Grand slam winning Belfast Giants fly back to well deserved heroes’ welcome

The memories of bitterly missing out on the treble last year at the hands of defeated by the Cardiff Devils were consigned to the trash can of history, when they were crowned playoff champions at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham on Sunday against, yet again, the Devils.

The last time that the grand slam had been completed was back in 2013 when it was done by the Nottingham Panthers under the tutelage of Corey Neilson. Before that the achievement had been completed by the Coventry Blaze, but 2022/23 was to be the year of the Giants.

“This is the only way that we wanted to end the season in being crowned playoff champions,” declared Belfast Giants elated head coach Adam Keefe after his team added the playoff title to the EIHL championship and Challenge Cup.

He continued: “The guys have made that commitment for the last eight months and played the right way.

“They got rewarded with the cup and then the league title. There would have been no other ending to the season that would have been happy with than this one right now in the playoffs.”

Keefe said he expected the Devils to come out strong against the Giants, hoping to pinch the last piece of silverware available.

He said: “We knew that Cardiff were going to come hard at us. That opening period felt like it was 2010/11 all over again. But the guys stuck with their systems and finally got rewarded in the third period. That is what it is about, you can't cheat the game, you have to work hard at it and playing the long game.

“I so proud of the guys. I was hard on them in the first period but they kept on going and going and got the job done.”

It has been quite a few months for recent Giants signing Matt McLeod.

He joined back in February and now he is a part of the Grand Slam winning Giants. He said: “We have just made history, it is a amazing feeling.

“This is such a great feeling, we are so thankful to the fans who have made their way over to Nottingham to celebrate with us this weekend. I am just so happy. Never in my wildest dreams could I ever have imagined such a tremendous fanbase.”

He added: “I had no idea when I left the States to move across to Belfast that it was going to be like this but I am so glad that I made that move.”

After arriving back in Northern Ireland defenceman Sam Ruopp was delighted with the achievements this season.

“We will remember this season for the rest of our lives. This is a very special moment for us all.”

He added: “It is also special, not only for us as a team, but for the community of Belfast. I am just honoured to be apart of it.”

Teammate Steve Owre who supplied the goal that put the Giants ahead of the Devils said that winning all trophies on offer was the goal of the team this season.

He explained: “We set ourselves a goal at the start of the season to take all the trophies. So it is very special to have done it.

“But I am also looking forward to some days off now that the season is over. It has been a long season but it has been well worth it in the end.”

Despite going a goal down late in the first period Owre said the confidence in the locker-room never faltered.

“We already had two trophies coming into this final. The confidence was high in the squad and we know what sort of team we are. We have come back many times throughout the year. We didn’t like our first period that much and we had to get back to our winning ways. We did that, we got the next goal and went ahead with my goal.”

Netminder Tyler Beskorowany was clearly pleased to have agreed to return to Belfast in the new year to collect even more silverware.

“This has been a long time coming for sure,” he said. “It feels awesome, this one probably the best one to win. To get that treble, it's not an easy thing to do in such a tough league. I am super proud of of these guys and what we have achieved.”