Normally when players move to the Belfast Giants after experiencing the Friendship Four, it’s because of the great time they’ve had playing in it. Mike Lee, on the other hand, was won over by his experience from the stands.
Although he was part of the Belpot-winning University of Vermont roster back in 2016, Lee didn’t feature in either game at the SSE Arena, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying his whistlestop tour of the city.
“I had 12 family members come over, too, and we all loved Belfast that week. I didn’t get to play but it was a great week and the Friendship Four is a great tournament,” says Lee.
“When Keefer reached out to me I told my parents and my dad was like, ‘You need to go there’. That played a big part in me signing. Having your friends and family come over and visit is something to look forward to.”
The Lee clan are planning a big trip back across the pond in either January or February — with more than just the original 12, per Mike — but his decision to come back to Belfast is not tied just into how much he was won over by the city.
After two years with Slovakian side Nove Zamky, failing to make it beyond the first round of the Play-Offs in his first season and missing out altogether in the second, the 28-year-old was ready to be part of a competitive team.
“One of the reasons I came here was the quality of the team, coming to a winning organisation and giving what I can to the team and what’s already a great group of guys. We’re so deep,” he adds.
“Playing in Slovakia the last few years, I just wanted a new challenge. Being in a smaller city, I wanted to go to a place that was a great city and a great team, and there’s not many of those in Europe.”
And so far all the Giants have done this season is win. After triumphing in all four pre-season games, they’ve continued that form into the regular season having won all four of their Challenge Cup games so far.
Mike Lee travelled to Belfast with the University of Vermont for the 2016 Friendship Four
But things will ramp up this weekend when they head to the Manchester Storm on Saturday night (7.00pm) before travelling to the defending champion Sheffield Steelers on Sunday (4.00pm) for the first two games of their Elite League campaign.
It’s a new format for a lot of the players, switching between the Cup and League, including Lee, but he’s excited to experience the 54-game slog of the League and is encouraged to see the Giants get off to a hot start.
“Every weekend you’ve got come out, you’ve got to perform. You don’t want to be behind early and then going down the stretch,” continues the Connecticut native.
“We believe we are the best team in the League, so we’re excited to go to the reigning champions and show what we have. We’re ready for it. We’re going to give it all we have.
“We’ve already faced adversity when we played that Dundee game (coming from behind to win 6-5 in overtime) and we stuck to it. We’ve won every game but there’s been times where we’ve been down and stuck it out.
“We won’t go unbeaten this year. I hope we do. But, realistically, that’s not going to happen. So it’s about trusting in each other that we can come back.
“It’s going to be tough but I really think this team is built for that kind of challenge, especially going to Sheffield. We may fall behind one or two goals, we may be up one or two goals. No matter what, we’ve gotta keep playing our systems and that’s what will make us a tough team to beat.
“I think this team is going to be special this year. We believe in each other and the good things will come.”