Here’s a look at what player contracts need to be addressed during the off season. Athens – The Greeks have been one of the league’s top teams for four seasons now, but they haven’t been able to latch on to the golden ring. That’s led to impatience and frustration in a nation that has been…
Eleven players who saw action in Season 5 have decided to retire. Some might be added to list of Hall of Fame candidates when voting occurs between seasons. Here they are with their Season 5 stats: Tim Thomas, G, Copenhagen – 65 GP; 3.61 GAA; 87.6 SvPercentage Patrik Elias, LW, Munich – 82 GP; 46…
A close race ended with a lopsided 6-1 score in Game 7 and the Belfast Giants won the EURO Cup for the second season in a row Thursday. Belfast and Berlin were separated by just a point in the standings and by a single shot in the final game, but Belfast’s shooters were deadly against Smurf goalies…
The battle for the Season 5 EURO Cup has turned out to be an epic, memorable battle between two excellent teams. Berlin forced a Game 7 with a 6-3 win in Germany on Tuesday. The Giants and Smurfs will play for the title on Thursday in Belfast, where the Giants haven’t lost in the playoffs…
Matt Duchene filled in nicely for injured Sidney Crosby on the top line as Belfast thoroughly outplayed Berlin in Game 5 of the finals. Berlin now faces a must-win game at home on Tuesday. On Sunday, Belfast came out strong and – uncharacteristically of late – finished stronger by outshooting the Smurfs 8-1 in period 3. The…
The Cup Finals has now become a best 2 out of 3 series after Berlin won Friday 3-1 to knot the finals. The series will return to Belfast, where the Giants enjoyed complete and utter control of play in the first two games. But Sidney Crosby, who is tied for the team lead in scoring…
The Smurfs got back into the Finals series Wednesday with a win that was not nearly as convincing as either of the Giants’ two wins in Northern Ireland. But thanks to much better goaltending from Jimmy Howard and a more mortal-like performance by Jonathan Quick at the other end of the rink, we have a close…
Season 5 of the EURO League saw three team records and six individual records fall. Also, four individual records were tied. New Team Records Most points in a season – Belfast Giants, 129 (previous record: 123, Geneva, Season 1) Fewest points in a season – Oslo, 41 (previous record: 47, Oslo, Season 4) Best Penalty Killing –…
Irish fans are doing a jig after the Belfast Giants walloped Berlin 6-0 to take a 2-0 lead in the EURO Cup Finals. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice for Belfast and he wasn’t even among the three stars of the game. Jonathan Quick was named the first star because Berlin actually outshot the Giants 25-22 and…
Berlin goalie Jimmy Howard had a rare bad game when Game 1 of the EURO Cup Finals took place, and that’s something a goalie can’t do against a team as lethal as the defending champion Belfast Giants. Belfast had momentum early and scored 3 times on 9 first-period shots against Howard before adding 3 more…
