Blazers 4 @ Giants 3 Dec. 28 (SO)

[Beaner]

Very good game for the Giants tonight, as they pretty much took it to the the Blazers for most of the game, but a couple bad bounces and a couple breakdowns by the Giants cost them a game they should have won. Very physical game tonight as the sides really tried to take the body tot he opposition but both teams gave as good as they got.

NOTES
Sexsmith and Butler got the starts
Franson, Repik, Bliznak and McArdle were the Giants scratches (WJC)
Mike Piluso made his Giants debut tonight
PP's - Giants 2/9, Blazers 1/6
Shots 25-16 Giants

GOALS
1. VAN Lucic, (14) (Watt, Kraus), 8:08 (PP) 5-4 and Lucic get the pucks in the slot and beats Butler with a lot of hard work.
1. VAN Lucic, (15) (Machacek, Wright), 18:01 Wright breaks a play up at the blueline setting Machacek and Lucic loose on the 2-1, Lucic takes the puck in looks to make the pass then just snaps a wicked wrister high glove side.
2. KAM White, (4) (Nixon, Jorgensen), 19:53 (PP) 5-4, White just fires a shot at the net that hits Kraus' skate and then goes off the post and in.
3. VAN Lucic, (16) (Machacek, Kraus), 6:32 (PP) 5-4, And Kraus feeds Lucic in the slot yet again and he makes no mistake wristing it past Butler.
3. KAM Delaronde, (6) , 8:08 Toigo trips at the boards, sending Delornade in on the 2-1. Mikkelson goes down and blcoks the puck, but it ends up going back to Delorande who then kicks it to his stick and tucks it 5 hole.
3. KAM Jorgensen, (20) (Bartley, Macias), 10:39 Somehow fromt he side of the net, Jorgenson puts a wrister thru both Festerling and Sexsmith to knot the game at 3

SHOOT-OUT
Kamloops Shootout
17 Juuso Puustinen No Goal - Goes for the deke pad save
34 Reid Jorgensen Goal - Comes in shots it high glove side
14 Travis Dunstall No Goal - Sexsmith with the save on the deke
19 Brock Nixon Goal - Another shot that beats Sexsmith blocker side.
Total: 2

Vancouver Shootout
12 Tim Kraus No Goal - Save 5-hole for butler
27 Milan Lucic No Goal - goes for the deke, pad save.
13 Kyle Lamb Goal - Snaps a shot thru the 5-hole
18 Mitch Czibere No Goal - Save on the deke move.
Total: 1

FISTICUFFS
Hunt vs. Kassian
Not a typo, as Hunt takes on the WHL heavyweight champ. This starts after hunt runs elerby behind the net and Kassian asks Hunt to go and he obliges. Hunt gets in close but this fight is all Kassian aas he just hold Hunt and throws as many punches as he can. Most of the punches go right over the top of Garets head, but its all kassian to no ones surprise. Hunt gets a couple shots in, but the Linesmen step in before it gets really ugly. Hunt had to leave the game to get repairs to a cut above the eye, but he returned for the second and he was his regular fiesty self.
WIN: Kassian

OFFICIATING
Smith and Vetter tonight. You know Smith is bad when even Vetter is giving him the what are you doing look. Smith refused to call 2 penalties int he OT that were called by Vetter, who was the back official. The major for Watts' "elbow" was brutal, 2 at most on that play but a great dive by Mason, glad to see he didnt even miss a shift after laying on the ice for 4 minutes...

OVERALL
This game the giants should have had, but I guess you have to give credit to the Blazers for capitilizing on their limited chances. The Blazers to start seemed to want to fight more than they wanted to score, not really to sure what they were so annoyed about to start the game. They did settle down in the later stages of the game.

Giants played well, the young guys are really working hard, but you can really tell how much they miss Franson and the rest of the boys at the WJC. The PP looks tentative, the D needs to start moving the puck a lot quicker and taking shots a lot more quickly. Depth is really hurting the Giants right now as you can see that the Giants really start to tire near the end of the game.

Overall I would say a good game, the Giants were the better team tonight, but thems the breaks.

3 STARS
1. VAN - 27 Milan Lucic
2. KAM - 34 Reid Jorgensen
3. KAM - 7 Victor Bartley

Nice job Steve Ewen from The Province, were you even at the game? But then again why does this surprise me from the Vancouver newspaper whos top stories of 2006 didn't include the Giants winning a WHL Championship. Go back to the garage and stay there, I'm sure Naslund will have a nice quote for you to justify your job.

[Section_Z]

I think Kamloops deserved the win tonight...but not by much....we were the dominant team, but there were many moments where I wondered what the Giants were doing, if anything...
Lucic and Hunt played great games...
Defense made some mistakes, but the shots on goal tell the tale of some great work...
Sexsmith....good work on a few stops, but certainly off his game...
Missed Bliznak...losing the face off on a 5 on 3 in the opposing zone hurts...having that happen for 65 minutes hurts even more....
And definitely missed on the PP...is it Franson? not sure why but the PP stunk tonight.
Good overall effort by the boys, but no little things that make the difference...
Tough loss against the one team that seem s to be in contention for the division title...

[dondo]

Oddly I felt it was Vetter who was making the poor calls and not Smith, but w/e -- and I agree that the Giants were caught standing around too many times and I felt they did not challenge the puck carrier enough.

There were a whole bunch of times where Blazers were nudged and they flew about like they were shot, and the dives upon dives upon dives -- did not impress me.

here's my take on the game..

lively game with almost 10K in attendance, and some of the rowdier ones in my section were being primed with their own supply, which went into their cokes. Late in the second they were removed by the security boys who had noticed that they had nursed their cokes for too long. (so my section's host informed me) - part of me kinda missed the drunken gravelly slurring of BUuuutler (which we later mocked in homage :D ) -- However I did not miss these guys mindlessly cheering, but could care less about the game in front of them.


Giants Get Burned
Vancouver 3 Kamloops 4 SOL

Loaded up with turkey and all the fixings, and wearing their white jerseys for some reason, the Vancouver Giants were eager to slough off the holiday break and get back to work. They took the play to the Blazers early and gained an 2-0 advantage by the end of the first period. Milan Lucic tallied his second hat-trick of the season and was the only Giant player to score on the evening. The Giants dominated most of the play on the evening but had some very poor lapses in their own end which cost them. The G-Men gave up few chances on the night, but Sexsmith was unable to keep those offerings out of his net. The Blazers came back late in the second when JD Watt was assessed a 5min major for elbowing. The Kamloops team kept pressing in the Giants zone and capitalised on some home team lapses finding open ice and tying the game mid-way through the third. The Blazers scored twice in the shootout, to edge the home team 4-3.

The Giants opened the scoring 8:08 into the first on the PP. Milan Lucic was rewarded for going to the net. Tim Kraus got the puck to JD watt who got a short shot on goal. A massive scramble ensued and Lucic found the puck in the blue paint and slipped it past a sprawling Dustin Butler. Garet Hunt had been the quintessential pest from the drop of the puck, hitting everything that skated and about a minute after the goal was scored, tough guy Matt Kassian finally took him to task for it. Kassian quickly got the upper-hand tying up Garet and laying overhand bombs from above. Garet struggled to get loose but was only able to stay on his feet and deflect a few of the many blows. The linesmen finally stopped the fight when Hunt was bleeding from his brow and looked to be totally tied up. The crowd gave a massive applause to the feisty fireplug who took on the one of the toughest in the league and could still recall his own name and the current day and date. I suppose Garet now fully understands that it really is better to give than receive. The Giants went up by two late in the first off of a nifty back-hand spin feed by Spencer Machacek in the neutral zone to Milan Lucic. Lucic got on his horse and powered his way down the right slot snapping a seeing-eye rocket high glove side on Butler.

The Giants came out in the second much the same way they began the first taking the game to the Blazers. The second is also when the incompetence of referee Reagan Vetter came to the fore, calling dumb penalties, equally dumb and soft equalisers while fancying his own cheeky calls from centre-ice. Basically he was the very worst a ref could be, unpredictable and apt to punish players for invisible infractions, while allowing crosschecks to the back of the head go by. Oddly there was another referee on the ice, but the majority of poor judgments came from the whistle of Vetter. Late in the second JD Watt got tagged for a 5min major elbow penalty, as he caught the another player from behind when the player turned to face the boards as he saw the hit coming. Watt also received a game misconduct. The Blazers capitalised on the PP, when the Giants decided to allow them to move the puck freely with seconds ticking down. With 7 seconds left the Giants allowed a screen and a wide open shot for the point man who was not challenged in the least. Ryan White powered a shot from the point past a screened Tyson Sexsmith, giving the Blazers life going into the third.

The major penalty carried into the third where the home squad killed off the remainder in a rather haphazard manner. The Giants managed to right the ship though on the PP at 6:32 of the third. Milan Lucic scored his third of the game off of another goal mouth scramble. Roofing a back hand from the side of the net. The Blazers got that one back less than two minutes later when Nolan Toigo tripped in the neutral zone giving Terrance Delaronde a wide open odd man rush into the Giants zone. Delaronde cut across the goal mouth, flipped a short shot on Sexsmith, gathered his own rebound and lifted the puck past Sexsmith’s pad. The Blazers completed their come-back when the Giants broke down defensively in their own zone.

Kamloops had been pressuring the G-Men all night with an aggressive forecheck and it was beginning to pay off. Sniper Reid Jorgensen found some open ice and snapped the loose biscuit past Sexsmith to tie the game at threes. The Giants tried to come back, but squandered a late period PP chance with some sloppy puck handling and by waiting too long to take the shot or make the play. The G-Men had one shot in the OT and they wasted yet another PP opportunity in the over-time stanza, garnering only one shot in the whole OT. Once again the G-Men lacked the killer instinct and were too busy passing the puck around the perimeter to drive the net and create traffic. The Blazers got a very late 4 on 3 and then 5 on 3 (yes they added a player to the Blazer side when the Giants took a penalty down 4 on 3), but did not get a shot on net. OT solved nothing and it went to a shootout.

Juuso Puustinen and Brock Nixon scored for the Kamloops squad, while Kyle Lamb tallied the lone goal for home team. The shootout went to extra shooters, but it was Brock Nixon scoring while Mitch Czibere failed to get the puck behind Butler. The Giants had 25 shots on Butler, while holding the visitors to 15 shots. The home team went 2 for 9 on the PP, while holding the Blazers to 1 for 6. Although the Giants played a sound defensive game, limiting shots and mostly keeping the Blazers to the outside their break-downs allowed their opponent too many high quality shots and they paid for it. Kudos to Garet Hunt for his energetic play all night long and to Mitch Czibere for never giving up and working the puck hard in the opposing end all night long on a line with Hunt and Craig Cunningham. Brett Festerling was workhorse and deserved star honours for his smart play and tenacious back-check.

The Giants next tilt is a home at home versus the surging Chilliwack Bruins. Gaining some confidence and momentum off of their swing through the Central Division the Bruins are no longer the whipping boys they once were and could prove more of a challenge to the slumping Giants who are still missing four key players on their club to the World Junior Tournament. The puck drops at the Coliseum at 7pm PST on Saturday December 30th, and then head up the road for an early (5pm) New Years Eve tilt in Chilliwack, on the 31st.

Three Stars

1 – Milan Lucic
2 – Reid Jorgensen
3 – Victor Bartley

[Swando]

I think Kamloops deserved the win tonight...but not by much....we were the dominant team, but there were many moments where I wondered what the Giants were doing, if anything...
Lucic and Hunt played great games...
Defense made some mistakes, but the shots on goal tell the tale of some great work...
Sexsmith....good work on a few stops, but certainly off his game...
Missed Bliznak...losing the face off on a 5 on 3 in the opposing zone hurts...having that happen for 65 minutes hurts even more....
And definitely missed on the PP...is it Franson? not sure why but the PP stunk tonight.
Good overall effort by the boys, but no little things that make the difference...
Tough loss against the one team that seem s to be in contention for the division title...
Maybe you deserved to win because that is what the score said but I disagree with you that you were the better team. With 4 3/4 guys missing from our line-up the Giants outshot the Blazers 25-15 and they only had 5 shots in the 3rd and OT where they had a lot of PP. The Giants 16 yr olds did a fine job against a more veteran Blazer bunch. I think Sexsmith did not have his best game by far and that was the big difference, not to mention losing Watt for the game and Hunt who was chased by Kassian to fight ( no insigator?). The Heavy Weight should have taken off his helmut when someone as small as Hunt accepts the invite. Your big goon showed his real colors tonight.

[dondo]

um swando -- section Z is a Giants fan and I agree with him

I felt that even though we played a solid game for the most part, we did not capitalise on our opportunities or have a killer instinct. The Blazers kept most of our shots to the outside, and blocked a ton as well as fore checking us pretty hard. Even though we controlled the play I felt the real scoring chances were close to even with our squad having a slight edge.

WE probably should have won that game, but good teams do not give up 2 goal leads and it was clear that Hay was pretty choked about the game. WE did not play our best and it caught us. Maybe this will be a good learning experience for the boys.

The Blazers were no slouches tonight and never really gave up trying to come back -- they earned the win in the end and we let it go.

[Swando]

Sorry I misread the statemet in my confused state of anger over the Smith show tonight. My apologies to the writer. You know where my heart is .

[Swando]

um swando -- section Z is a Giants fan and I agree with him

I felt that even though we played a solid game for the most part, we did not capitalise on our opportunities or have a killer instinct. The Blazers kept most of our shots to the outside, and blocked a ton as well as fore checking us pretty hard. Even though we controlled the play I felt the real scoring chances were close to even with our squad having a slight edge.

WE probably should have won that game, but good teams do not give up 2 goal leads and it was clear that Hay was pretty choked about the game. WE did not play our best and it caught us. Maybe this will be a good learning experience for the boys.

The Blazers were no slouches tonight and never really gave up trying to come back -- they earned the win in the end and we let it go.


Sorry Dondo but I disagree, and you contradicted youself in your write-up by saying we should have won. Yes there were moments that the Blazers did carry the play but I refer back to trhe G men icing a team much younger etc and still outshot the Blazers and should have won the game but for a couple of lapses....Toigos tripping, and Mikkelsens not clearing the puck with 5 sec left in the 2nd period for just 2.. I think if you asked the Kamloops coach he was more than happy to get the 2 points the way his team played.

[Kassian]

The Giants should have won this game but they weren't able to score on the several PP opportunities they had in the 2nd period. Not to mention that garbage major for elbowing call on Watt. That goal scored at the end of the 2nd period was definitely a back breaker. I was so angry during the 3rd period with the officiating. Specifically the call on Blum for "interference". More like two minutes for playing defense. ****ing garbage. :burningma

[dondo]

true swando I did contradict myself (but not really), that's what this game was like. The Giants need to be that team who puts the boots to the other guy and tonight they simply were not.

The Blazers played a consistently aggressive game and were eventually rewarded. The Giants controlled the play for the majority of the game, but still came out with the L (sure it was shootout loss), but you have to play the full sixty in all ends of the ice and make good use of your opportunities to come out on top.

There's absolutely no way that the Giants should have lost tonight or even allowed it to go to overtime --- the goals the Blazers got were good goals they weren't cheap deflections or goal mouth scrambles which slid in and for a team to get good goals they have to have been given the opportunity and the Blazers were given that opportunity too many times.

[rinkrat]

While I agree the reffing was horrible,the Giants had plenty of PP opportunities and didn't take advantage.Us fans need to focus on what the Giants need to do rather than what the refs are doing.They are going to face adversity,whether it be poor reffing,injuries,bad scheduling flu season,whatever.All teams go through it and the good teams perservere.

My main focus right now is goaltending.Three goals on fourteen shots is not acceptable and will not win championships.Sexsmiths goaltending or lack thereof deflated the team at times last night.If the goaltending situation is not addressed it will be their achilles heel come playoffs.
Not to beat a dead horse but management really blew the Slade/Sexsmith situation and they are going to pay for it.
Sexsmith is going to be a great goalie of the future,unfortunately the giants future is now,and this should have been addressed last summer.

On a side note,if someone sees Kyle Lamb,please give Don Hay a call,I think he has gone missing. :spineyes:

[rinkrat]

Nice job Steve Ewen from The Province, were you even at the game? But then again why does this surprise me from the Vancouver newspaper whos top stories of 2006 didn't include the Giants winning a WHL Championship. Go back to the garage and stay there, I'm sure Naslund will have a nice quote for you to justify your job.

Did I miss an interview or column from this guy?
I don't usually read that fishwrap.

[N.W. Bruin]

Program had him already playing a game previously and I couldn't remember when but according to the WHL site he played in Everett instead of Kane who I guess had a game in the midget league. I guess with the Watt suspension up-coming we could have both in the line-up on Saturday or someone else. Wright, Cunningham, Bouma, Piluso and Kane among our twelve forwards against a Bruins team that is better overall than earlier in the season.

[scamperdog]

um swando -- section Z is a Giants fan and I agree with him

I felt that even though we played a solid game for the most part, we did not capitalise on our opportunities or have a killer instinct. The Blazers kept most of our shots to the outside, and blocked a ton as well as fore checking us pretty hard. Even though we controlled the play I felt the real scoring chances were close to even with our squad having a slight edge.

WE probably should have won that game, but good teams do not give up 2 goal leads and it was clear that Hay was pretty choked about the game. WE did not play our best and it caught us. Maybe this will be a good learning experience for the boys.

The Blazers were no slouches tonight and never really gave up trying to come back -- they earned the win in the end and we let it go.
That is about what I noticed from the internet broadcast. From the middle of the second period I thought the Blazers started to play better, not getting many good chances but making the best of what was given.
Do Giant fans really want to go into the playoffs with Sexsmith as the goalie?
From what I have seen, he seems average at best, and it is the rest of the team that is making him look like he is having a good season.
Also is Watt subject to a suspension for his major? The Giants were not the say team after he was kicked out.

[Beaner]

Also is Watt subject to a suspension for his major? The Giants were not the say team after he was kicked out.

Yes.

from, www.whl.ca



2/29/06 J.D. Watt Vancouver One game for Elbow Major and G.M. vs Kamloops on December 28.

Seems the WHL has institued a minimum 1 game suspension for any major. Has anyone this year not gotten a suspension for a major this year?

[Knuckles Muldoon]

1. The Giants were the better team.
2. Watt blew the game, IMO. The Blazers had nothing going on until that 5-minute PP.
3. It was comical watching Regner and Blum shuffle the puck back and forth on the PP. "Are you going to shoot? Nope. Here, you take it. I don't want to shoot, back to you." Too much. All the Blazers had to do was stand in the lanes to discourage our two reluctant shooters.
4. The reffing wasn't good, but I've seen a number of worse efforts by the stripes this season.
5. I liked Lucic, Iron-Guts Hunt, Czibere, Bouma and Regner best last night.

Back to Watt. This guy is a piece of work. The team has everything going its way, and he pulls an idiot move to give the Blazers life. To me, it just proves that winning isn't particularly important to JD. I see another power forward, Lucic, bust his can every night to make a difference. He hits, he fights, he scores, he lugs the puck down the ice and he plants himself in the dirty areas around the net. He is turning into a terrific player right before our eyes. But what about the older, more experienced Watt? He's more concerned with stirring up crap and diving. He ought to just watch what Lucic does and imitate it. Play the game straight up! Be a force and make them deal with you, with and without the puck. But its clear the smarts JD was playing with earlier in the year have disappeared and he's reverted to the unfocused under-achiever that we've had to tolerate in years past. He just doesn't get the plot.

[rinkrat]

I think Hunt has earned a job as a 20 next year. :groovy:

[Knuckles Muldoon]

I think Hunt has earned a job as a 20 next year. :groovy:
I would have previously thought that to be impossible, but I think he may have too.

[Kassian]

That spot was already earned, IMO. And it sure as hell better be as far as I'm concerned.