Ara Nazarian proud of Belfast Giants achievements in the CHL

The Giants narrowly missed out on the playoff stages of the tournament, plus they finished above last year’s CHL winners, Finnish side Tappara Tampere.

Nazarian said: “We proved this year that the Giants weren’t just content to be in the CHL. We wanted to win games.”

The Giants showed throughout the campaign that they weren’t there just to make up the numbers.

“We went three and three in the CHL this season, which is pretty good,” he added.

“There were a couple of games where the outcome was decided by just one goal, I am thinking especially of the game in Austria and the game against Lukko in Finland. Those games could have gone either way and in favour of us.

“We were right there in those game and we showed that we were able to compete against the best in Europe, we can rank ourselves in the mix of the best. In the end we also missed the cut by one or two points which, obviously is disappointing, but it showed that we belonged in the CHL.”

Nazarian says finishing ahead of Tappara Tampere wad pleasing.

“Finishing above Tampere is very pleasing indeed,” he said. “After playing them in Finland and going down to that loss, to finish above them is a little surprising to be honest. I think that shows the talent level throughout the teams in the CHL, anyone can win on any given night.

“As a group, we feel pretty good about what we have achieved.”

It was Nazarian’s first time playing in the CHL and he says he enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to play against the best in Europe.

“Getting to travel around Europe was really enjoyable as was the hockey itself. Had a couple of bounces gone our way we could well have made the playoffs,” he said.

“Getting to play in Belfast in those three home games was also awesome and I hope the fans enjoyed [it] as much I have.

“We are a tough team to play against on our home ice and we certainly showed that with the three CHL wins.”