Coors Giants Deliver some Capital Punishment…

Posted on Saturday, September 27th, 2008 at 11:14 pm

The Coors Belfast Giants fought off a late game surge from the Edinburgh Capitals to hold on to a 4-3 win at the Odyssey Arena on Saturday Night. The Capitals actually opened the scoring with 7 minutes left in the first period when Ross Dalgleish scored to make it 1-0 at 13:15. George Awada answered back for the Giants less than 2 minutes later when he finished off a great pass from Paul Deniset to even the scoreline. The Giants took the lead at 18:26 of the first when Colin Shields fired in a great pass from Mike Burgoyne to give Belfast the lead going into the break.

If it hadn’t been for the outstanding play in net for the Capitals by Michel Robinson, the scoreline could have been even more one-sided. The Edinburgh netminder faced 21 shots in the first period alone, with the Giants adding another 15 in the second. They had the edge in shots but the only goal of the second period came off the stick of Martin Cingel who evened the scoreline at 37:24.

It took only three minutes into the third period for the Giants to regain the lead for good when Paul Deniset deflected in a Graeme Walton slapshot to make it 3-2 before Shane Johnson made it 4-2 when he fired in a nifty pass from Steve Thornton at 52:34. The Capitals didn’t quit and at 55:15, they scored one back to make it 4-3 thanks to player/coach Doug Christiansen, but despite a hectic last two minutes of Edinburgh pressure, the Giants held on to win 4-3.

Man of the match performances by Robinson in goal for the Capitals who stopped 48 of 52 shots and by Shane Johnson who was up front on forward and scored the game winner for the Giants.

Period Scores: 2-1, 0-1, 2-1
Penalty Mins: Bel 10 - Edi 36
Powerplay: Bel 0/5 - Edi 0/2
Shots On: Stevie Lyle 18 - Mike Robinson 52
Referee: D. Smith

Shields leads the way as Giants win in Basingstoke…

Posted on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 8:22 pm

The Coors Belfast Giants wrapped up a perfect weekend with a convincing road win over the Basingstoke Bison on Sunday night. The Giants dominated from the start, with Colin Shields scoring a hat-trick on route to an 8-1 trouncing of the short-handed Bison.

Shields put the Giants up by two in the opening ten minutes of the game, before Paul Deniset made it 3-0 with the Bison two men down killing a 5 on 3 powerplay for the Giants. Shane Johnson, with his second goal in as many games, made it 4-0 with another powerplay goal to give the Giants a comfortable lead heading into the first period break.

The Giants continued to dominate play in the second period and again it was Colin Shields who was served up with a perfect pass by player/coach Steve Thornton to complete his hat trick. Next was local legend Mark Morrison who made it 6-0 with a nice slapshot from just inside the Bison blueline before Basingstoke pulled one back courtesy of Shaun Thompson off of a well scripted face-off play to make it 6-1.

Despite a couple good chances on the powerplay for Basingstoke, including just under a minute with a 5-3 advantage, they couldn’t penetrate the Giants penalty kill, which looked strong all night long.

Coach Thornton pulled Stevie Lyle to give Nathan Craze some well deserved playing time, and the Bison tested him early but not even a Brent Hughes breakaway could spoil the night for the young netminder. Craze looked superb for the remainder of the game, particularly when the Giants were a man down.

Paul Sample rounded off the scoring in the second period giving the Giants a 7-1 lead going into the third with the lone goal of the final period coming from an unlikely source. Defenceman Graeme Walton scored his first goal of the season with a blistering slapshot to make it 8-1 and complete the scoring for the Giants.

A great road victory against a depleted Bison team that are still waiting for an import signing and also were playing two players down due to suspensions handed out by the Elite League on Brad Cruickshank and Curtiss Patrick during the past week.

A Man of the Match performance for hat trick hero Colin Shields and three goals from three players scoring their first goals of the season; Sample, Morrison and Walton. In all, six different scorers in this textbook win for the first place Giants.

Period Scores: 0-4 1-3, 0-1
Penalty Mins: Bas 8 - Bel 6
Powerplay: Bas 0/3 - Bel 3/4
Shots On: Kevin Reiter 39 – Stevie Lyle 23 Nathan Craze 21
Referee: Nigel Boniface

Woman Vs Parking Gate


This lady must have really miscalculated the angle of this turn as she goes up and over the curb! What was she thinking?

Metallica - Interview


We chat to Lars and Kirk about their new album, the choice of Rick Rubin as producer, and ask who’s the better at Guitar Hero.

"I've been to see the referee and, in fairness, he's only going on what the linesman says.

"He's working in a team and, if someone comes in his ear telling him it's a goal, I suppose he's got to give it."

Boothroyd on whether Reading, who knew they had not scored, should have allowed Watford to score an equaliser:
"I don't expect players to take things into their own hands. It's not up to them.

"If someone stops you in a car park and gives you a present you don't say no do you?"

Reading boss Steve Coppell on his side's controversial opener:
"When the whistle went I wondered what it was for as I could not see a foul.

"Everyone trooped back to the centre and then it became obvious that the referee had given the goal.

"But after speaking to Noel Hunt after the game it became clear that the ball went out of play wide of the goal.

"The game is crying out for video evidence and it has been for a long time.

"It's obvious. Rugby League puts us to shame with how referees can call for replays."

Coppell on whether his side should have allowed Watford to score an equaliser:
"Let's get this clear. The responsibility is not with the opposition to right a wrong. It is up to the officials to get it as right as they can.

"It's like cricket, do you walk or not if you've nicked one behind? As a renowned opening batsman I used to walk but it's a hypothetical question.

"If the referee had come and told me at half-time that they'd cocked it up I don't know whether I would have let them score."

Hey all,

As you may have read on Windows Live Wire, there is a new public beta of the Windows Live client suite available today. 

Folks on our team have been using the Beta for a few weeks now, and I wanted to highlight two features that I think are especially relevant to people using Windows Live Spaces:

· Windows Live Writer added awesome support for inserting video.  You can read more in Writer Zone

· Windows Live Messenger has integrated What's New functionality like you see on the signed-in Spaces home.  You can read more in Messenger Says

Thanks for using Windows Live and please leave us comments if you have feedback on the public beta.  Thanks--

--Rob Dolin

Program Manager, Windows Live team
source: http://thespacecraft.spaces.live.com

Technorati Tags: Windows Live,Windows Live Beta,Windows Live Suite,Windows Live Messenger,Windows Live Writer

TOKYO (Reuters) - The world's oldest man celebrated his 113th birthday on Thursday, telling reporters at his home in southern Japan about his joyful life and healthy appetite.

"I'm happy," said Tomoji Tanabe as the local mayor presented him with flowers and a giant tea cup glazed with his name and date of birth. "I'm well. I eat a lot," he added.

Tanabe, recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest living male last year, eats mostly vegetables and believes the key to longevity is not drinking alcohol.

The former civil servant lives with his son, drinks milk every day and has no major illnesses, although he now writes in his diary only once or twice a month. He used to write on a daily basis.

"His favourite food is fried shrimp, but we've heard that he's cut back on oily food," said an official at his hometown of Miyakonojo, about 900 km (560 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

"He's said he wants to live for another 10 years, that he doesn't want to die." The Japanese are among the world's longest-lived people, with the number of those aged 100 or older at a record 36,276, a government report last week showed.

Japanese women have topped the world's longevity ranks for 23 years, while men rank third after Iceland and Hong Kong.

 

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian pub offering free drinks to women who remove their underwear and display it to patrons and staff will be investigated by alcohol licencing regulators, authorities said on Thursday.

The Saint Hotel in Melbourne has promised a "No Undie Sundie" event over the coming weekend, where woman who remove their underwear and hang it above the bar will receive A$50 ($39) worth of free drinks.

Women who flash their bras and underwear to staff also get free drinks, the pub said, in a promotion that women's protection groups said was "almost an invitation to sexual assault".

"On the face of it, it looks like an inappropriate liquor promotion and we will be investigating with a view to banning it," Liquor Licensing Victoria director Sue Maclellan told the Herald Sun newspaper.

On its website the Saint describes itself as "the home of Melbourne's fashionable set", but pub attracted the ire of regulators in June after hiring a dwarf to pour free liquor down patrons' throats.

Posters for the no undies day event showed singer Britney Spears partially exposed and exiting a car in a scene local Mayor Janet Cribbes said was "bordering on being pornographic".

The pub's managers had gone to ground on Thursday and were not answering phone calls.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The leader of Canada's Green Party, unveiling an election platform that includes a proposal to legalize marijuana, apologised on Wednesday for not having smoked pot.

"I am not a fan of marijuana use. I have to confess this -- I know all politicians are asked. I've never used marijuana. I apologise," said Elizabeth May, who won extra attention this year by being allowed to join the televised national leaders' debates.

The Greens' platform proposes to allow the sale of marijuana to adults through licensed distribution outlets, generating about C$1 billion (520 million pounds) annually in taxes.

The more high-profile part of the party's platform would impose C$36 billion (18.7 billion pounds) to C$37 billion a year in carbon taxes on fossil fuels as part of a program -- similar to a more modest plan proposed by the Liberal Party -- to shift taxation from income to consumption.

May also said the Green Party would slash military spending and subsidies to industry, and keep the federal budget in surplus.

The Greens poll at about 8 to 10 percent at the moment and could be hard pressed to keep their one seat in Parliament.

• Belfast Giants vs Basingstoke Bison, W 6-3
• Giants Goals: Robins, Johnson, Shields, Howells (2), Deniset
• Bison Goals: Cruikshanks (2), Bowers

The Giants came into this midweek game, moved to Wednesday night to allow for Sky Sports coverage, on the back of their best ever start to a season with 4 wins from 4 games played, and plenty of goals notched up already.

It was the Basingstoke Bison however who started the brighter as Belfast failed to test Kevin Reither in the Bison goal who only arrived in the UK today after Visa problems. The Bison looked composed early on without really threatening, and Stevie Lyle had to be alert to turn away a couple of decent chances.

After the Giants killed off an early penalty, referee Nigel Boniface soon gave the home side a power play chance, and continuing to show how lethal it has been in the early going, Bobby Robins fired home a great shot from a tight angle at 4.54 to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

Despite then having the better of the play, it took until 16.41 of the period when Shane Johnson found himself all alone in the slot and with a fake shot then big slap shot he beat Reiter from 20 feet out to make it 2-0, which was how the period ended.The Giants continued to pressure in the second but couldn't find a way past Reiter who was facing a lot of rubber - 16 shots in the first period. However despite managing to turn one of the many shots away, Colin Shields was in prime position after 25.08 to force a rebound under Reiter on the backhand to make it 3-0.

The impressive Graeme Walton blotted his book when taking a needless interference call which allowed the Bison to pull one back soon after, Brad Cruickshank taking advantage and sneaking the puck past Stevie Lyle despite his stacked pad save attempt to cut the deficit to 3-1.

The lethal Giants power play came to the party once more, when Tyler Howells (pictured) opened his goal account for the Giants with a somewhat fortunate goal 34.24 into the game. His big slapshot was not dealt with well at all by debutant Reiter who let it slip under his right pad - a shot he really should have saved and a surprise to Howells who barely celebrated. And from the re-start face off, the Giants added another goal just 21 seconds later when Paul Deniset took George Awada's pass and made it 5-1 to end the second period.

The Giants came out flat for the start of the 3rd, perhaps thinking the game was won and were kicked back to life by an early double strike by the Bison. First Ross Bowers somehow snuck one home past Stevie Lyle from a very acute angle only 1.26 into the period and Brad Cruikshank added his second 40 seconds later to cut the deficit to just 5-3 and swing the momentum the way of the Bison with still a long 17 minutes to play.

Any worries the small but vocal home crowd may have had were quickly dispelled as the Giants picked up the tempo again . First Bobby Robins had the puck in the net but the goal was washed out due to the keeper having made the initial save with his face mask. Brad Cruickshank's reaction to Robins playing a rebound after the whistle was not the most friendly exchange of views of the evening and resulted in 2 minutes for roughing. Once more the Giants went to the power play and once more the PP unit was successful. Colin Shields found Tyler Howells who unleashed another shot from the blue line and this time there was no doubt as the puck went through a well worked screen provided by George Awada and found the top corner to make it 6-3 and a fistful of wins from the Giants to start the season.