Giants ready for home opener against Stars

Photo: Derek Black

The Belfast Giants will play their first home game since Friday 6 March 2020 when they entertain the Dundee Stars at 7pm tonight.

Fans have not seen the Giants in action at the SSE Arena, Belfast, for 574 days but will welcome out a side that won both of their opening road games in the Premier Sports Challenge Cup despite missing out on preseason entirely.

Belfast won 6-3 in Dundee to spoil the Stars' opening night, before going on to secure a 5-1 win in Fife. "I can't complain about that!" remarked Head Coach Adam Keefe in summary of last weekend. "We played two teams who really come at you, and although we did look a little leggy at times there was a lot I liked about the games that we can build on."

Dundee responded to that home defeat by almost earning a point in Nottingham on Sunday night, eventually going down to a 2-1 loss. "I thought we did enough to earn at least a point in Nottingham, but obviously I was happier with more parts of our game than against Belfast," explained Pacha. "We still have things to work on but now we have the chance to put some of that right. Our guys always enjoy playing in Belfast."

This is the 65th meeting between the Giants and Stars in EIHL competitions. In Belfast, while the Giants have won 23 of the 31 clashes, Dundee's cup record there stands at 43%.