I made my way on to the ice and went down on one knee

I made my way on to the ice and went down on one knee

6 January 2016

A BALLYNAHINCH man popped the question to his girlfriend in front of several thousand ice hockey fans at the SSE Arena in Belfast last weekend.

Paul McGrillen proposed to Sarah Malone in the middle of the ice rink during a Belfast Giants match against the Coventry Blaze last Saturday night and was over the moon when she said “yes”.

As the end of the first period in the game approached, Sarah could not understand why Paul was trying to get her away from the action.

The Giants fan was pulled from her seat by her boyfriend and told she had to go to door 20 but the 31 year-old had no idea about what was to happen when she walked on to the ice to take part in a special game, leaving the rink with not only a Belfast Giants shirt, but a sparkling engagement ring.

Paul revealed it took about six weeks to organise the proposal and is delighted that with the help of the Belfast Giants and senior staff at the SSE arena, everything went to plan, including Sarah saying yes.

“I wanted to do something special and all the people who helped with the organisation were absolutely brilliant. I put my idea to Giants captain Adam Keefe who put me in touch with Mark Brooks at the SSE. I was not sure what they could do for me but they were amazing.

“I was initially planning something low key but when I spoke with James Glover at the arena he came back with the idea of getting Sarah on to the ice to play a game which takes place at every home game.”

Paul explained fans are given a jersey with a number on it and then have to guess if the number that is going to appear on the big screen is higher or lower.

“When Sarah thought the game had finished a huge question mark flashed up on the screen with the stadium announcer asking what was going on. As Sarah looked at the screen I made my way on to the ice and when she turned around I went down on one knee and asked the question,” he continued.

Paul admits he wasn’t nervous in the lead up to popping the question, but had a few butterflies as he made his way on to the ice.

“I am over the moon Sarah said yes and we hope to get married next year but the reception won’t be held at the SSE Arena,” he joked. “Before we had returned to our seats to allow the match to continue my proposal went viral. It was all over social media and was broadcast on radio and television.

“My thanks go to Adam Keefe and everyone at the SSE Arena who made it all possible. Thanks also to all Sarah’s family and friends and my family and friends for their messages which are overwhelming.”

Paul added: “I wanted to do something special when proposing to Sarah and simply had no idea my suggestion would catch on in the way it did and capture so many people’s attention. I was delighted Sarah said ‘yes’ and we are both really, really happy.”

Sarah, who lives in Holywood, said she and Paul have been together for more than a year and were at Saturday night’s game with his brother and his brother’s wife. She said Paul came over and started calling to her because as she has a season ticket, she was seated separately to them. 

“Paul came up the stairs and said ‘come here’. I was wondering why he was pulling me away from the game but he said we had to go to door 20, something about winning a shirt, so we went down and waited.

“I went on to the ice and won the jersey, then there was a series of cards on the screen and one had a question mark. I turned around and there were cheerleaders and Paul was down on one knee with a ring.

“It was nerve-wracking and happy but really special. I’m such a big fan it was probably my happiest place on earth. It was lovely, more than I could ever have expected,” she added.