Adam Mckendry

Inherently, ice hockey is a dangerous sport. Not only do you have five other players on the ice whose job it is to stop you from progressing by any means possible — including by slamming you into the edge of the rink — but there are rock-hard vulcanised rubber pucks rocketing around at speeds of up to 100mph and razor-sharp skates laced to everybody’s feet.

Nathan Craze could be remembered as a fine goalie in the Elite League, or potentially as a Great Britain international. But as proud as he is with what he achieved on the ice, now he is trying to forge a new identity — as a coach who allows others to reach their full potential.

The Elite League title race is well and truly on now after the Belfast Giants blew a two-goal lead in Sheffield, conceding five goals in the final 13 minutes to hand the second-placed Sheffield Steelers a lifeline in the race for the championship.

Adam Keefe taking heart from seeing his Belfast Giants do ‘small things’ well

The calendar has ticked over to November but the action continues in the Sports Direct Premiership with two more massive games on Friday night.

Larne Football Club received a surprise visit from former Champions League winner Patrice Evra ahead of Thursday’s historic UEFA Conference League tie against Shamrock Rovers.

After six goals and eight points in four pre-season games, it looked like Pierre-Olivier Morin was ready to light up the Elite League for the Belfast Giants. That is until injury intervened.

Ulster’s Sevens star Zac Ward will get a chance to impress Ireland head coach Simon Easterby first-hand having been named in Emerging Ireland’s starting line-up for the opening game of their tour to South Africa.

Two goals and four points in three pre-season games is a good return for any Belfast Giants player but when you’re Mack Stewart trying to show what you can do, it’s a significant step.

Northern Ireland defender Jamal Lewis says he wants to bring Premier League quality to the Brazilian Serie A as he closes in on a stunning switch to South American giants São Paulo.