Belfast Giants: Adam Keefe ready for the Giants’ league challenge ahead

With the Giants’ taking full advantage of the Challenge Cup group stages so far, but Keefe admits that this weekend, which sees the start of the league campaign, the Giants are eager continue the good work.

Reflecting on last weekend's win against Dundee, he said: “I thought it was a complete game last weekend against Dundee, it was a close to perfect as we could have gotten, so I was pleased with how it went.

“Obviously, I don't think that Dundee were at their best that night and that certainly helped us take the win.

“When you are playing against a team that's a little tired after a tough battle the night before, you need to take the chances and we did that.

“We have to do our best against whoever we are playing and I think our guys did that against Dundee.

“It was exactly what we had asked for defensively and accordingly we got awarded offensively too.

“Because of that, then you are in control of the game and you take on less stress, so I was very pleased overall.”

Keefe agrees that the season, so far, has been promising for the Giants.

He said: “Aside from missing some bodies because of injuries the season has been going fine. Because of the injuries there has been quite a bit of chop and change every single week.

“But aside from that the next man up mentality has been good across the roster.

“We have a team that, it doesn't matter what line combination, powerplay units or special teams that we throw at the them, they guys just step up and go out and do their job.”

He added: “That's all that we can ask for, but with that having been said, we would like things to stay the same and not be in so much flux with the lines, so that the guys can get used to playing with each other.

“Sometimes you just have to play the hand that you are dealt.

“With the league starting up this weekend in two tough buildings in Manchester and Sheffield, they are two teams that we haven't seen yet this season, but no doubt those games will be a big challenge for our group as well.”

While the injuries have caused headaches, Keefe believes its presents early adversity which can be to the benefit of the Giants.

He said: “The injuries mean that the group are getting a lot more minutes on ice than they might have done. So that is definitely a positive for everyone.

“When there is adversity like the injuries that we are facing on the team, the guys have to come together to get the job done.”

He added: “Sometimes all you have is what you have on a night, the guys understand that.

“We have to manage our ice time and our decisions well, this a concern when you are playing short-benched as you don't want to fatigue yourself as that can be a contributing factor when it comes to new injuries.

“That is the challenge that we face right now, but our guys are doing a good job of managing.

“Personally, I always welcome adversity early in a season as it can be a good test for a group.”