Bo Hanson believes Giants are proving they are equal to demands of the CHL
The Belfast Giants flew to Switzerland yesterday after an early morning practice ahead of this weekend’s Champions Hockey League (CHL) games against Lausanne HC (today) and EV Zug (Sunday).
It had been a busy week preparing for the next stage of the CHL round robin campaign but it has also been a chance to reflect on last week’s games against Finland’s KalPa Kuopio and Ilves Tampere.
And while these games may not have gone in the Giants there is plenty of learn from them to take into the remainder of the CHL campaign, as well as into the domestic season too.
Ahead of flying out to Switzerland defenceman Bo Hanson said: “We knew that the Finnish teams were going to be tough to play against. I thought that we fought hard in both the games and got an opportunity to learn a lot about ourselves.
“The games proved that we can compete against the top teams in Europe.
“It was unfortunate that we didn’t get the results that we were looking for but I think we can take a lot of pride in those games.
“We had leads in both those games, against KalPa we were just 53 seconds away from taking the win, and that was against the top team in Finland last season.
“We might have just ran out of a little juice against Ilves, we also had a lead on them too and push back in that game.
“They made some good plays and once you are down in the third period we had to press that little harder than maybe we should have and that's what opened us up to Ilves and they struck back.”
He added: “Keeping Ilves pegged down in the third and forcing them to fight back in the fashion that they did shows that we have good team too.
“They are a team made up of former NHLers, Finnish internationals and bunch of prospect too. At the end of the day we are playing a hard game of hockey but if we take our chances that we are creating we are going to win games.”
Hanson agrees that the lessons that the Giants have learned against KalPa and Ilves can be brought into the remainder of the CHL campaign, as well as the Giants’ domestic season which starts next Saturday against the Dundee Stars.
He said: “The CHL does a great job preparing us for what to expect in the tournament.
“These teams play at a super high pace, and that's not to take anything away from our league, but it is a little higher paced that what we might see in the EIHL.
“So if we can keep that level of execution and intensity into the domestic campaign, as well as learn from how these teams compete, I am certain that when our season starts we will have gained a good advantage on the rest of the league.”
While Hanson was pleased to have scored against Ilves he says he would have got the win instead.
He explained: “It is always fun to score for sure. I try and do my best always to keep the puck out of the back of my net but to get a goal myself, yes that was a really nice feeling to get.
“But it kind of hurts to look at that stat and to see a loss rather than the win.
“There are positives for sure out of scoring but I would have liked us to have won that game, rather than scoring personally.”