Grand Slam eludes Giants after narrow final defeat
Belfast Giants 1 – 2 Cardiff Devils
There was late heartbreak for the Belfast Giants in the Playoffs final, but they will have to take comfort from their sweep of the rest of the domestic competitions.
Adam Keefe’s men went into the finals weekend in the hunt for the elusive Grand Slam – a rarity in Elite League history and something never secured by a Belfast team.
In Saturday’s semi-final, they dramatically turned the tables on the Guildford Flames when they came from behind to bang in two big goals in the last 10 minutes.
Jonathan Ferland’s strike cancelled out Ian Watters’ opening goal, while Patrick Dwyer grabbed the winner that sent the Giants into Sunday’s grand final.
With Cardiff having dispatched the Nottingham Panthers 9-4 in the second semi-final, that set up a clash of the titans.
Belfast and Cardiff had turned the league into something of a two-horse race and, when they both finished on 92 points, one that was only separated by the tie-breaker of more regulation wins.
In Sunday’s final at the packed-out National Ice Centre in Nottingham, the Giants started out strong.
However, they were dealt a major blow in that opening period, when a hit on Darcy Murphy sent him crumpling to the ice.
Murphy, the side’s most prolific scorer this season with a new club record of breaking through the 50 goals marker, did return to the ice briefly, but was later ruled out for the rest of the game.
Belfast head coach Adam Keefe and captain Blair Riley would later voice their anger that a player was left with concussion, but no penalty was called.
“When a player’s knocked unconscious, that’s at least a two-minute penalty,” Keefe said, speaking after the game.
Back to the on-ice action and, with just over three minutes to go in the opening period, Cardiff broke the scoring deadlock with a goal from Mike Hedden.
In the second period, there were some huge chances for the Giants, but Cardiff netminder Ben Bowns threw up a brick wall in his net to deny them.
VIDEO: Giants captain Blair Riley
Colin Shields, in his final ever game as a Giant, was only denied by the post, while popular late signing Jordan Smotherman was unlucky not to score on more than one occasion.
Once again providing late drama, Belfast grabbed a goal just about 10 minutes from the end of the third and final period – courtesy of defenceman Kevin Raine's shot deflecting off teammate Dustin Johner – and it was really game on.
But Cardiff were not done either and Gleason Fournier’s goal made it 2-1 to the Devils with 7.33 on the clock.
And try as Belfast might, they just could not find another equaliser – even after pulling their netminder Tyler Beskorowany for the final two minutes of play.
There was to be no empty-netter from Cardiff either though and that single goal between the sides proved the difference, with the Devils finally getting their hands on a trophy after a superb season that would have seemed disastrous to end without something to show for it.
VIDEO: Giants head coach Adam Keefe
For Belfast, there was no denying the sting of defeat, but while the Giants were left hurting, they had to remind themselves that there was still plenty to be proud of.
“Guys battled hard all year and it really hurts right now, but I think in a day or two, or maybe a week, they’ll look back on the season and be proud of what they accomplished,” Sheds said.
“It’s not easy to win one trophy in this league, let alone two or three.”
Paying tribute to the fans, captain Blair Riley added: “Our fans are the best in the league and I can only hope they’ve enjoyed the year as much as we have.”
The domestic season may be over, but for some of the Giants involved with Team GB – including Shields in his final campaign and Adam Keefe as assistant coach - international duty beckons.
VIDEO: Giants and Team GB forward Colin Shields