How wrong can one man be? Todd Kelman first became aware of the founding of the Belfast Giants in the months leading up to winning the Superleague title with the Bracknell Bees in 2000.

With the Odyssey Arena being built and the franchise agreement signed with Superleague, the Giants were already starting to develop.

A coach was being sought and he would have a hard job on his hands starting from scratch to put a team on the ice. For Kelman, the idea of being one of those players seemed a million miles away.

"There were updates in the ice hockey magazines about how the arena in Belfast was coming on and that the team had begun looking for a coach," said Kelman.

"The team didn't have a name at that stage and it seemed so foreign to me that I was thinking that I would never go to Belfast."

All that changed, however, when Dave Whistle decided to quit on a high at Bracknell to take the opportunity to become the first coach of the Belfast Giants.

His appointment not only led to Kelman being one of the first players to sign for the club, but it was the beginning of a whole new life for the Calgary-born defenceman.

Seven years later he is still a Giant as the only one of the original team left, but that is about to change.

When the season finishes he will step away from the ice as a new era for the Giants begins, with Kelman as the team's General Manager.

"I think the time had come for me to leave Bracknell anyway," said Kelman, who once said that he 'could only drive the worst car and live in the worst house in the league for so long' in reference to his departure from the Bees.

"It was Rob Stewart who played the biggest part in getting me to Belfast.

"I was talking to Rob and he told me to call Dave Whistle because he was worried about pinching all the players from Bracknell.

"I don't think the opportunity to come to Belfast would have arisen if it hadn't been for Dave Whistle and things have been unbelievable for me here."

As the only player to have played for the Giants during every season of the team's existence, Kelman has inevitably made more appearances than anyone else.

As far as highlights are concerned there have been many, but two games in particular stand out, for very different reasons.

"We went to Lugano to play in the finals of the Continental Cup in 2003 and the whole trip was fantastic," said Kelman.

"We were up against teams whose budget was five times what ours was and we came away as the fifth best team in Europe.

"The most rewarding game I played in was when we won the Play-off final that season, but the most exciting was beating Davos in the Continental Cup. That was the best game the team ever played and to beat a team of that quality was a real boost for us.

"The lowest point was losing the Challenge Cup final to Ayr just a few weeks after we won the league and then not making the Play-off finals.

"I think we were too good that season. We won the league in January and had too may matches that didn't mean anything.

"We coasted through them and couldn't get going when the matches that mattered came around."

The one match that matters for Kelman at the minute is his testimonial game at the Odyssey next Tuesday night.

Some of the best and most popular men ever to pull on a Belfast Giants jersey will be back in town to honour their former team mate.

Paxton Schulte, Colin Ward, Stewart, Jason Bowen and Shane Johnson will be joined by Theo Fleury, the biggest name ever to play for the team.

Kelman grew up as a Calgary Flames fan, he was just 14-years-old when Fleury was one of his heroes in a team that won the Stanley Cup in 1989.

When Fleury arrived Kelman said: "I think for any kid that comes from Calgary getting to play alongside Theo Fleury would be a real thrill.

Now he says: "Getting to play with Tony Hand and then last year with Theo Fleury was fantastic. He really was the biggest thing ever to happen to the Belfast Giants."

Even after he plays his final game in a Giants shirt, there is still one more big match to come for Kelman this summer when he marries fiancee Shauna.

Although they are both Calgary natives, the couple are heading to Mexico to get married.

"We thought rather than get married in Calgary and see our friends and family for basically one day before heading off on honeymoon that we would take them with us," he said.

"There are forty or fifty people coming with us and it should be a lot of fun."

So it will be a whole new life in more ways than one when he returns to Belfast.