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View Full Version : GM7: Giants vs Tigers WHL Finals -- preview



dondo
05-14-2007, 12:26 AM
Vancouver Giants @ Medicine Hat Tigers
WHL Final
Round Four: Game Five
Monday May 14th, 2007
The Arena
6:00pm PDT (7:00pm MDT)

Radio: AM730 (AM980)
TV: Shaw
Web: whltv.ca

Series tied 3-3

Series:
Vancouver 1 Medicine Hat 0
Vancouver 2 Medicine Hat 3
Vancouver 2 Medicine Hat 3 OT
Vancouver 4 Medicine Hat 0
Vancouver 3 Medicine Hat 0
Vancouver 3 Medicine Hat 4


Game 7 – winner take all – there’s nothing quite like a game seven. Some game 7’s one team doesn’t show up, other ones are knock-down drag out affairs, others are scoring sprees for both teams. You never know what’ll happen in a game seven. The Memorial Cup is going to be sort of like a bunch of game 7’s where you do not want to lose any of them and you definitely do not want to lose the final. The WHL Championship comes down to one game. One game for the right to hoist a Champions banner to reside in your rafters for all to see. Neither of these teams are thinking Memorial Cup right now, they want to win the league championship and the bragging rights which go with them.

The Giants are an excellent road team and rarely get rattled when playing on the road. They are also a team which is pretty damn good at closing out a series, failing to do so only twice in their last nine opportunities. They are coached by Don Hay a veteran coach with extensive championship experience. They are looking to be the second Don Hay coached team to win back-to-back titles, a feat not done since 1994. They will not give in or back down and need to play their best close checking game of the playoffs. They need to stay out of the box, Shut down the Tigers PP and win the battles for loose pucks.

Tigers have a storied history and are no strangers to championships themselves. They boast a team which like the Giants comfortably rolls four lines and are a scoring threat. They have a wicked PP, which has been shut down fairly well by the visitors from Vancouver, so they will need to get that clicking to defeat the G-Men. They need to continue to get traffic to the net and get behind the Giants defense.

Both squads need to play with heart and soul. This is a team game and no one cog can be out of alignment. The reason hockey series are seven games long is because fortunes change from day to day and two evenly matched opponents can trade wins on any given night. That is why game sevens are so special. No fan really wants to be in a game seven if their team could have taken it before, but now that they are…. the excitement and anticipation is palpable. Teams, franchises and dreams live and die in game sevens and a game seven of a championship series just ups that ante even more. It will be a glorious game and both of these teams will be willing to leave it all out on the ice come the drop of the puck.

I can hardly wait.

N.W. Bruin
05-14-2007, 12:54 AM
No back door winners for the Memorial Cup. Killer would be if Tigers win the league and Vancouver wins the Memorial Cup. It just wouldn't be right and for it to happen to the Tigers twice in the last few years wouldn't sit well.

Tiger Trauma
05-14-2007, 01:27 AM
These two teams dont have much time to get ready for the memorial cup. Giants will have 3 days to get ready, and the tigers 4.

Knuckles Muldoon
05-14-2007, 09:05 AM
Admittedly, I don't have a good feeling about the game tonight, largely because of the situation on defense. If the Giants are going to win, the forwards are going to have to lead the way by getting on the forecheck, thus giving our tiring defencemen a chance to breathe. If the boys can't move their legs better than last night, things aren't going to work out good for them. Gotta keep moving to stay out of the box. And although he's played well, its time for Lucic to step it up even further and become the immovable force. He needs to be flying out there.
I've got to make sure I've got some Tums at work, because I'll be having a semi-ill feeling in my gut all day long. :(
As well, this is the first game #7 in the WHL Final in 13 years.

Tiger9
05-14-2007, 11:59 AM
Good preview to what will be a hell of a game tonight!!

langdak
05-14-2007, 12:07 PM
Another great preview Dondo :thumb:

Good luck to both teams tonight.

I will be the first to admit that I wanted this series over last night, but hey, the Tigers have fought back to force a game 7.

Regardless of the outcome tonight, we all know full well that there will be 2 excellent hockey teams giving it their all.

An excellent team will win, and an excellent team will be the runner-up.

Again, good luck to both teams, it should be a good one.

TheBrass
05-14-2007, 01:52 PM
I'll chime in with agreement that it was a great preview and promises to be an even greater game tonight. Go Giants!

dondo
05-14-2007, 06:52 PM
with regard to the Mem Cup .. looks like the Tigers and Giants are going to be the only Canadian teams, so despite their differences they are going to have to pull for one another in the Mem Cup to do well and hope that the final game is between the two Canadian squads.

thanks for the props folks it makes it that much more worthwhile ... Game 7 in ten minutes!!! nhl :bounce:

rinkrat
05-14-2007, 07:57 PM
Good job refs calling freakin tick tack penalties as Dorsett dives and dives again!
Did the refs not see his tactics before?
Seriously,let them play. In fact give the Tigers two cheesy penalties.
Its GAME 7 REF!!

C.F
05-14-2007, 08:35 PM
MUCH better period. There's the forcheck we all know and love! :clap:

20 minutes away! But this isn't even close to being over. You just know the Tigers are going to come out flying in the third. I can't take this...

Knuckles Muldoon
05-14-2007, 08:39 PM
MUCH better period. There's the forcheck we all know and love! :clap:

20 minutes away! But this isn't even close to being over. You just know the Tigers are going to come out flying in the third. I can't take this...
Whew!

Nice period for the boys. Finally getting their feet moving a little bit. Damn Keetley is playing great.

Gotta dump some pucks in and win some battles in the Tigers end this period.

Now time for a medical question. Is it healthy to hold your breath for 15 minutes at a time? Because that's what I've been doing since the puck dropped. :spineyes:

Soundy
05-14-2007, 08:43 PM
Whew!

Nice period for the boys. Finally getting their feet moving a little bit. Damn Keetley is playing great.

Gotta dump some pucks in and win some battles in the Tigers end this period.

Now time for a medical question. Is it healthy to hold your breath for 15 minutes at a time? Because that's what I've been doing since the puck dropped. :spineyes:

If you look in the mirror and it looks like this: http://whlfans.ca/images/smilies/spineyes.gif... it's time to breathe!

Knuckles Muldoon
05-14-2007, 08:46 PM
If you look in the mirror and it looks like this: http://whlfans.ca/images/smilies/spineyes.gif... it's time to breathe!

Unfortunately, that's my normal appearance. I'm working the oxy-deprived look. :)

C.F
05-14-2007, 08:50 PM
I don't know if I can watch. I can't imagine what the Mem. Cup will be like.

C.F
05-14-2007, 09:23 PM
OT. :burningma

Knuckles Muldoon
05-14-2007, 09:24 PM
OT. :burningma
I don't need this. I really don't need this.

C.F
05-14-2007, 09:26 PM
No kidding!

That was YOUR man Kraus. Ah well.

Knuckles Muldoon
05-14-2007, 09:27 PM
No kidding!

That was YOUR man Kraus. Ah well.
And how about Kraus on the first goal? He climbed in behind Sexy to play goal instead of tying someone up.

Knuckles Muldoon
05-14-2007, 11:07 PM
It's going to be difficult for this cowboy to whip up much enthusiasm for the MemCup now. :(

C.F
05-14-2007, 11:27 PM
It's going to be difficult for this cowboy to whip up much enthusiasm for the MemCup now. :(
If the Giants lost to the Silvertips in the WCF like I thought they might have, then it would have put a damper on the tournament, but to lose in double OT of a game 7? I don't care what anyone says about the "backdoor", the Giants deserve to be in the Memorial Cup.

Section_Z
05-15-2007, 08:50 PM
No back door winners for the Memorial Cup. Killer would be if Tigers win the league and Vancouver wins the Memorial Cup. It just wouldn't be right and for it to happen to the Tigers twice in the last few years wouldn't sit well.

Care to retract thatstatement after last night? That was one of the most intense and exciting games of hockey I've ever seen. No "back door" winner this year...

Knuckles Muldoon
05-15-2007, 08:58 PM
Care to retract that statement after last night?
Bruin and myself have discussed this (and other matters of world importance) on our drives out to Chilliwack this year. I can say with 100% confidence that he won't take that statement back. His mind is absolute on this matter.