FORMER Nottingham Panthers player Peter Chiarelli – general manager of Boston Bruins – has been the key figure in the NHL giants playing a pre-season challenge game at the Odyssey arena in Belfast.

Five-times Stanley Cup winners, the Bruins will face a Belfast Giants/Elite League select team – comprising a number of Panthers players – on Saturday, October 2.

Panthers will also be playing the same weekend in the Province, which is a big coup for the travelling Nottingham fans.

Chiarelli announced the Bruins' pre-season plans and they will be visiting Northern Ireland on their way to play in Prague, the Czech Republic.

A former Harvard graduate, Chiarelli played four games for Panthers in 1987 but after scoring 13 points, including four goals – an excellent output by today's standards – he was released and replaced by Streatham hot-head Craig Melancon.