Lake puts pen to paper for Giants
All-star player lining up alongside six other signings
Last updated 30th May 2019
Belfast Giants have signed Team GB star Ben Lake.
The 29-year-old spent the last two seasons with Coventry Blaze.
He was named in the first all-star team after posting 34 goals and 43 assists.
Lake will join Curtis Leonard, Lewis Hook, Paul Swindlehurst, Mark Garside, Stephen Murphy and Andrew Dickson on the 2019/20 season roster.
The seven will take to the ice in teal this August when the Giants begin their 20th anniversary season with a debut appearance in the Champions Hockey League.
The news was revealed at Wednesday's Fan Night at The SSE Arena.
Ben Lake will be familiar to Giants fans - spending the previous two seasons in the Elite League with the Coventry Blaze.
He also starred at the international stage - helping Team GB retain their Pool A status at the recent World Championship in Slovakia.
Leonard (26) returns for a second successive season in Belfast - after making an immediate impression in 2018/19 as his performances on the blueline helped the Giants clinch the Elite League and Challenge Cup titles.
He posted three goals and 30 assists, good for 33 points in 71 games last season.
Hook also returns for back-to-back seasons in Belfast with the 22 year old posting six goals and 18 assists in his debut season with the Giants.
He joined from the Milton Keynes Lightning and helped the organisation claim the Elite League and Challenge Cup titles in 2018/19.
Swindlehurst arrived in Belfast from the Manchester Storm in 2018/19 and the 26 year old 6’4” defenceman re-joined the Giants after impressing during the organisation's Elite League and Challenge Cup winning season.
He also recently helped Team GB keep their place in Pool A after helping them to their second successive gold medal in 2018.
Garside (30) from Scotland, returns to Belfast for a tenth successive season. Garside has helped the organisation win three league championships as well as two Challenge Cup titles and sits fourth in the Giants overall appearances with 473 games played.
Murphy (37), returns for his eleventh season as a Giant - winning six major championships with the organisation. The eight-time British netminder of the year played a pivotal role in 2018/19 as the Giants clinched a the Elite League title and retained the Challenge Cup for the first time in history.
Dickson returns to his local team for the 2019/20 season after winning the Elite League and Challenge Cup - his fourth and fifth championships as a Giants. The 31 year old can also boast the 2011/12, 2013/14 and 2018/19 Elite League titles as well as the Challenge Cup in 2018 and 2019.