Belfast Giants Crowned 2024/25 Challenge Cup Champions

Jackson Whistle kept a 37-save shut-out to help the Giants to victory, as goals from Ciaran Long and J.J. Piccinich in the first period and goals in the second from Jordan Kawaguchi and captain Mark Cooper secured the trophy for the home side.

First Period

Jackson Whistle made the first big save of the night as Cody Donaghey’s long-range shot was batted back into the path of Brett Perlini, but the netminder turned it away, and Kohen Olischefski had a weak effort dribble by the post from the slot as the visitors turned up the early pressure, with Whistle then having to get low to deny Mark Richardson and Perlini again in quick succession.

But with essentially the Giants’ first chance of the game, they pulled ahead, Elijiah Barriga’s shot deflected into the air and batted into the net baseball-style by Long for the go-ahead goal at 6:35 (1-0), and another early boost came in the form of a first penalty kill as Josh Roach sat for tripping, but Whistle did well to steer away a Tyler Busch tip in front to kill it off.

Mac Carruth was called into action to make two big saves on the same shift as he padded away a Gabe Bast effort walking in from the face-off dot before claiming a Mark Cooper one-timer from the left circle, while Whistle again matched his counterpart with a sharp save on a Bradley Schoonbaert redirect in front.

But the Giants timed their second to perfection with just 56.8 seconds left in the period, Piccinich winning a battle down the boards and going on the rush with Scott Conway, and the pair played the perfect one-two for the winger to finish (2-0), and Whistle added two big saves on Cole Sanford late in the frame to get them to the intermission two ahead.

Second Period

Having extended their lead at the end of the first, the Giants immediately set about extending it further and did so with a quick second period double as first Kawaguchi slammed in a one-timer in the slot just 89 seconds after the restart (3-0), and then Cooper grabbed the fourth at 22:45 when he skated in down the right and banked his effort in off the post (4-0).

Another superb penalty kill followed, Whistle gloving down a big effort from Cody Donaghey, the highlight as Conway was boxed for a handpass off the face-off, and a few more infringements as the game heated up led to the goaltender making another excellent stop in close on Joey Martin to preserve the four-goal lead.

Josh Roach was inches from adding a fifth when his shot from the blue-line through traffic hit the crossbar with Carruth unsighted, and the Devils netminder did well to get behind a Bast one-timer off Conway’s feed from behind the net, and Lake hit the post again as he skated in on the odd-man rush with David Goodwin.

But once again it was Whistle who finished the period with the plaudits as he produced another remarkable stop to maintain the clean sheet, Olischefski seemingly having set up Zach O’Brien for a backdoor tap-in, only for the netminder to get across to make the save.

Third Period

Whistle picked up where he left off early in the third as he got a pad down to deny a smart redirect rom Ryan Barrow before making two quick stops on chances for Riley Brandt and Gleason Fournier, and once the Giants began to gain control of the puck, they started working Carruth again, with Pierre-Olivier Morin having the best look walking in from the slot.

Still, Cardiff threatened to at least make it interesting down the stretch as Olischefski flicked one wide on the drive and then Bast made an important block on a Josh MacDonald rebound in the slot, but the best chances were still falling to the Giants, and Piccinich nearly grabbed a second only for Carruth to glove down his goal-bound attempt.

And as the cherry on the cake, Whistle made a huge save to deny O’Brien in the one-on-one break late to secure the shut-out and cap a perfect night for the champions.