• Organisation
  • Purpose & Objectives
  • Staff
  • History
  • Partners
• Ice Hockey
  • History of Irish Ice Hockey
  • National Squad
  • IIHL
    • Teams
    • Schedule
    • Standings
    • Playoffs
  • IIHL Development Division
    • Teams
    • Schedule
    • Standings
  • Disciplinary Committee
    • IIHL Actions and Suspensions
    • IIHDL Actions and Suspension
  • World Championships - 2008
    • Participants
    • Schedules
  • World Championships - 2007
    • Participants
    • Schedules
    • Information
  • Womens Hockey
  • Press & Media
  • Rules & Regulations
  • Downloads
  • Registrations & Membership
  • Teams & Clubs
  • Archive
  • FAQ
• Inline Hockey
• Shop
  • Order Online
  • Pay Your Membership Fee's Online
• Contact Us
• Links

Organisation History

Development of local players must be the answer

Belfast Giants are currently in "free fall" after losing their ninth game in a row on Sunday in Manchester in a goal feast, coming out of the wrong side of 5-4 result. This after the Giants' fans had to endure their team's eighth defeat during a toe-to-toe battle with Basingstoke Bison in the Odyssey Arena last Friday. They went down tired, beaten and disheartened 4-2 after three Giants' players were ejected from the game, which saw the bulk of both teams entering into a centre rink hockey rumble.

Great entertainment but yet another loss from the once top of the League high flying Belfast Giants now sinking closer to the chasing pack of post season contenders for fourth through six playoff spot.

Will the Belfast faithful soon see an end to this seemingly unabated losing streak, with a resulting loss of confidence, not to mention a horrendous injury streak that has beset the Belfast Squad?

Giants' defenseman, Jason Bowen, the latest player on the injury list is out with a crucial knee ligament injury until the playoffs or longer in yet another blow to the walking wounded on Belfast's roster.

Coach Stewart had the only good news available to both him and the Giants so far this year. That was the promise of Colin Ward coming back to the line-up on the weekend. This is only dependent on how practise goes this week for Ward, but the Giants' stalwart is champing at the bit to get back in uniform to help his teammates.

Not being able to sign any new import players to replace Sean Berens before the deadline 5:00 PM last Friday, Coach Steward took on two more development players from the UK in a two-way contract deal.

Surely, long term, this is the way to go - developing players from within your own farm and junior teams, and with this in mind plans are afoot to grow more talent in the ranks of Irish Ice Hockey from a group of determined devotees.

Just after the Giants' practise at the Odyssey Arena on Saturday twenty-two enthusiastic hockey players from all over Ireland descended on the home of the Giants to practice as an Irish Senior Squad in their bid to compete in an international competition, and find their place in the new chapter of Irish Ice Hockey History.

In 1999 the Irish Junior Squad were the first in Irish Hockey history to represent their country in international competition. The European Junior Under 18 Championships, Division 2, were held in Sofia, Bulgaria in March of that year and everyone knew the Irish were there.

Continuing in 2001 the Irish sent a team to Iceland and Luxembourg after becoming full members with voting rights in 2000 in the International Ice Hockey Federations structure. Now the first ever Irish Senior team is travelling to the IIHF World games in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Ice hockey has managed to survive in Ireland for the past 20 years due to a group of dedicated individuals travelling away to all games and defying the odds. Come the 15 March this year they will receive their just reward. Ireland kits out in traditional Irish green shirts' and waits for the winning result and those precious words, "seina finna fail".

The Irish national anthem as never before been played officially at an IIHF game and when it happens for sure there will be a few tears shed.

Voted into the International Ice Hockey Association with nominations from both the UK and Canada, ice hockey has existed in Ireland for over twenty-five years. Allegedly, the first rink was built over forty years ago in the west of Ireland but the facts are hazy about the location.

The first officially known facility was the Dublin Ice Rink. An old cinema was converted to house the rink mainly for free skating for the general public. It did not take long for the recreation of ice-skating to gain huge support from Dubliners eager to learn how to perfect their skating skills and to play hockey.

In brief and from those humble beginnings the current "Dublin Flyers" grew out of teams like the "Rialto Rockets" and the "Phibsboro Flyers".

Their development over the years has grown from the core of members of the old clubs with successes such as Dublin beating Liverpool 3-2 in the Dolphins Barn Ice Rink in 1981. The team was made up of American surgeons studying in Dublin RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons Ireland) and a few local players.

When the Surgeons left the local guys kept hockey going and took on the Bass Redwings', who are now the "Dundonald Ice Bowl" team in East Belfast. In the mid 80s another rink opened its doors on Dublin's north side named the Silver Skate Ice Rink, this was great for hockey in the capital, with the set up of a second team.

Struggling for gear, enthusiastic players did not even know the rules of ice hockey, but still loved its challenges. At the turn of the decade players realized that killing one another on the ice was getting them nowhere so they joined forces in 1990 and the "Dublin Flyers" was born.

Straight away the squad competed in the English and Scottish Rekkie leagues. They did well and competed adequately for a team with both rinks only one third of regulation size.

This development in the sport started a great junior programme and by 1999 and 2001 a Junior National Squad competed internationally.

The Irish always have a unique way of achieving results. Like all sporting bodies funding becomes the key question. You can have all the grand plans in the world but how to fund them becomes the key issue.

The Irish Ice Hockey Association (IIHA) was hired by Dublin City Council to run an outdoor rink for 9 weeks in the City, over Christmas 2003. The gamble was that the IIHA would attract enough paying participants and that they would cover their original investment and make enough to fund a team.

The luck of the Irish held out and drew well over 200,000 paying skaters who enjoyed the unique experience of outdoor sport in Dublin. With the resulting funds a new ice-cleaning machine - a "Zamboni" - was purchased alongside 1200 pairs of skates and a brand new Dasher Board system.

The IIHA is now looking at a refrigeration plant for a permanent site for a rink around Dublin and are currently in negotiations with City chiefs and the Sports Council to map out their future.

For the first time hockey players from Belfast will have the opportunity to represent Team Ireland and this will be a wonderful achievement. If you were to ask a player in Dundonald would they consider playing for Ireland ten years ago they would have laughed. Much has to be said for the cross border links that have taken place between Belfast and Dublin over the last decade.

The aim of the current training schedule at the Odyssey Arena every Saturday, is to prepare for the first two exhibition matches in Scotland on 28 and 29 February 2004 to take on Paisley and Kilmarnock. These games are to ready the Irish Senior Squad for the international competition against Mexico, Armenia, Iceland and Turkey starting the 16 March 2004 in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The "Dublin Flyers", who are the basis of the overall Irish Senior Squad, have been trained under American Coach Pete Lalor for the past ten years. Pete was in charge of their junior programme.

Players like Mark Bowes started playing at the age of 10. Mark grew up on the small rinks around Dublin and the skill he and other team members developed on these smaller surfaces have their advantages, and disadvantages.

"The small ice has made us all good skaters however the lack of a full size rink has been hurting until now. It was very exciting training in the Odyssey Arena as you could see the team starting to gel. I have been telling the lads to go start rehearsing the national anthem as we are going over to Iceland to win some games," stated Mark Bowes.

With no automatic easy route on to the squad all the players at practise put in a huge effort to impresses the coaches. Prominent players like Dean Kelly; just back from an IIHF development Camp in Veramaki, Finland, is the younger brother of our National Teams goalie Kevin Kelly.

A few of the Giants' trialist were also involved in the Irish Squad including brothers of Giants' local forward Mark Morrison - Willy and Davy Morrison, along with Davy Gibson, Steven Hamil and Gary Mckeane.

A new head coach for the team, Greg Fitzgerald a Canadian from Ottawa, plus goalie coach Jim Graves put the players through their paces. Greg stated after the practise, "It was good to be training in a professional facility and it certainly opened the players' eyes to what was possible. I know it raised their practise level and commitment to the game. The continuing use of the larger rink surface will only help the players' long term development".

A piece of ice hockey history could also be made. Cliff Saunders the President of the IIHA, and Mark Bowes the Vice President, could be the only active senior IIHF delegates playing hockey at National Level!

When they return from Iceland they will have to attend the IIHF Congress in Prague. Who knows they may make a bid to host the Div 111 World Games at the Odyssey next year. Watch this space.

Written by Wayne Hardman