The Belfast Giants are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current champions for the 7th time in their history. They play their home games at the SSE Arena. Since their inception in 2000, the Giants have won fourteen major honours, including seven British league championships, three British championships by winning the play-offs, and five Challenge Cups.
Derrick Walser is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Most recently he was the head coach of the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. Walser played 91 National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
James Patrick Vandermeer is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who last played for the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Vandermeer previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, Phoenix Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Curtis Huppe is a Canadian former ice hockey forward.
Colin Shields is a former Scottish professional ice hockey forward who played most of his career in the United Kingdom's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). He is the EIHL's all-time leading point scorer.
Bradley Smyth is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who endured a journeyman career and played in the National Hockey League with the Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators and the Ottawa Senators.
Nick Kuiper is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman.
Jeff Mason is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman and current associate coach for EIHL side Belfast Giants.
Stephen Saviano is a former American professional ice hockey left winger. He last played for the Lausitzer Füchse in DEL2.
Mike Burgoyne is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman.
Raymond Masao Sawada was a Canadian professional ice hockey winger. The Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL) selected him in the second round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, and he played 11 games with them between 2008 and 2011. Sawada spent most of his career, which lasted from 2008 to 2016, in the American Hockey League, with subsequent stints in the ECHL, SM-Liiga, Elite Ice Hockey League, and Asia League Ice Hockey. After he retired from the sport he become a firefighter. Sawada died in 2023 after suffering a heart attack during a recreational hockey game.
The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh professional ice hockey team who play in the UK-based Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). The team plays at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay, currently known as Vindico Arena for sponsorship reasons.
Michael Forney is an American former professional ice hockey player. He last played with the Belfast Giants in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Forney was drafted 80th overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
Tyler Beskorowany is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). He was selected by the Dallas Stars in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
David Rutherford is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who last played for Diables Rouges de Briançon in the Ligue Magnus. Rutherford was previously with the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).
The Eredivisie was, during its existence, the only professional ice hockey league in the Netherlands and the highest level of competition organized by the Nederlandse IJshockey Bond. Formed in 1945 and playing continuously since 1964, the league mainly featured Dutch teams, although in some seasons certain Belgian teams competed. The league featured a mix of Dutch, European and overseas players. The winner of the Eredivisie was crowned the Dutch National Champion and represented the Netherlands in the IIHF Continental Cup. In 2015, with most of its teams facing financial problems and its top team, Tilburg Trappers, joining the German Oberliga, the Eredivise was suspended with the remaining teams joining the BeNe League.
Robbie Brown is a Northern Irish former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the Elite Ice Hockey League for his hometown Belfast Giants during the 2009–10 season and the 2013–14 season. He last played for the Streatham Redskins in the National Ice Hockey League who he joined towards the end of the 2014–15 season. Brown had re-signed with the Redskins for the 2015–16 season on the 22nd of June 2016, but two months later they announced that he had opted to remain in Belfast for a career outside of hockey which ultimately ended his playing career.
Cody Brookwell is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman who most recently played professionally for the Belfast Giants in the British Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) for two seasons.
Brock Matheson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.
The Central European Hockey League is the highest-level professional ice hockey league in Belgium and the Netherlands from 2015. The league was founded in 2015 as BeNe League/Beneliga, following a merger between the Belgian Hockey League and the Dutch Eredivisie and thus became the top tier of the sport in both nations. In terms of league structure, the BeNe League is made up of 11 teams, 6 from the Netherlands and a further 5 from Belgium, and they all play in a single group. The league featured a mix of Belgian, Dutch, European and overseas players. In 2023 two German clubs joined the league.
