For Adam Keefe and the Belfast Giants, the season starts now, with a trip to Finland in the reformatted Champions Hockey League.
The Giants swept everyone aside in the Elite League last time out and completed their historic treble with a dominant run to the playoff title back in May.
They return to action with the same stated ambition – to win it all – but start with a mountain to climb on the continent.
Belfast kickstart their season with a back-to-back versus Lukko Rauma and Tappara Tampere, two of Finland’s best squads.
There are few reasons to believe that the Giants will stun their rivals from Scandinavia, both of whom will ice future and former NHLers.
But, as they demonstrated last season, Belfast will make life as uncomfortable as possible for their Champions League opponents, despite losing the likes of star forward Scott Conway to free agency.
Refreshed Belfast Giants face daunting Champions League challenge
“It’s hard to improve on last year, obviously,” Keefe exclusively told Adam McKendry of the Belfast Telegraph, “We had a very good season, but this is completely different because we lost a lot of last year’s team.
“We were going out to one: replace some of the talent we lost, and two: try to improve because we believe the league is going to get better and it looks like it has in terms of competitiveness across the board, all the while taking the best player available.
“We could be sitting here all summer waiting for the perfect player to come along in the perfect position, but it’s very hard when a guy comes up who fits a lot of the boxes you want ticked and you need to find the best players available. A lot of thought went into the roster and we are very happy, specifically with the references that came back.”
Per McKendry, the Giants are set to roll out a first line of Daniel Tedesco (newly signed from the Guildford Flames), Elijiah Barriga (newly signed from the Dundee Stars), and Mark Cooper (the producer of back-to-back point-per-game seasons in Belfast).
Greg Printz, Quinn Preston, and Ara Nazarian are forecast to play second-line minutes in Finland, with Keefe not afraid to construct an offensive unit comprised entirely of summer arrivals.
There are familiar faces elsewhere, notably in the crease with the retention of star tandem Tyler Beskorowany and Jackson Whistle, but there is mainly a fresh feel to the Giants as they attempt to defend their league, cup, and playoff treble.
Tyler Beskorowany, Belfast Giants (Image: Andy Burnham)
“Everyone seems to be a good person off the ice, which makes them a good fit for our team and that’s a good starting point,” explained Keefe.
“Now, we look to get better together on the ice and we’ll see where everybody fits in.”
With their offseason rebuild in mind, the Giants touch down in Finland relatively unhindered by pressure.
In the history of the Champions League, Elite League representatives have only once beaten an opponent from Finland and the Giants have never won on the road in the competition.
However, they could make an impact further down the line, with winnable fixtures against HC Bolzano, Dynamo Pardubice, and HC Innsbruck scheduled later this fall.
“We’ve shown in the past we can be dangerous when we’re written off and we want to take that on and go out there to get points,” said Keefe.
“We expect to come home with some points. I do and I don’t think the draw has been kind to us. Every team in the Champions League is there on merit and is therefore a good team. Although we’ve drawn three teams from Austria, they are the three best teams from Austria and you don’t need to look any further than their rosters to see that, and then we’re up against the Czech regular season champions and a team that is fighting for the championship every year.
“It’ll be a great challenge for us but we’re focused on ourselves and improving with each game and trying to come out with some good teachable, positive clips that we can use to positively reinforce what we’re doing here and get to a better level.”
Hockey is back, everyone.
Adjust your schedules and work commitments accordingly.
