Challenge Cup final: Are Belfast Giants 'most important ice hockey team in world'?
- Published
Todd Kelman played for the Giants in their inaugural season in 2000 until 2008
After a Covid-enforced break, a new chapter of the rivalry between Belfast Giants and Cardiff Devils will be written on Wednesday night in the Challenge Cup final.
While the on-ice action is expected to be fierce between the two Elite League heavyweights, the final will also reunite two former Giants legends both on and off the ice.
Todd Kelman and Steve Thornton are etched in Giants folklore, with both Canadians achieving success as players and general managers.
However, after numerous trophies as team-mates, Wednesday's decider at the SSE Arena will see Kelman return to Belfast as Cardiff's general manager, with Thornton in the same role for the hosts.
Their careers are so intertwined that Thornton replaced Kelman in the position when the former defenceman moved to Cardiff in 2014.
Kelman, who was a key player in the Giants' inaugural season, believes the Elite League leading Giants are "the most important hockey team in the world".
"I know I'm in Cardiff now but I've been asked many times to describe what it is like in Belfast," he said.
"The one thing I can say about Belfast is there is not a hockey team in the world more important to its community than the Belfast Giants.
"That's me saying that as a rival now but as someone who has experienced it first hand.
"They have to keep having an impact. It's their legacy and it's made them so unique."
Kelman added that while there is a lot of community work that takes place in Cardiff, he admits it's "easier here" compared with Belfast.
Giant Highlights v Notts Panthers 24.02.22
"We don't have to face the same challenges in the community that the Giants face. There's always going to be underlying issues that are getting better every day in Northern Ireland.
"I remember when Sports Illustrated came across when Doug Christiansen was the coach, and he said 'I'm going to use the line where this is the most important hockey team in the world'.
"We were like, 'wow, that's a pretty big deal', but I think anyone who has ever played for the Giants would say that themselves."
Kelman, who was involved with the Giants from the team's first season in 2000, said the community focus set the Giants up for long-term success.
"The way they made it about the community and the way they made a strapline that everyone has heard a million times, 'In the land of the Giants everyone is equal'.
"The city has really taken that to heart and it has become a real shining light of the sports environment in Northern Ireland.
"It's the sport for everyone and it's the sport that doesn't choose sides. That's what initially attracted people to it, and from there people became hockey fans."
'Keefe one of the best leaders I've ever seen'
Belfast and Cardiff have both won the Challenge Cup decider three times, with the Giants last triumphing in 2019 with the Welsh club's last success coming two years earlier.
The Giants will have home advantage at the SSE Arena and the sides are also in title contention in the Elite League in first and third place.
Giants head coach Keefe is aiming to win his fourth trophy since taking charge in 2017, which would surpass Thornton as Belfast's most-successful manager.
Adam Keefe has been in Belfast for 11 years as a player and head coach
Keefe first moved to Belfast in 2011 and quickly became captain before transitioning into his position as head coach, during which time he has won two Challenge Cups and an Elite League title.
"It's important to get people in the organisation who understand the culture and identity of the team," said Thornton on Keefe's transition from ice to bench.
"Adam was our flagbearer for that as our captain. He was the guy who would be volunteering to do the outreach and the face of the community.
"He was a natural fit and one of the best leaders I have ever seen. I'm desperately hoping that he breaks my record."
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