This post is a long time coming, as many of my readers know Kissane and I have many personal ties to Ireland and we spent 10 too short days there last June. While we were there a friend, Craig Shilliday gave us the cooks tour of the site where Team Ireland and the Dundalk Bulls train and play in Dundalk Ireland. The best news is that the Dundalk Bulls are working toward joining the British Elites and becoming the second professional hockey team on the island. Presently the Bulls are at "club" level of play and the Dundalk facility (which boasts year round ice) is a alternate location for games when for various reasons the Belfast Giants usual venue of the Odyssey Arena is unavailable. It was used heavily last season during the playoffs when Momma Mia was booked into the Odyssey for the entire Giants playoff run. The venue is much smaller, but in many ways seemed to satisfy most of the Giants faithful who could get tickets.
I seem to feel may of you lot are shaking your heads over the idea that there is HOCKEY in Ireland. Yes Virgina, there is and a legion of well informed passionate fans that follow their teams all over England, Northern Ireland,Scotland and Wales. The teams are composed of "English" players, defined as where they train not necessarily just where they were born. Having a Irish or British passport is NOT enough to get you on the team (Ireland or otherwise, sorry all you Notre Dame and BC club players. You have to go to Ireland, live there and earn it!) a percentage of North American and European players. If signing patterns are an indication to this observer they are playing roughly at the AA or ECHL level.
However the fans seem to be world class. My introduction to Giant's fans started about 3 years ago on a net search. I discovered that two of my passions in life, Irish traditional music and hockey intersected in one place, Belfast. After a couple of weeks reading their unofficial boards I registered and joined the fray, got my nose bloodied a couple of times in a rule discussion and when we were "separated by a common language". In general the regulars were welcoming as long as I realized they knew their stuff and I was a guest. I was shocked to find out how many of the posters owned their own rule books, something that is rare among North American posters. It was early in the game that one poster defended my right to decent and we started to correspond via PM, this became our friend Craig. Three years later we were in Dundalk and he was proudly showing us the facility where the Olympic and Elite league blood sweat and tears will come to fruition. Tomorrow Craig and family will be at the Odyssey with their winter "hockey family" cheering on the Giants. There will be singing in the stands, chants and cups of tea, Gordy their mascot will kiss the ice, all Belfast hockey traditions, hopefully a win tonight on the road against the Cardiff Devils. How we wish we were there!
Powderhornhockey
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