Elite League: Belfast Giants hero Shields honoured before 5-1 win over Glasgow

Former Belfast Giants hero Colin Shields had his number 19 jersey retired in a special ceremony before Friday's game

Belfast Giants all-time leading scorer Colin Shields had his number 19 shirt retired by the organisation before Friday night's 5-1 Elite League victory over the Glasgow Clan.

It's the highest honour a player can receive from a club and salutes the service Shields gave to the Giants on and off the ice during a stellar eleven seasons.

"It's probably the biggest honour looking back at my career that you can have," said Shields.

"It's never something you think about when you're playing or even after you retire.

"You're just trying to do your job and for an organisation like the Belfast Giants to say that no one is ever going to wear the number 19 again because of me is something I can't really put into words.

"It's a special moment for me and my family and it's great to have the fans celebrate here with us," explained Shields.

Shields' professional career spanned fifteen seasons in total and he first joined the Giants in 2005. Twice he moved away but returned for good in 2012 and spent the rest of career in Belfast before retiring in 2019.

'The fans have so much passion'

So what made playing in the city so special?

"It was a little bit of everything, the city, the fans, the organisation and so many great players that gave us so much success down through the years.

"It wasn't all smooth sailing and there were a few speed bumps along the way for me with injuries but this team means more to the city than just playing on the ice and the fans have so much passion and you could see that even this year with hockey coming back after the pandemic."

During his time with the Giants the Glasgow-born Great Britain international won three Elite League titles, three Challenge Cups and a Play-Off Championship as well as the Knockout Cup.

In his final season he finished his career with one of those league titles and Challenge Cups and earlier this year was inducted into the Ice Hockey UK Hall of Fame.

"There was a lot of stuff that happened over those eleven seasons and picking one moment is difficult.

"The play-off championship was unique because the Giants hadn't won it in quite a few years. It was a very special team that year so it stands out and then the league titles as well and able to finish my career in 2019 as a champion was pretty amazing especially after the injuries.

"It was a good finish despite the face it feels like 100 years since I was on the ice."

Shields also leads the Giants all-time in the following categories - appearances (627), goals (249), assists (395) and points (644).

He joins Colin Ward, Paxton Schulte, Shane Johnson, Graeme Walton, Todd Kelman and Rob Stewart in having their numbers retired.

"Everybody who has their number hanging up deserves it, they all contributed to the Giants success in different ways and to now see number 19 up there with them is a tremendous honour."

Shields family were at the SSE Arena to share the moment. He'd come a long way from Glasgow to being drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL to becoming a hero in his adopted city of Belfast.

"My goal was always to play in the NHL but playing here in Belfast and seeing how special it is to be a player for the Giants, it's not a bad runners-up to playing in the NHL and when I came here I didn't expect to play for more than a year.

"It was going to be a stepping stone to maybe going back to North America but I found my way back and now I'm proud to call Belfast my home."

On the ice the Giants recorded another comfortable home win which moved them four points ahead of Sheffield at the top of the Elite League with five games remaining, three of which are against the Steelers who have two games in hand.

JJ Piccinich assisted on two Scott Conway goals in the first period while Mark Cooper added a pair in the middle session with Braylon Shmyr replying for the Scottish side.

Lewis Hook added a fifth late in the final period for the Giants who next face the Guildford Flames on Sunday afternoon (16:00 BST).