Land of the Giants - Belfast aces cutting the ice

Belfast Giants were in the news recently.

No, it wasn't when they became Elite champions earlier this year, again, the seventh time they won the banner since they were formed in 2000.

They signed a former Premier League footballer on a temporary contract and hit the headlines.

It’s indicative of where ice hockey lives in the Irish sporting consciousness, which can be considered somewhat curious given the nation's penchant for laying claim to any international achievement, no matter how strong or weak the link.

When kicker Dan Whelan became the first Irish-born player to feature in the NFL since 1985 it made the news.

When there’s Irish success in the AFL or AFLW in Australia, it gets a good airing.

They are one of the few fully professional outfits based on the island and not only compete in the UK’s Elite Ice Hockey League, they are its most successful team, winning the championship six times since 2003 when the competition was set up.

A quick Google search of three mainstream sports media outlets, including RTÉ, in Ireland returns very few results on the team.

The most prominent was the news that 41-year-old former football goalkeeper Petr Cech joined as a back-up netminder last month.

They operate with three 'goalkeepers’ but were without Canadian Jackson Whistle and Antrim man Andrew Dickson so the four-time Premier League winner with Chelsea, who was based in London and playing with Oxford City Stars, came on board as temporary cover. He featured just once but it was a worthwhile story.

Here he comes! | #EIHL

Petr Čech makes professional hockey debut with the @BelfastGiants.