Thornton Rates Peacock

Belfast Giants player-coach Steve Thornton has hailed the efforts of rising star Craig Peacock in an exclusive interview with skysports.com.

In his debut Elite League season, 21-year-old Peacock has notched up 17 goals and 12 assists for the Northern Irish side.

Peacock, who joined Giants following a superb year with English Premier Ice Hockey League's Peterborough Phantoms, is one of the forerunners for the Ice Hockey Journalist UK's British Young Player of the year award.

And Thornton believes Peacock can put his outstanding form this year down to his extensive preparation ahead of the season.

"It all started for Craig last summer before the season had even started," Thornton told skysports.com.

"We wanted to get him involved in our conditioning programme so by the time we started playing he would be ready. He was dedicated and showed a great work ethic to improve his physical skills and we've really seen the effects of that in his play this season."
Award

Winning the Young Player award would see Peacock follow in the footsteps of Sheffield's Rob Dowd and Edinburgh's Mark Garside, who won the gong in 2008-9 and 2007-8 respectively.

A leading candidate this year, Peacock has scored three goals in his last three games, including a double in the big-team clash against league leaders Coventry, and Thornton insists the youngster has the edge over any other forward in the league.

"He's not just the kind of player who fills a role on the checking line," added Thornton.

"He's got the ability to score points too and when he's playing with the right people he can put the puck in the net.

"He's effective around the crease and has been a big part of our team this year, but it all started for him by working hard and showing the desire to improve."