BELFAST U.K.-The Coors Belfast Giants have finished signing their British players, and now only have eight import players to sign to complete the Giant’s 2008-09 roster.
Newcastle born Paul Sample put pen to paper in mid May, returning to the club that he turned pro with. Sample played for the Giants in 2003-04 (his rookie season), amazing fan`s with his speed and puck handling. In that season, Sample scored 18 goals and assisted on 22 others, in all 62 games, his highest season in points to date.
In 2004-05, Sample moved to Sheffield Steelers, with Rob Stewart who Coached Belfast in 2003-04, and is now the Steelers head coach. Sample played two seasons with the Steelers, racking up 27 points over the two seasons. Sample then made the move to Cardiff Devils in 2006-07, where he also played for two seasons. Sample’s time in Cardiff proved a better time than Sheffield, which saw him post 46 points over two seasons.
“Paul brings a lot of energy to the ice and I believe, at his age (26), that he’s entering the prime of his career. I don’t believe we’ve seen the best of Paul, that is still to come and he’s going to show Giants fans and the rest of the league what a good player he is.” Head coach Steve Thornton said.
The final British signings came in the form of netminders Nathan Craze and Adam Cree. Craze played for the Giant’s in the 2005-06 season, which saw him lift the Elite League Title. Craze was brought in as a temporary netminder, when starting netminder Mike Minard injured his groin, and backup, Chris McGimpsey injured his shoulder, both on the same night.
Craze was then signed as backup for the remainder of the season. The 2006-07 season saw Craze move to the English Premier League (EPL) and star for the Bracknell Bees. Craze led them to the league title and playoff title. Last season saw Craze play for the Swindon Wildcats (also in the EPL). Craze will be backup to Stevie Lyle, but will be starting in all British Knockout Cup games for the Giants. “Nathan is an excellent goaltender and has a lot of experience as a starter over the last two seasons, he is very focused on what he wants to achieve in his career and feels that getting a few games at this level will give him a better chance to advance his career in the next couple of years in either Britain or mainland Europe,” General manager Todd Kelman said “To get him in as a backup is a great pickup for us, he is the best insurance policy in the league.”
After a winless season Kelman is leaving nothing to chance for the 2008-09 season.
“Last season, any team that had goaltending trouble either through injury or through poor performance ended up losing a string of key games and effectively eliminating themselves from the title race.” Kelman said “We wanted to be sure that our team has an opportunity to win every single night, without any reason for excuses.”
Craze and Lyle will be the starting tandem for the new season but the Giants haven`t given up on prospect Adam Cree.
“I have been asked about the future of our 17 year old backup netminder from last season, Adam Cree and we still have big plans for him, at this point in his career he needs to play as many games as he can, and we will be finding a team that will allow him to do just that,” Kelman said
“He will still be a Giant, training all week on and off the ice with us and dressing for home games when available but he’s only 17 and he has a lot of years to be a Giant, I want him to get game time, something that he wouldn’t be getting with us but something that is key to his development.”
With all the British players signed, head coach Thornton will set his sights firmley on securing his final eight import players to complete his roster.
Contact the author at Aaron.stewart@prohockeynews.com
Photo: Nathan Craze in action for the Giants in 2005-06
You must be logged in to post a comment.