey #47 retired ahead of the 2025–26 season - recognising his achievements and commitment to the Giants both as a player and coach.^[17]

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

Since 2000 the Giants' main logo has depicted a stylized version of the mythical warrior Finn McCool,^[1] who is commonly portrayed as a giant in popular folklore and has a close association with Ulster. The original logo had Finn brandishing a hockey stick with the Giants' wordmark in the foreground. The inaugural Giants uniforms featured white home jerseys with red and teal striping, matching socks, and black shorts. The inaugural away jerseys featured their now famous teal^[1] with red and white striping, matching socks, and black shorts.

For the 2001–02 season the Giants introduced red jerseys with teal and white striping for the BT Ice Cup, and black jerseys with teal and red striping for the Challenge Cup.

In 2002–03, the Giants altered their home jerseys to feature red shoulder piping with teal and black stripes.

For 2004–05 the Giants replaced the red shoulder piping with black piping on home jerseys and changed away jerseys to mirror these except with teal as the primary colour.

Ahead of the 2021–22 EIHL season, the Giants unveiled a refreshed primary logo and alteration to the club's home, away and Challenge Cup jerseys.^[18]

One corner of the SSE Arena has been dubbed 'Boomerang Corner' – named in memory of long time Giants fan, Stewart Boone – and was left unreserved for a large group of fans who generate noise, bang drums, and start game night chants until the 2022–23 season when these seats became bookable.

Originally there was a traditional four-sided scoreboard suspended over centre ice. This has recently been replaced by two large screens for scores and video replays; one behind Boomerang Corner and one at the opposite corner of the rink. Two traditional scoreboards are located in the two remaining corners.

Sectarianism has long been a significant problem with sports in Northern Ireland. When the club was established, Giants' management was committed to ensure the club did not attach itself to any particular faith or community, instead aspiring to represent Belfast as a whole. A number of policies were introduced to achieve this.^[1] Football colours, clothing, and flags which may 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. The colours of the team, notably the dominant 'teal' used in both its logo and uniform, was chosen specifically because it had no national or political connotations in Northern Ireland.

These policies have been successful as the Giants have built a large and enthusiastic fanbase which has become known as the 'Teal Army'. As of the 2024–25 season, the Giants had averaged an attendance of 6,755,^[19] ranking them 2nd amongst UK ice hockey teams and 28th in Europe. This puts them well above the averages of teams in association football's NIFL Premiership, but well below teams that represent all of Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland national football team and Ulster Rugby).

The Giants have an official podcast, "A View From the Bridge", hosted by fans Patrick Smyth, Davy McGimpsey, Simon Kitchen, and Gareth Martin. There is also an official supporters club known as the Giants OSC.

For many years, the Giants have been introduced onto the ice with the song "Rise" by English rock band The Cult. In recent years, "A Warrior's Call" by Danish band Volbeat has also been used as the team's entrance theme. Their goal song begins with The Irish Rovers' version of "The Belle of Belfast City", a popular local rendition of the old children's folk song "I'll Tell Me Ma". This is mixed into "Song 2" by English Britpop group Blur before face-off.

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Squad for 2025–26 Elite League season^[20][21]

• * Denotes two-way deal with NIHL side Solway Sharks
• ** Denotes two-way deal with NIHL side Telford Tigers

Netminders

No.	Nat.	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
1		Jackson Whistle	L	2021	Kelowna, Canada	Nottingham Panthers, EIHL
35		Andrew Dickson	L	2011	Ballymoney, Northern Ireland	Invicta Dynamos, ENL
73		Jake Kupsky	L	2026	Waukesha, United States	Guildford Flames, EIHL

Defencemen

No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
3		Bo Hanson	L	2024	Boise, United States	Aalborg Pirates, Metal Ligaen
7		Reid Irwin	L	2025	Victoria, Canada	Wichita Thunder, ECHL
17		Rhodes Mitchell-King**	L	2024	Warwick, England	Telford Tigers, NIHL
21		Garrett McFadden	L	2025	Owen Sound, Canada	HC Innsbruck, IceHL
22		Zak Galambos	R	2024	Walnut Creek, United States	Western Michigan Broncos, NCAA Division I
23		Mike Lee	L	2024	Hamden, United States	HC Nové Zámky, Slovak Extraliga
28		Kell Beattie*	R	2021	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Solway Sharks, NIHL
42		Gabe Bast	R	2024	Red Deer, Canada	Red Deer Rustlers, NCHL-AB
62		Cameron Pound	L	2023	Solihull, England	Saint Mary's Huskies, U Sports
77		Josh Roach	R	2022	Saskatoon, Canada	Kenaston Blizzards, SVHL

Forwards

No.	Nat.	Player	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
8		Ben Freeman	RW/C	2026	Falmouth, United States	Frederikshavn White Hawks, Metal Ligaen
9		Ben Lake A	LW/C	2021	Calgary, Canada	Manchester Storm, EIHL
10		Scott Conway	C	2024	Basingstoke, England	HK Dukla Trenčín, Slovak Extraliga
12		J.J. Piccinich	RW	2024	Paramus, United States	Stjernen Hockey, EHL
24		Carter Hamill*	C/LW	2024	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Milton Keynes Lightning, NIHL
29		Jordan Kawaguchi	C	2024	Abbotsford, Canada	Idaho Steelheads, ECHL
36		Carsen Twarynski	LW/RW	2025	Calgary, Canada	HC Dynamo Pardubice, Czech Extraliga
46		Finley Howells**	LW	2024	Telford, England	Telford Tigers, NIHL
63		Jake Gaudet	C	2025	Ottawa, Canada	Cleveland Monsters, AHL
64		David Goodwin C	C/LW	2025	St Louis, United States	No Team
74		Brandon Whistle	C	2025	Kelowna, Canada	Sheffield Steelers, EIHL
88		Ryan Smith	C/RW	2025	Roanoke, United States	Selber Wölfe, DEL2
89		Ciaran Long A	LW	2021	Birmingham, England	Manchester Storm, EIHL
91		Nicolas Guay	RW	2025	Châteauguay, Canada	Trois-Rivières Lions, ECHL

On Loan

No.	Nat.	Player	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth	Playing For	Press Release

Team Staff

No.	Nat.	Name	Position	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
N/A		Adam Keefe[1]	Head coach	Brampton, Canada	Appointed in 2017
N/A		Jeff Mason	Associate coach	Easthampton, United States	Dundee Stars, EIHL
N/A		Rob Stewart	Assistant coach	Selkirk, Canada	Romford Raiders, EPIHL
N/A		George Awada	Assistant coach	Saint Paul, United States	Appointed in 2022
N/A		Steve Thornton[1]	GM/Director of Hockey Operations	Edmonton, Canada	Basingstoke Bison, EIHL
N/A		Jason 'Taff' Ellery	Equipment Manager	Cardiff, Wales	London Knights, BISL
N/A		Barbara Reynolds	Massage Therapist	Northern Ireland	Appointed in 2016

Recent departures

No.		Player	Position	Acquired	Leaving For	Press Release
6		Jeff Baum A	D	2021	TBC
8		Joe Cassetti	LW	2024	ESV Kaufbeuren, DEL2
14		Sam Jones	D	2025	TBC
15		Robert Carpenter	LW/C	2024	Kansas City Mavericks, ECHL
20		Pierre-Olivier Morin	C	2024	TBC
20		Marcus Eriksson	C/LW	2025	HC Vita Hästen, Swedish Division 2 W
26		Mark Cooper C	RW	2021	Retired
33		Tom McCollum	G	2024	EC Kitzbühel, AlpsHL
37		Alexis Gravel	G	2025	TBC
71		Karl Boudrias	D	2024	Thetford Assurancia, LNAH
72		Patrick Grasso	RW	2025	Adirondack Thunder, ECHL
79		Kyle Osterberg	RW/LW	2024	TBC
86		Mack Stewart	RW/LW	2021	Coventry Blaze, EIHL
88		Grant Mismash	LW/C	2024	Coventry Blaze, EIHL
90		Mason Alderson	LW	2023	Fife Flyers, EIHL
91		Elijiah Barriga	LW	2023	Coventry Blaze, EIHL

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

• 4 Shane Johnson
• 11 Colin Ward
• 16 Rob Stewart
• 18 Graeme Walton
• 19 Colin Shields
• 27 Paxton Schulte
• 44 Todd Kelman
• 47 Adam Keefe

• 2 Brock Matheson
• 5 Will Colbert
• 5 Jérôme Gauthier-Leduc — former Buffalo Sabres draft pick, played for Belfast February–June 2017
• 12 Kyle Baun — ex AHLer
• 14 Theoren Fleury — former Stanley Cup-winning NHL player
• 14 Daymen Rycroft
• 14 Mike Forney — 2015–17; former Atlanta Thrashers draft pick
• 15 Scott Champagne
• 15 Kevin Westgarth — former Stanley Cup-winning NHL player
• 15 Darcy Murphy — 2018–19 top EIHL points scorer (79)
• 17 Gregory Stewart
• 19 Colin Shields — EIHL all-time top points scorer and ex-Philadelphia Flyers draft pick
• 23 Alex Foster – 2016–17; ex-Toronto Maple Leafs NHLer
• 23 Griffin Reinhart – 2021–22; ex-New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers; 2012 NHL first-round draft pick
• 24 Noah Clarke
• 24 Jonathan Ferland — a one-time Montreal Canadiens draft pick
• 25 Blair Riley — 2016–19; ex-AHLer who also captained the Giants from 2017 to 2019
• 39 Patrick Dwyer — the ex-Carolina Hurricanes NHLer played for Belfast between 2018 and 2019 before retiring
• 43 Derrick Walser — former NHL defenceman and Belfast player/coach 2015–17
• 50 Matt Nickerson — former NHL draft pick, played for Belfast for two seasons – 2015–17
• 64 David Goodwin — captained Belfast from 2021 to 2023, leading the team to a domestic treble in 2022–23
• 83 Dustin Johner — a Florida Panthers draft pick in 2001
• 91 Nathan Robinson

Name	Tenure
Jeff Hoad	2000–02
Paul Kruse	2002–03
Jason Ruff	2003–04
Shane Johnson	2004–05
George Awada	2005–09
Colin Shields	2009–11
Jeremy Rebek	2011–12
Adam Keefe	2012–17
Blair Riley	2017–19
Matt Pelech	2019–20
David Goodwin	2021–23
Mark Cooper	2023–25
David Goodwin	2025–

No.	Name	Tenure
1	David Whistle	2000–03
2	Rob Stewart	2003–04
3	Tony Hand	2004–05
4	Ed Courtenay	2005–08
5	Steve Thornton	2008–10
6	Doug Christiansen	2010–13
7	Paul Adey	2013–14
8	Steve Thornton	2014–15
9	Derrick Walser	2015–17
10	Adam Keefe[1]	2017– present

These are the Top 10 Points Scoring Leaders for the Belfast Giants:

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	POS	GP	G	A	Pts
Colin Shields	C/RW	370	159	297	456
George Awada	RW	376	149	187	336
Craig Peacock	RW	341	140	159	299
Evan Cheverie	LW	239	91	183	274
Jason Ruff	LW	193	100	145	245
Todd Kelman	D	418	73	141	214
Shane Johnson	D	491	54	145	199
Rob Sandrock	D	224	49	141	190
Ed Courtenay	RW	124	58	129	187
Curtis Bowen	LW	219	84	103	187

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

2000–01

• ISL Second Team All-Star: Kory Karlander

2001–02

• Superleague Champions
• ISL First Team All-Star: Mike Bales, Rob Stewart, Kevin Riehl, Sean Berens, Jason Ruff

2002–03

• Superleague Playoff Champions
• ISL First Team All-Star: Robby Sandrock, Paxton Schulte
• ISL Second Team All-Star: Ryan Bach, Kevin Riehl

2003–04

• EIHL First Team All-Star: Jason Ruff

2004–05

• British Cross-League: 1st Place
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Tony Hand
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Martin Klempa and George Awada

2005–06

• Elite League Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Theo Fleury and Ed Courtenay
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Mike Minard, Todd Kelman and George Awada
• Vic Batchelder Memorial Trophy: Nathan Craze

2008–09

• EIHL Challenge Cup Champions
• EIHL Knock Out Cup Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Paul Deniset

2009–10

• EIHL Play-off Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Stephen Murphy and Colin Shields
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Michael Jacobsen and Jeff Szwez

2010–11

• EIHL First Team All-Star: Jon Gleed
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Stephen Murphy

2011–12

• Elite League Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Stephen Murphy and Jeff Mason
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Jeremy Rebek and Robert Dowd

2012–13

• Erhardt Conference Winners
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Robbie Sandrock

2013–14

• Elite League Champions
• Erhardt Conference Winners
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Rob Sandrock, Calvin Elfring and Kevin Saurette
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Stephen Murphy, Jeff Szwez and Evan Cheverie

2015–16

• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Derrick Walser, James Desmarais

2016–17

• EIHL First Team All-Star: Jim Vandermeer
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Derrick Walser, Blair Riley

2017–18

• EIHL Challenge Cup Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Sébastien Sylvestre

2018–19

• Elite League Champions
• EIHL Challenge Cup Champions
• Erhardt Conference Winners
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Tyler Beskorowany, Josh Roach, Darcy Murphy
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Kyle Baun, Patrick Dwyer

2021–22

• EIHL Challenge Cup Champions
• Elite League Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Tyler Beskorowany, Griffin Reinhart, J.J. Piccinich, Scott Conway

2022–23

• EIHL Challenge Cup Champions
• Elite League Champions
• EIHL Play-off Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Tyler Beskorowany, Gabe Bast, Scott Conway, David Goodwin

2024–25

• EIHL Challenge Cup Champions
• Elite League Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: Josh Roach
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Gabe Bast, Scott Conway

2025–26

• Elite League Champions
• EIHL First Team All-Star: J.J. Piccinich, Mike Lee
• EIHL Second Team All-Star: Jordan Kawaguchi