Giants celebrate at awards night
It was another night of celebrating for the Stena Line Belfast Giants on Sunday at the Hilton Hotel in Downtown Belfast.
The Giants Annual Awards Dinner was a sold out show as the players mingled with sponsors, volunteers and fans to cap off the best Elite League Season in Giants history.
Stephen Murphy picked up the Most Valuable Player’s Award and the Player’s Player of the Year Award while Robert Dowd was selected as the Junior Giants choice for Player of the Year as well as Top Forward. Dowd and Craig Peacock tied for the Giants Top Scorer with 72 points thus far and Mark Garside picked up the Community Service Award for his hard work in the ongoing community programs the Giants run throughout the year.
Jeff Mason was picked as the Defenseman of the Year in a season where he led the Giants and the Elite League in scoring for defenseman. The unsung hero award went to Nick Kuiper and the Fan Favorite Award went to the always entertaining Adam Keefe.
A full list of the Award Winners is below.
Fan Favorite – Adam Keefe
Leading Scorer – Will be Dowd or Peacock
Junior Giant Player of the Year – Robert Dowd
Community Service Award – Mark Garside
Unsung Hero – Nick Kuiper
Giants Service Award – Lynne Allsopp
Volunteer of the Year – Michael Barr
Player’s Player of the Year – Stephen Murphy
Coach’s Player of the Year – Aaron Clarke
Defenseman of the Year – Jeff Mason
Forward of the Year – Robert Dowd
MVP – Stephen Murphy
Further details of Doug Christiansen being re-signed for another two years
In the middle of the Awards Dinner on Sunday Night, General Manager Todd Kelman confirmed that Coach Doug Christiansen would be back to defend the Elite League crown that he guided the Giants to this season. Kelman confirmed a two year deal for Christiansen who he described as “the best coach in the league in the last two seasons.”
Kelman said “Last season Doug set a new franchise record for points earned by a Giants team, and this year we broke that record, set a new record for points earned by any Elite League Team and won the League Championship.
“Doug is meticulous in his preparation for the team and he is a student of the game. He prepares our guys to win every night and I know he will continue to grow as a coach here in Belfast.
“He has done a tremendous job here over the past two seasons and this year he has faced a great deal of adversity with players being injured or leaving the team unexpectedly and he has found the guys to replace those players and ensured they fit into the team. I am glad to have him back for another 2 years.”
