WEEK 16 of the 2025/26 Elite Ice Hockey League season and it kicks off a very busy festive period of games for the Flyers who will have to shake off the turkey in quick order as they face a trip across the Irish Sea on Boxing Day before hosting the Giants on home ice two days later.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 26th BELFAST GIANTS v FIFE FLYERS @ SSE ARENA – FACE OFF 7.00pmIntroducing the opposition & One to Watch!
The Giants come into the festive period sitting in 4th spot in the standings with a gap of 7 points behind the joint leaders but with games in hand that if they turn those into points it will have the Belfast side right in the mix as a title challengers and so every game for them is vital, as it usually is for all teams regardless of position in the table. The Giants most probably will have a new face to Flyers fans in their line up with the signing of 28-year-old forward Carsen Twarynski for the remainder of the 2025/26 season completed last weekend. A native of Calgary, Twarynski arrived in Belfast from HC Dynamo Pardubice having joined the Extraliga side at the start of the 2025/26 season. Drafted 82nd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in round three of the 2016 NHL entry draft, Twarynski’s senior career began in the Western Hockey League (WHL), where he iced for the Calgary Hitmen and Kelowna Rockets, before spending time with the Leigh Valley Phantoms, Charlotte Checkers, and Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL. Twarynski made his NHL debut in October 2019 as part of the NHL Global Series in Prague, Czech Republic. Giants Head Coach Adam Keefe had this to say about his new player: “Carsen’s addition adds much-needed scoring depth and size to our forward group. He has been playing at a very high level and is excited to help us win.” Ahead of the 2023/24 season, Twarynski signed his first contract abroad, agreeing to join the Vienna Capitals of the Austrian ICE Hockey League. Having notched 13 points (six goals and seven assists) in 23 games in the Austrian capital, Twarynski returned to the AHL, registering a total of 65 regular season appearances for the Bridgeport Islanders, Abbotsford Canucks, and San Diego Gulls.
Last League Visit to Giants
GALLERY
Pic Credits – Belfast Giants
Overall Away League Record Against GiantsP 45 W 12 L 33 F 118 A 192Number Crunching
The Flyers are winless in their last 6 visits to the SSE Arena in all EIHL competitions.
The Giants have prevailed on home ice against the Flyers in the last 5 league meetings between the teams.
During that span of league games the Giants have outscored the Flyers 37-11.
This season the Flyers have been shutout on two of the three visits to the SSE with the scorer of the only Flyers goal on Belfast ice so far being Jeremy Masella.
The Giants have won their last 4 games in regulation which ties their best sequence so far this season.
The Giants have scored 25 powerplay goals so far this season which is most per game of all teams this season with 18 of those coming on home ice which is again most of all teams and is a 37.5 percent conversion rate.
SUNDAY DECEMBER 28th FIFE FLYERS v BELFAST GIANTS @ FIFE ICE ARENA – FACE OFF 5.00pmIntroducing the opposition & One to Watch!
Coming into the festive period on a little bit of a hot streak is 28 years Ryan Smith who hails from Virginia. Smith joined the Giants from Selber Wölfe of Germany’s DEL2, where he posted 30 points (13 goals and 17 assists) in 26 regular season games last year whilst playing alongside Josh Winquist. Prior to his time in Europe, he spent four seasons with the Adirondack Thunder in the ECHL, tallying 131 points across 227 games. A right-shot forward who can play both centre and wing, Smith is recognised for his reliable two-way play, strong skating, and ability to chip in at both ends of the ice. His experience in both North American and European leagues makes him a well-rounded addition to the Giants’ forward group. Adam Keefe commented: “Ryan skates well for a bigger guy, he uses his size, and he isn’t afraid to be physical. He’s coming off some really offensively successful seasons in North America and Germany. Having had the chance to experience Belfast as part of a University of Maine team in the Friendship Four tournament forward Ryan Smith had no hesitations signing up for the Belfast Giants last summer. Speaking ahead of the season Sith said: “I had already played at the SSE in the Friendship Four when I was at the University of Maine. I had lots of good memories of that tournament and the time that I got to spend in Belfast and at the SSE Arena. Growing up in the States and playing college hockey, you don’t really think about the UK having such a good league setup that it does have. That tournament allows college players to see the facilities, the fans and of course the city of Belfast too. It really opens your eyes to the prospect of playing in the UK and you might not get that without the Friendship Four tournament. So the tournament definitely had a positive influence on my decision to move to Belfast.”
Last League Visit from Giants
GALLERY
Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young
Overall League Home Record Against GiantsP 45 W 21 L 24 F 151 A 156Number Crunching
The Flyers are 1 and 2 on home ice this season against Belfast with Giants ahead in scoring 12-7.
The Flyers are winless in their last 4 meetings on home ice against the Giants who have outscored the hosts 22-11 in that span.
The Flyers have given up 7 powerplay goals in all games so far this season against the Giants and are 19 for 26 on the kill which is 73.08 percent.
The Flyers powerplay against the Devils is 1 for 11 which is 9.09 percent and it includes being 0 for 2 on two man advantage situations.
The second period both at home and on the road is the Giants most productive for goal scoring this season although the middle 20 minutes has also seen them give up the most of all the periods.
Click the image below for your downloadable gamesheet for Sunday’s game against Belfast Giants
