Belfast Giants strengthen blue line with Paul Swindlehurst signing

The Belfast Giants have moved to improve their defensive corps with the signing of British defenseman Paul Swindlehurst from the Manchester Storm.

Swindlehurst, 25, has played five years in the Elite League with the Dundee Stars, Nottingham Panthers and the Storm and moves to the SSE Arena off the back of helping Team GB to gold in Division 1A of the World Championships.

The English skater was part of a Manchester roster that won the Patton Conference last season and finished second in the league standings, dressing for all 56 of their regular season games, scoring two goals and adding seven points.

Swindlehurst has also been a mainstay on the GB roster for the past five years and was part of the teams that won back to back promotions in Belfast and Budapest over the last two seasons.

The d-man was part of a rookie call-up squad for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2014 and has also had a stint in Australia with the Sydney IceDogs.

“Everything Adam Keefe said were the right things for me. I wanted a change, new scenery and I wanted a challenge,” Swindlehurst told A View From The Bridge, the official podcast of the Belfast Giants.

“Adam Keefe wants to work with me and help my game. From speaking to other players, I know that Keefer helps young guys get better. I want to build my game, improve and become the best player I can be and through Adam Keefe and the Belfast Giants, I believe that is possible.”

Paul Swindlehurst factfile

Name: Paul Swindlehurst

Age: 25

Birthplace: Blackrod, England

Height: 193cm / 6’4”

Weight: 94kgs / 207lbs

Shoots: L

Former teams: Swindon Wildcats, Dundee Stars, Nottingham Panthers, Manchester Storm, Sydney IceDogs

Belfast Giants bring in netminder Tyler Beskorowany

THE Belfast Giants have announced the signing of Canadian goaltender Tyler Beskorowany for the 2018/19 Elite League season.

The 28-year old will vie for the starting jersey at the SSE Arena next season with veteran British backstop Stephen Murphy having agreed to join from the now defunct Edinburgh Capitals.

After the departure of netminder Jackson Whistle to rivals the Sheffield Steelers, head coach Adam Keefe has moved quickly to fill the vacancy behind the blueline with another veteran operator.

Beskorowany logged an .894 save percentage in 15 games for the Capitals last season, sporting an unsightly 4.06 goals against average albeit behind a league-worst defense, suggesting he’s better than the stats imply.

That’s further backed by the fact he is only three years removed from an excellent season in the DEL with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers where he recorded an impressive .920 save percentage with a 2.81 GAA.

The netminder is a former second round draft pick in the NHL having been taken at #59 in the 2008 Draft by Dallas, however he didn’t make it to the big leagues with the Stars.

Having bounced between the Stars’ AHL and ECHL affiliates for three seasons, posting strong numbers at both levels, Beskorowany spent time with the San Francisco Bulls and Orlando Solar Bears before heading to Europe.

In 67 games across two seasons for Düsseldorfer and Nürnberg in the DEL, the Canadian was one of the standout goalies with back-to-back seasons with a .920 save percentage, and was named DEL Goalie of the Year in 2015.

He made the move to Edinburgh midway through last season to aid the failing franchise’s efforts, and despite the below-average stats, his performances earned rave reviews and he quickly became a favourite at Murrayfield.

Having had experience in the EIHL already, bringing Beskorowany in to plug the gap appears a shrewd move from the Giants, who will hope he can bring his performances from Germany to Belfast this season.

Factfile

Name: Tyler Beskorowany

Age: 28

Hometown: Sudbury, ON, Canada

Height: 193cm / 6’4”

Catches: Left

Squad number: #34

Drafted: 2008 round 2 #59 overall by Dallas Stars

Former teams: Texas Stars, Idaho Steelheads, San Francisco Bulls, Orlando Solar Bears, St. John’s IceCaps, Düsseldorfer EG, Springfield Falcons, Norfolk Admirals, Nürnberg Ice Tigers, Edinburgh Capitals

ICE HOCKEY: Keefe switching focus after Manchester whip up a Storm in Belfast

BELFAST Giants head coach Adam Keefe says the focus has now switched from league leaders Cardiff to the teams below them in the table after their 6-3 home defeat to the Manchester Storm.

A hat-trick from Luke Moffatt at the SSE Arena propelled Manchester to the win, backed up by a 35-save performance from Mike Clemente in nets as Ryan Finnerty’s side closed to one point behind Belfast in the standings.

With 13 games left to go in the season, and the Devils with a game in hand over the Giants, the title seems to be slowly slipping away for the second straight season as Belfast go through a rough patch.

After surviving a second leg resurgence from the Nottingham Panthers in their Challenge Cup semi-final on Wednesday night and nearly throwing away a four goal lead over Fife on Friday night, this was a harrowing defeat.

Belfast never recovered from falling three behind inside the first ten minutes, leading Keefe to launch a scathing attack on his charges.

“After tonight we can forget about Cardiff for the time being, we’re just worried about holding onto the second spot,” Keefe confessed. “Manchester, after you’ve seen tonight, is a team that wants that spot and they came out and took it to us tonight.

“We had nothing. You take away (David Rutherford’s) two goals on one shift and it’s a 6-1 hockey game. It’s not good enough. They outperformed us, outworked us and were better than us on the ice.”

The dip in form has come at a concerning time for the Giants, who have now fallen nine points adrift of the rampant Devils, who on the same night put seven past Nottingham on their way to victory.

A lacklustre first period saw them test Clemente all of five times and, while they picked up in the second period, there was nothing in the final 20 to suggest that there was a comeback on the cards.

Indiscipline saw them take ten minor penalties, nine of which were in the second period onwards, while the special teams once again faltered, conceding three powerplay goals and going 0-for-10 on their own.

Indeed, the special teams have been an issue for Belfast recently having scored just four goals on the powerplay in 32 chances (12.5%) while managing a poor penalty kill percentage of 70% in their last five outings.

“The last few games haven’t been good enough and tonight was just an implosion of that,” Keefe blasted.

“It wasn’t good enough. Throughout the entire line-up I didn’t think it was good enough. We didn’t have any jump, they outskated us, outworked us, they were more physical than us and they buried their chances.

“We didn’t allow ourselves to gain any momentum five on five with all the penalties that were called and our special teams didn’t get the job done tonight, and that’s the reason why we lost the game.”

Injuries have taken their toll, with Jim Vandermeer and Colin Shields both being sidelined over the weekend, while netminder Jackson Whistle has limped to a .859 save percentage in his last two starts since returning from an injury that kept him out of a start.

Regardless, Keefe indicated changes will be made ahead of the visit of the Dundee Stars on Wednesday night to try and kickstart a revival, with Dustin Johner likely to return to the roster after being rested on Sunday.

The coach said: “I’ll change the line-up before the next game because someone’s got to give us that spark. At the end of the day we have some guys who aren’t getting it done lately and they’ve got to pick it up. This is playoff hockey, you can’t afford to drop the game tonight and we did.

“We’ll definitely take the learnings from tonight. We have to be better, and I shouldn’t have to tell them but sometimes they need to hear that.”

ICE HOCKEY: Giants in safe hands with Whistle

Whistle in action for the Giants

Pic: Dean Woolley

WHEN you talk about form players, Jackson Whistle has to come into the mix.

Used to playing in tandem with Stephen Murphy, the Scot's likely season-ending injury has forced Whistle into the everyday role at the Belfast Giants, and so far all the indications suggest he's thriving.

In his last eight starts, Whistle has gone 5-2 - with a rare tie game in Fife as well - and posted an outstanding .940 save percentage, which is backed by an equally impressive 1.88 GAA in that space, numbers that the top NHL ‘keepers would be delighted with.

His form has been so good that newly-signed backstop Chris Truehl - who has also been excellent in his three starts - has barely been given a look in, instead having to settle for the bench role.

Everything culminated in a 30-save shutout of the streaking Fife Flyers in their Challenge Cup quarter-final second leg on Tuesday night, Whistle providing the solid platform from the back that allowed the offense to let loose.

"It was nice to get the shutout but I thought the team played really well," the 22-year old says. "Obviously we knew it was a do or die game but I thought we really came out to play and we took it to them.

"Lately I think my game has been coming along pretty well, it's just about feeling good, tracking pucks and seeing it. I'm getting a lot of help from the team - you can't get a shutout without a team effort, so I really appreciate that from the guys."

The numbers don't lie, Whistle has been in elite form recently for the Giants, who are keeping pace with the league leading Cardiff Devils and have reached the last four of the Challenge Cup on the back of his performances.

The Great Britain goaltender is only a year off hip surgery that massively curtailed his involvement last season, but the form he's in would suggest there's been no long-lasting effects.

And, having taken over as both the Giants' figurative No.1 as well as being their literal No.1, Whistle is only focusing on getting better as the season goes on.

"It's awesome to get (the great stats), but the key is to keep moving forward," Whistle admits. "I try not to look at that, just take it day by day, get better with every practice and bring it into the next game.

"You'll look at stats a little bit, but I'll look at games where I've let in goals that I'll want back, or I'll look at certain plays. I get Keefer to show me videos of them so I can improve on them and take it into the next game. Hopefully if I do enough things right then the stats will come."

Next up, somewhat ironically, is a league and conference doubleheader against their Challenge Cup semi-final opponents the Nottingham Panthers at the SSE Arena this weekend.

The Giants haven't had much to celebrate from their games against the Panthers this season - they boast a 1-2-1 record against their conference rivals, including an overtime defeat the last time they met in Belfast.

However, they do hold the most recent bragging rights having taken a 6-2 win from the National Ice Centre in mid-December, Whistle pulling off 30 saves on his way to the road victory.

It's a chance for Belfast to inflict a hammer blow to a side who will be in the mix come the end of the season, as well as boost their own title credentials and take a big step forward in the Erhardt Conference.

"I think the guys are definitely looking forward to this weekend, the same as last weekend against Sheffield, it's a big weekend and we need some points," says Whistle.

"They're a good team, but if we play our best I think we can compete with any team in the league. That's what we have to do this weekend, just play our game and see how it goes."

Stats

Jackson Whistle

Win-Loss: 21-8-2

SAV%: .906

GAA: 2.93

Shutouts: 2

Stats provided by Davy McGimpsey of A View From The Bridge, official podcast of the Belfast Giants

ICE HOCKEY: Steelers win out in heated Belfast battle

AN ill-tempered and heated Elite League clash at the SSE Arena saw the Sheffield Steelers emerge 3-2 victors over the Belfast Giants.

A brace from Andreas Jämtin and an opener from Matt Marquardt saw the visitors home in front of a large travelling support, while Steve Saviano and David Rutherford replied for the hosts.

It was Jackson Whistle who was between the pipes for Belfast, while Sheffield had everyday man Ervins Mustukovs at the other end, but the big story was a first reunion between Spiro Goulakos and Colton Fretter,

And any hopes that the Goulakos-Fretter history had been forgotten was ended within the first minute as the Belfast defenceman dropped gloves with the Sheffield man, leaving them both on the floor.

It was a largely wasteful first period, both sides having chances but neither significantly testing the netminders at each end until the visitors finally broke the deadlock at the end of the period.

New man Eric Neiley set the tone, taking it into the offensive zone and feeding Matt Marquardt in the slot, and the forward finished at the second attempt at 17:01 after Whistle could only bat the puck back into his path.

The expected Giants reaction at the start of the second period never came, and instead it looked like Sheffield might double their advantage however Levi Nelson spurned their best chance, unable to flick it past Whistle on the angle.

Instead, Belfast levelled, a Kevin Raine slapshot taking a massive deflection at the doorstep to take it away from Mustukovs and allow Steve Saviano to steal in and finish at 31:29.

Within a minute the Steelers retook the lead shorthanded, a breakaway from their own defensive zone drawing a good save from Whistle, however Andreas Jämtin was on hand to capitalise on a poor attempted clearance at 32:05.

Then came a moment of great controversy - Steelers enforcer Zack Fitzgerald landing a massive hit to Goulakos’ head, resulting in the defenceman being left stricken on the ice for a while.

Fitzgerald was given a five minute major for the check to the head, however Belfast couldn’t take advantage of their extra man, and Robert Dowd nearly made them pay only to fire over when one on one with Whistle.

But they got that crucial third goal seconds before the end of the period, Whistle unable to hold a shot from the blueline, and Jämtin was again on hand to sweep the loose puck in at 39:38.

Five minutes into the final period the hosts struck back, a Blair Riley shot slamming off the back boards and falling to David Rutherford lurking at the back post, who flipped it into the cage over an unsighted Mustukovs at 45:19.

Dowd had another great chance to get a goal of his own, while Andreas Valdix also tested Whistle, while at the other end Darcy Murphy found space into the slot but fanned on his shot at goal.

Tensions boiled over again as Ryan Martinelli and Neiley dropped the gloves, while Sheffield took a late penalty to put Belfast on the powerplay to seemingly finish the game.

It wouldn’t end that way, Goulakos illegally checking an opponent to end his game and Sébastien Sylvestre snapping at the officials to get him ejected too, as the Giants’ frustrations ultimately manifested in a loss.

Man of the Match: Andreas Jämtin (Sheffield Steelers)

ICE HCOKEY: Late show sees Giants past Clan

THE Belfast Giants completed a four point home weekend with a 4-2 win over the Braehead Clan at the SSE Arena thanks to another third period show.

Having produced five goals in the third period against Edinburgh on Friday night, this time Adam Keefe’s men hit three to fight back from 2-1 down at the second intermission to take the two points.

Blair Riley, Spiro Goulakos, Steve Saviano and Matt Towe all netted for the hosts, who keep pace with the Cardiff Devils at the top of the Elite League standings with victory.

Having given Chris Truehl his home debut on Friday against Edinburgh, the Giants started Jackson Whistle in nets, while Braehead countered with everyday backstop Ryan Nie between the pipes.

It was Nie who was the busier of the two keepers in the opening stages as Clan defenceman Cameron Burt took an early tripping penalty, and his goalie had to be wise to alert to deny Colin Shields and Darcy Murphy on the powerplay.

But the best chance fell to Braehead short handed as Brendan Brooks reacted fasted to a puck around the boards and skated in one-on-one with Whistle, only for the Belfast man to blank him as he shot on goal.

Brendan Connolly and Jonathan Ferland both had chances to send the Giants in ahead at the first intermission, the former firing straight at Nie on a two-on-one and the latter hitting the bar from the slot, but it was scoreless at the break.

Having missed three powerplay opportunities in the first period, the Giants paid in the second. With Blair Riley sitting two for hooking, Burt launched a slapshot from the high slot that forward Jacob Doty tipped in at the crease at 26:16.

Just two minutes later and Belfast were level, David Rutherford doing all the hard work to turn a Clan d-man and feed Riley at the backdoor, with the captain making amends by tapping into the empty cage at 28:36.

Both teams had their chances, GB international Brooks easily the dangerman for Braehead and Sylvestre tearing Nie at the other end, but it would be the visitors who led at the second intermission.

Whistle failed to handle a Landon Oslanski slapshot, deflecting it with his pads straight to Tyler Shattock at the doorstep, who shifted around the netminder to finish at 36:29.

As a result, Belfast burst out at the start of the third and at 46:34 they got their reward with a second equaliser as Spiro Goulakos took it through the zones and, with seemingly nothing on, roofed a fantastic slapshot past Nie.

The Giants then had a glorious chance to take the lead, David Rutherford went in on goal but he was checked from behind in the act of shooting by former Belfast favourite Craig Peacock, however the Canadian couldn’t force his penalty shot around the resolute Nie.

With the game looking like it might be heading for overtime, Belfast struck the winner. With Oslanski in the box for slashing, the Giants flooded the offensive zone and Riley centred the puck for Steve Saviano to tip in at the doorstep at 56:39.

And the gloss was added by Matt Towe at 59:47, the Clan having pulled Nie for an extra attacker leaving an empty cage for the English forward to slide the puck into to ensure the victory.

Man of the Match: Spiro Goulakos (Belfast Giants)

ICE HOCKEY: Home comforts for Chris Truehl

Truehl in action for Quinnipiac

CHRIS Truehl signed for the Belfast Giants on November 6. One month and 23 days later he’s finally set to make his home debut.

It’s not his fault, nor is it the Giants’. Rather, a 10-game away streak meant the Wisconsin native had to bide his time for a return to the SSE Arena where he starred for Quinnipiac in last year’s Friendship Four.

It’s been a frustrating start to Truehl’s tenure in Belfast too. Injury to defenceman Mark Garside has meant the goaltender hasn’t been able to feature on the road either due to import rules and, as such, he’s only played twice since his arrival.

That long wait somewhat offset the excitement of the netminder’s arrival - signed as a replacement for the long-term injured Stephen Murphy, he’s sat on the sideline for 12 of the 14 games since he joined.

But tonight he gets the nod between the pipes for the visit of the Edinburgh Capitals (face-off 7pm) where eager Giants fans will finally get to see him in action first hand.

“I’m excited, it’ll be fun,” says the 24-year old. “We have a great fanbase and it’s an awesome rink, so it’ll be great to get back here and play at home for the city we represent.”

Not only that, but there’ll be some familiar faces in the crowd.

“My parents are over here, but I told them not to come because I wasn’t sure I was going to play!” he laughs. “That was a nice Christmas surprise. They haven’t seen me play a pro game yet so it’ll be fun that way.”

Tonight should mark the return of the rotation that the Giants are so used to having, with Truehl and Jackson Whistle - who has been excellent as the everyday man - likely to alternate for the two games each weekend.

With Dustin Johner very close to a return and Garside in light training, the pressure is being lifted off a once injury-hit roster, allowing head coach Adam Keefe more flexibility with his selections.

But Truehl says he’s somewhat grateful for the disrupted start to his time with the Giants as it allowed him to integrate into the team.

“As a goalie it’s really tough to wait so long between starts, but it’s been good in a couple of aspects,” the former Bobcat admits.

“It’s gotten me closer to the guys - I don’t go off on my own a lot so I’ve been able to talk to a lot of them and get close to the team.

“On top of that, it’s made me want to play hockey again. Sometimes you forget if it’s a job or fun, and now being able to play it’s fun again because you got used to the job of not playing!

“I was a little bit sloppy, and that showed in Edinburgh, I probably could have made a few more saves, but now I’m looking to settle in a bit more now we’re back home.

“We have a healthier line-up, nobody’s suspended, so hopefully I’ll get to play more every week and I’ll get into bit more of a routine.”

Having picked up the win at Murrayfield last weekend, Truehl gets another bite at the cherry against the Capitals tonight as they come to what should be a packed out SSE Arena.

The visitors are likely to bring a new netminder of their own in the shape of former Dallas Stars second round draft pick Tyler Beskorowany, who joined last week to try and help the ailing club who flounder well adrift at the bottom of the Elite League ladder.

The managerless Caps, who have just six points, come to Belfast out of form and out of luck, but their 6-4 win in this fixture earlier in the season will be a welcome reminder they can pull out results when needed.

But for Truehl, who made 25 saves on 28 shots in the 6-3 win in Scotland, he’s just looking to keep the momentum going that has seen him concede just five times in his first two games.

“It’s nice for me in that I know their powerplay a bit, but we don’t worry about it that much,” he says. “It’s a team at home, we just need to get it done, whoever it is.”

Simple as that. Hockey’s back in Belfast.