Blazers 1 @ Giants 6 Feb 25th

[Beaner]

A very chippy affair tonight at the PNE, as the 2 teams fighting for 1st int he BC Division went at it with rather depleted lineups. The game started off with Kamloops coming out with a bang as Kamloops ran over a lot of Giants trying to establish a physical presence, which led to their first goal, but I think the tired legs of Kamloops playing 3 in 3 and starting the game with a short bench slowed them down.

Giants responded well, with a bunch of big hits of their own, and a few cheapshots, and that seemed to turn the tide of the game. A nasty game I would call it, but fun to watch as it is apparent that these two teams hate each other.

NOTES
Sexsmith and Butler got the starts
Repik (head), Lucic (Suspended), Bliznak (knee), Hunt (Leg) Bouma (winter games) and Wright (Winter Games)were the Giants scratches.
Kamloops only had 16 skaters dressed to start the game
Mike Piluso, Evander Kane, and Neil Manning were the Giants call ups tonight
Cody Franson left the game mid second after laying ont he ice motionless for an extended period of time. Head injury? I missed what happened.
MacIas, Bartley and Stretch all left the game at points int he first but returned later in the game.
Mikkelson was moved up from his usual D position to wing tonight.
Kane was ejected for Kneeing Stretch int he first period.
Shots 39-13 Giants
PP's Giants 2/6 Blazers 0/7


GOALS
1. KAM Macias, (26) (Stretch), 0:37 Great forecheck byt he blazers as giants bodies are flying everywhere, Stretch takes the puck behind the net comes around spots Macias steaking in and macias gets the pass and shots it on the ice far side and in.
1. VAN McArdle, (15) (Rabbit, Machacek), 6:35 (PP) 5-4, Rabbit beats his man ont he rush to the ouotside, but runs out of room, throws the puck thru the crease to the far side to McArdle whos puts it top shelf.
2. VAN Kraus, (16) , 1:57 (SH) 4-5, after killing the 5-3, Kraus banks the puck off the boards at the point past ellerby and goes right by him ont he rush. Comes in looks pass and Shots glove side for the shortie.
2. VAN Machacek, (16) (Blum, McArdle), 12:22 Blum doing some great work, takes the shot, Butler makes the save but Machacek right in front of him gets the rebound and puts it 5-hole.
2. VAN Rabbit, (6) (Wuchterl), 16:25 rabbit gets sent in from the blueline ona breakaway, and he beats Butler glove side top shelf.
3. VAN McArdle, (16) (Kraus, Cunningham), 10:50 Cunningham feeds Kraus who breaks in on the 2-1. He waits feeds the puck to McArdle who waits for Butler to go down and he then pots it top shelf.
3. VAN McArdle, (17) (Blum, Kraus), 18:39 (PP)5-4 More great work from Blum as he dipsy doodles around the kamloops players and dishes to McArdle at the side of the net and he buries it again, top shelf.

FISTICUFFS
Kraus (KAM) vs. Czibre
After Kraus boards a Giant Czibre comes in to get a little payback immediatley. More wrestling match then pure fight but both did allright and managed to get a couple thru. kraus was looking to unload the big bomb all fight and almost connected with the Huge uppercut but just missed. DRAW

Woznikoski vs Toigo
Not sure what set this off, but a pretty decent scrap between the 2 rookies. Giving the edge here to Toigo as he get a lot of punches to connect although they werent bvery hard hits. EDGE: Toigo

Kassian vs. Watt
Finally near the end of the game, the fight everyone knew was going to happen finally goes as Kassian has had enough of Watt running everyone in a Blazer jersey and he goes right for him and jumps him. A good Scrap as Kassian gets Watts helmet of early and gets a lot of shots, but Watt uses his reach and a ducking move to miss most of them. Watt manages to catch Kassian with a couple uppercuts that stunned the big guy, but Kassian regained his composure and got a few more shots in on Watt. Just as Watt had got his arm free of his jersey the Linesman jumped in to break it up. EDGE KASSIAN.

OFFICIATING
Matsuoka tonight, and I did not think he had a good game as he missed a LOT of cheap shots and just let things go. Let me also say that the 5 min major to Kane was a GOOD call as Kane did hang a knee on Stretch. The Watt double minor for High-sticking Bartley probably should have been a 5, but after just calling a 5 thats a hard one to make. The Watt elbow on Macias should have been a double minor. Maybe it was old time hockey night at the PNE, but Matsoouka is very lucky he didnt lose control of this game.

OVERALL

A good job by the Giants tonight as with a lack of toughness tonight they stood up to a bigger Kamloops team, worked hard and defendedd their team mates. Blum and Kraus I think had their best games of the year, both were sensational.

Manning was in a bit over his head tonight, as he looked very shakey, but with the way guys were dropping int his game, I can understand that. Piluso looked allright and kane in his brief part of the game, looked very good.

I dont know who pee'd in Watts cornflakes this morning but he was po'd all game long and was really throwing around a lot of cheap shots tonight. I am really surprised that it took the Blazers till the end of the third for someone to say enough and fight Watt, after all he tried to take out Macias and Bartley, two of their better players.

Butler did not look good tonight at all period. Big rebounds and anything towards the top half of the net went in.

Kamloops had to be tired tonight, but when you only generate 3-4 shots on a 4 min 5-3 advantage and then give up a shorty in the same sequence, something is wrong.

I am trying to figure out what the deal is with Ellerby he looked really uninterested in playing tonight, and I cant believe that he is a projected 1st round draft pick.

3 STARS
1. VAN - 22 Kenndal McArdle
2. VAN - 12 Tim Kraus
3. VAN - 15 Spencer Machacek

Blum for my money was the #3 star he had a fantastic performance tonight.

[Jimmy]

I wasn't at the game tonight, but listened to Bill & Joey

Probably for the best that Kane was tossed after leaving his knee out there like that. He would have been hearing Kassian on his trail all night.


I miss the big guy though :o

[Knuckles Muldoon]

All things considered, I think this may have been the most satisfying Giants home game this season. Sometimes its a blessing in disguise to work with a depleted lineup because it forces everybody to pick up the slack and concentrate on the task for a full 60. And that's exactly what we got tonight. The Blazers can claim a weak lineup, but the truth is that the Giants weren't any better off, especially when Kane was tossed early and Franson going down early in the second.
Everybody (except for one notable exception) really stepped up and played hard and played well. K-Mac was fabulous. Easily his best game of the year, although his play has been building for a few games now. He was a force. Hitting, going hard to the net, racing back down his wing on the back-check, K-Mac did it all. If that's what we can expect from him the rest of the way, things are going to work out just fine. Kraus was also terrific. Two sublime assists. His beautiful dolphin-pass over to Blum on the final goal was great. Blum was also outstanding. Great game at both ends of the ice. Maybe his best all year. Nothing against Spencer (who also had an excellent game), but Blum was a star ahead of him. But maybe the best part of the game was the terrific job by all the foot soldiers. CC, Toigo, Piluso, and Kane (for a while) all hustled and caused havoc for the Blazers' experienced defencemen. Each time they were out, they hemmed the Blazers in their own end. You can't ask for more than that. I also thought that Wookie stood out as well, playing his best game as a Giant. With Hunt gone, Wookie needs to bring it every game out, and his effort tonight is a benchmark of what is expected of him constantly. I thought he was tough on the forecheck and cycle and was a real pain-in-the-butt. I was also pleased to see Czibere jump in and drop the mits with a much bigger guy, showing good character. Good job by Toigo in his scrap, too. I didn't know he could toss 'em. Nice to see him get in there like that. And hats off to Notable Exception for going with Kassian near the end, he didn't get the decision, but wasn't any worse for wear. It was also curious to see Mikk play some shifts up front. He looked like he accepted the challenge and skated well up there. The only downer was Franson's injury. He looked wonky leaving the ice, but I didn't see what happened. Gotta hope he's okay, we need him. Manning indeed had a bit of a rocky game, as he clearly had trouble with the pace of the game and made some mistakes holding onto the puck too long instead of making the safe play and getting the puck out. But all in all, he did okay for his first time out and no harm was done. I thought he was going to bag a goal in the last couple minutes as he found himself all alone in front of the net only to fumble the puck away.
Great job, strong character win. Nice to leave Kamloops better players looking so ineffective. Guys like Puustinen and Nixon were virtually non-existent. Nice to see that.
Things are looking up. :thumb:

[rinkrat]

According to Joey's report,it was Terrance Delaronde who delivered the blow to Fransons head.

[dondo]

Giants Burn Blazers 6-1 Feb 25 (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/February_25th_GiantsbkBurnbkBlazers_101.html)

my take on things^ (link to recap)

I think Matsuoka fell for a lot of the Blazer's theatrics early on and that's sad. All three players who lay on the ice and rolled around like they were direly injured. They all bounced back and did not show signs of any injuries or hampered by pain at all. The double to Watt was probably justified because as Beaner said he was taking some really dumb cheap shots ( I don't think it was 5 min major worthy, but then I didn't see the whole thing so I can't say if it was deliberate or not).

Stretch was the worst -- after laying like he'd been shot hobbling off the ice after being kneed by Kane on the shoulders of the trainer I don't think he missed more than one shift and looked completely fine during their PP, and while he head-hunted and took cheap shots himself for the rest of the evening. The knee did not appear deliberate to me but more incidental contact which comes from two players turning toward one another. I did not see a knee being consciously hung out in an intent to injure.

Bartley held his throat like he had it slit in the back alley and he too missed maybe one shift and did not look any worse for wear. So frankly I think they were all faking it and it sickens me.

Other than that a good game for the home town fans as the Giants played a complete game and took advantage of a tired Blazer squad.

Great to see Kenndal bump an 18 game scoring slump, with a vengeance -- great night for him and the pucks all went in convincingly.

I too predicted Blum for the third star Beaner -- he was all over the ice. I loved his one rush up ice and when they lost the puck it was thrown back down into the Giants end and who's first to touch the puck? BLUM. Also some of Blum's rushes down the slot makes me salivate over what he might be doing for us next season.

Mikks is driving me nuts.

Nice to see this team is capable of all hands on deck with such a lean line-up being iced.

[Beaner]

According to Joey's report,it was Terrance Delaronde who delivered the blow to Fransons head.

So what happened? Everyone I talked to at the rink missed it. and whats the word on Codys' injury?

[Beaner]

I think Matsuoka fell for a lot of the Blazer's theatrics early on and that's sad. All three players who lay on the ice and rolled around like they were direly injured. They all bounced back and did not show signs of any injuries or hampered by pain at all. The double to Watt was probably justified because as Beaner said he was taking some really dumb cheap shots ( I don't think it was 5 min major worthy, but then I didn't see the whole thing so I can't say if it was deliberate or not).

Stretch was the worst -- after laying like he'd been shot hobbling off the ice after being kneed by Kane on the shoulders of the trainer I don't think he missed more than one shift and looked completely fine during their PP, and while he head-hunted and took cheap shots himself for the rest of the evening. The knee did not appear deliberate to me but more incidental contact which comes from two players turning toward one another. I did not see a knee being consciously hung out in an intent to injure.

Bartley held his throat like he had it slit in the back alley and he too missed maybe one shift and did not look any worse for wear. So frankly I think they were all faking it and it sickens me.



Well all 3 happened right in front of me so they were all worthy of the calls whether the players were exaggerating the plays or not.

Macias came back to play on the ensuing power play, but it was a clear elbow to the head. JD raised it and caught him no doubt about it.

Bartley and Strech returned to the game after the first intermission. Stretch was putting weight on the knee after the hit but it was well worth a 5. Any player who hangs out a knee like that can destroy a players season. Kane should get suspended for that but only 1 game I would think.

Watt clearly high sticked Bartley in the throat. Any hit to throat is gonna knock you out of action for a while, so I don't think there was any over-acting there at all. Watt may get a suspension for that one, if the blazers send in the tape, I still think it was worthy of a 5.

[rinkrat]

So what happened? Everyone I talked to at the rink missed it. and whats the word on Codys' injury?

I didn't see it either. Just reading Joey's post game report.
The fans near me missed it also. Hard to believe all those fans, broadcasters, etc. missed it. Hope he's OK.