Petr Cech: Belfast Giants' Tyler Beskorowany on the signing of ex-Chelsea keeper

From Stamford Bridge to the Dundonald International Ice Bowl on the outskirts of Belfast, Petr Cech has now played all the big venues.

The Champions League and Premier League winner has carved out a career for himself in ice hockey in recent years, having played the sport in his home country Czechia in his youth.

That doesn't mean, however, that all of his new team-mates know who he is.

"I think we have a couple of younger guys that probably didn't know exactly who he was when we told he was coming in here, but I'm sure they went home last night and searched him up a little bit and to figure out who he was," admitted Giants netminder Tyler Beskorowany, who Cech will back-up this weekend.

"It's always exciting to see an athlete play two sports, especially at the professional level.

"For him to be able to do this, I think it just shows the passion that he has for the sport, the passion that he has for the position. It's quite the breath of fresh air to have that new face in the room and someone that the guys can just kind of talk to and tell stories or whatever it is.

"He's used to this type of format where winning every game matters so any type of knowledge that we can get from that, we'll take it and it can only help us."

Since retiring from professional football in 2019, Cech worked with former club Chelsea as a technical and performance advisor until 2022, as well as playing in the third tier of ice-hockey in the UK before recently signing with Oxford City Stars.

This week he received a call from Belfast Giants coach Adam Keefe to come to Northern Ireland and help out the current Elite League Grand Slam winners.

With back-up netminder Jackson Whistle recovering from injury, Keefe needed a viable alternative to regular number one Beskorowany. Cech already has some history with the Giants, having lined up for the Giants in an exhibition game earlier this year against Ukrainian side Kherson to help raise funds for the sport in the war-afflicted country.

"It really is inspiring, his story. After what he's achieved on the football pitch at his age he wants to come out and continuously compete and get better at ice hockey," Keefe told BBC Sport NI.

"We're in a situation right now where we've lost Jackson, so it's a good lift for the group, but also it's a huge help for us and we're really happy that he's here".

The Giants are in the middle of their worst run in a couple of years, having lost four of their last five games, and are looking to bounce back on a tough road trip to Sheffield and Manchester, when Cech will be on the bench.