None of the current Belfast Giants players or coaching staff were included when the club inducted the first members into it’s Hall of Fame earlier this month.
There is no doubting that Adam Keefe’s name will ultimately be listed alongside those who have made significant contributions to Giants’ history as they celebrate 25 seasons in existence.
Whether any of the players on Keefe’s 2024-25 roster and which are worthy of the status of Hall of Famers may be determined over the next four months.
Winning the Elite League title is always the No.1 target in Belfast — it has been since Dave Whistle, one of the inaugural Hall of Fame members, led the Giants to their first title in 2002. In a special year the motivation has an added layer.
“That’s huge obviously,” said Keefe of chasing the title in the Giant’s 25th anniversary campaign.
“We put a lot of stock on all the owners who have done there job to keep this team here and then the Odyssey Trust who have solidified the team and the investment that they have put into us, we want to reward that.
“We want to reward our fanbase for what they are doing for us, specifically in the last two years the crows are fantastic and people are turning up, so we want to reward them.”
Keefe’s stamp on the Giants is indelible. Two League titles as a player, the second as captain, have been added to with three more being won under his coaching, including a treble-winning campaign in 2023.
The biggest expectation to bring more glory comes from within the 40-year-old, who has won eight trophies as Giants coach, as the team is as much part of him as he is part of the Giants.
“It’s 13 years for me, minus the Covid year,” said Keefe, who was signed by Doug Christiansen in 2011
“For lack of a better term, I bleed teal and I take a lot of the history on board.
“There are people did a lot of work before I got here and before these guys got here to make this place what it is and that’s not lost on me.
“Some of them are still here and some of them have moved on.
“This is a great place to play hockey, I got to enjoy it for six years myself and now I’ve got to enjoy seven years as a coach as well. This is my home now and it’s not just a job for me and it’s not just a job for the coaching staff, we take this pretty seriously and we want to reward everyone.
“Yes, it’s a special season for us, we are excited for it.”
The Giants enter a frenetic period where they play four games between now and the end of 2024, starting away to Glasgow Clan this evening, just four points behind the Cardiff Devils, with two matches in hand.
The Sheffield Steelers won the League with 91 points last season — the most in a 54-game season since the Giants hit 95 more than a decade ago — and the way things are shaping up it might take another record-breaking campaign for whoever comes out as champions this time around.
“Ultimately Sheffield came in and set a new bar last year. We did it the year before that, they knocked it down and they set their own,” said Keefe.
“Now it’s our turn — or somebody else’s or Sheffield’s to hold on to that. We want to be that team who knocks that bar down and pushes through.”