Posted on Friday, October 19th, 2012 at 10:30 am
It’s almost ten years to the day since the Stena Line Belfast Giants last competed in this prestigious European competition, the Continental Cup. Today sees the Giants face off against the Dutch champions, Rujiters Eaters Geleen at 3pm GMT in their first game of three in this competition.
Geleen won their first Championship in twenty years in the 2011/12 season after coming agonisingly close in the previous eight seasons, losing in the semi final on each occasion. The Giants are sure to be faced with a tough challenge in this game as Giants fans will remember a narrow 5-4 victory over another Dutch team, Tilburg only last month in pre-season at the Odyssey Arena. Geleen play in the Eredivisie and currently sit in fourth position after five games played. Their top scorers are Jeffrey Mens, Lars van Sloun & Mitch Bruijsten, all forwards with 12 points, 10 points & 10 points respectively. Former Giant, Josh Prudden, curently with Tilburg sits in seventh position in the Eredivisie top scoring chart with nine points overall.
The Stena Line Belfast Giants, wearing their specially commissioned Red jerseys in today’s match up are the in form team in the Elite League, having only lost once in regulation in their last eleven games with that loss coming against the Sheffield Steelers last Sunday. So far this season, the Belfast Giants have scored 39 goals, conceding only 26.
With all the teams having practiced this morning, its now time for the competition to begin with the Giants up first in the opening game facing off at 4pm local time (3pm UK & Ireland). Follow updates live on twitter and check back tonight for a full report on the game.
