A COUPLE of weeks ago, I was catching up with some friends and discussing what to do. A night on the tiles was not on the table as some of us were attempting ‘dry January’.
Looking for something enjoyable, entertaining and relatively low cost, we went through the usual options – cinema, bowling, mini-golf – and finally settled on a Giants game.
Unbeknown to us as non-regular ice hockey attendees, the Belfast Giants were celebrating their 25th anniversary that weekend. So it was a very special night, with a few extra surprises including pyrotechnics, strobe lighting and various prizes and giveaways.
Although the average adult cinema ticket is around £12 and regular tickets for the Giants are priced at £20.50, there is, of course, added jeopardy – ice hockey can be a brutal and dangerous sport.
Sadly, this was demonstrated in October 2023 when Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson suffered a fatal neck injury during a match.
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Ice hockey combines the driving force and dexterity of rugby with the clashing sticks, flying projectiles and fast pace of hurling, but with the additional hazards of ice and sharp blades – there’s something for everyone.
Ice hockey combines the driving force and dexterity of rugby with the clashing sticks, flying projectiles and fast pace of hurling, but with the additional hazards of ice and sharp blades – there’s something for everyone
It’s hard to believe that the Giants are now in their 25th season: it has been a quarter of a century since their sell-out opening night in December 2000, so they have always been a fixture in my lifetime - which got me thinking about the origins of the team and the impact they have had.
Having made history as the first professional ice hockey team on the island of Ireland, the fact that the Belfast Giants are still thriving today is a testament to many things.
It must have been a huge risk to introduce what was a brand new and unknown sport to many in Belfast.
Although things were starting to move forward following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the situation was still far from stable. To attract a hockey team to Northern Ireland at that time, with players who mostly hailed from Canada and the USA, could not have been easy.
The marketing of the new team was clever, with the name itself reflecting the myths and legends of the region and linking it with one of our main tourist attractions and UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Giant’s Causeway – a positive association with something people here take pride in, as there is nothing like it anywhere else on earth.
In fact, the Giants have recently introduced ‘Causeway Black’ to their jersey colours “inspired by the bold, rugged landscapes of the land of Giants”.
The home of the Giants was the brand new Odyssey Arena (now SSE Arena), constructed in the city’s historic Titanic Quarter under the shadow of two other giants – Samson and Goliath, the Harland and Wolff cranes.
The Giants' home colour is teal, which when I looked it up is described as a ‘deep blue-green’. A perfect choice: a non-contentious combination of colours which cannot be claimed by one ‘side’ or the other.
It is also Giants policy that no other sporting tops are permitted in the arena other than ice hockey jerseys.
From the outset, the home support for the Belfast Giants has been phenomenal. Here is a sport and a team that fans can wholly invest in without judgement or association. Ice hockey brings together people from all communities and backgrounds, with the only flags flown being those sporting the team colours.
The matches are fast-paced, exciting, family-friendly, and littered with fresh and unfamiliar customs involving pucks and Subway cannons.
Back in 2000, the team might have managed to capture the hearts of a nation but the players also seem to have taken the nation to their hearts.
In 2022/23 they became treble champions for the first time in club history and at time of writing have moved to the top of the Elite League table.
Of course, the Giants won both games during their anniversary weekend and we had a really enjoyable night.
What a remarkable success story – Let’s Go Giants!
