Tiger Trauma
05-24-2007, 04:30 PM
MEDICINE HAT 1 VANCOUVER 0
Tigers advance to final after needing only one goal to subdue host giants
MEMORIAL CUP'S NEXT GAME: lewiston maineiacs vs. plymouth whalers, tonight, 7:30 p.m. at pacific coliseum, sportsnet
There's a lesson to be learned from the Vancouver Giants' 1-0 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers in the final round-robin game of the 2007 MasterCard Memorial Cup on Wednesday.
Should the two teams meet again, don't make fun of Derek Dorsett's momma.
The Tigers uber pest scored just seconds after a Giants fan holding a disparaging sign about his mom and facial hair was shown on the video scoreboard at the Pacific Coliseum.
With the loss, the Giants fall to 2-1 at Canadian junior hockey's showcase event and will face the winner of today's tie-breaker between the Lewiston Maineiacs and Plymouth Whalers in Friday's semifinal. Medicine Hat, which opened the tournament 0-1 before stringing together two straight wins, earns a direct trip to Sunday's championship final. Vancouver would have received a bye to the final with a win.
At the time, the cardboard sign drew a hearty laugh and cheers from the round-robin record 14,091 fans in attendance. Silence soon followed. No less than 10 seconds after the slight, Dorsett outmuscled Giants defenceman Jonathan Blum to give the overage winger enough time to go from his backhand to his forehand before sweeping the puck past goalie Tyson Sexsmith from just outside the crease. The Tigers , who were on the power play, connected at 17:26 of the second period.
Dorsett -- who has been booed every time he touched the puck since the Memorial Cup opened -- celebrated his first goal of the tournament in style by flinging himself against the glass behind the Giants' net.
He was a little more humble with his post-game comments. "It's awesome. Anytime you can score in a game like today, it's just awesome to get that goal," said Dorsett, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect. "It just happened to be the game-winning goal."
Dorsett has been Public Enemy No. 1 since his antics in the WHL championship, which the Tigers won with a 3-2 double overtime victory in the seventh and deciding game in Medicine Hat nine days ago. Dorsett dodged a fight in Game 2 of the league final before getting suspended a game for biting Giants winger Kenndal McArdle in Game 3.
All week, winger J.D. Watt has told anyone who would listen that the Giants have paid too much attention to Dorsett. Watt repeated those sentiments following the game.
"He's a good player, a good complimentary player for [Darren] Helm, he's a gritty guy, but we talk about him so much," said Watt. "We talk about him so much, we're worried about him a little too much."
But on Wednesday night, it looked like the Giants didn't key on him enough.
Both teams played a disciplined and cautious opening period, with few scoring chances. The Giants failed to take advantage of a Tigers gaffe that put Vancouver on a 5-on-3 advantage for 52 seconds midway through the second period. With Michael Sauer already in the penalty box for interference, defenceman Trevor Glass was assessed a delay of game penalty for firing the puck over the boards from his own zone. However, the Giants failed to generate any good scoring chances and only managed one shot on goal on the power play.
The third period was a static, tight-checking affair with the Tigers bottling up the neutral zone.
"We beat ourselves," said Giants captain Brett Festerling. "Not to take anything away from the Tigers, but we didn't play the way we can and we have to play better on Friday."
Sexsmith finished with 20 saves while Tigers netminder Matt Keetley stopped all 29 shots directed his way for the tournament's first shutout. Keetley was the MVP of the WHL championship.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/story.html?id=914d5e20-22d5-40cd-87a6-2f48933707b4&k=6887
Tigers advance to final after needing only one goal to subdue host giants
MEMORIAL CUP'S NEXT GAME: lewiston maineiacs vs. plymouth whalers, tonight, 7:30 p.m. at pacific coliseum, sportsnet
There's a lesson to be learned from the Vancouver Giants' 1-0 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers in the final round-robin game of the 2007 MasterCard Memorial Cup on Wednesday.
Should the two teams meet again, don't make fun of Derek Dorsett's momma.
The Tigers uber pest scored just seconds after a Giants fan holding a disparaging sign about his mom and facial hair was shown on the video scoreboard at the Pacific Coliseum.
With the loss, the Giants fall to 2-1 at Canadian junior hockey's showcase event and will face the winner of today's tie-breaker between the Lewiston Maineiacs and Plymouth Whalers in Friday's semifinal. Medicine Hat, which opened the tournament 0-1 before stringing together two straight wins, earns a direct trip to Sunday's championship final. Vancouver would have received a bye to the final with a win.
At the time, the cardboard sign drew a hearty laugh and cheers from the round-robin record 14,091 fans in attendance. Silence soon followed. No less than 10 seconds after the slight, Dorsett outmuscled Giants defenceman Jonathan Blum to give the overage winger enough time to go from his backhand to his forehand before sweeping the puck past goalie Tyson Sexsmith from just outside the crease. The Tigers , who were on the power play, connected at 17:26 of the second period.
Dorsett -- who has been booed every time he touched the puck since the Memorial Cup opened -- celebrated his first goal of the tournament in style by flinging himself against the glass behind the Giants' net.
He was a little more humble with his post-game comments. "It's awesome. Anytime you can score in a game like today, it's just awesome to get that goal," said Dorsett, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect. "It just happened to be the game-winning goal."
Dorsett has been Public Enemy No. 1 since his antics in the WHL championship, which the Tigers won with a 3-2 double overtime victory in the seventh and deciding game in Medicine Hat nine days ago. Dorsett dodged a fight in Game 2 of the league final before getting suspended a game for biting Giants winger Kenndal McArdle in Game 3.
All week, winger J.D. Watt has told anyone who would listen that the Giants have paid too much attention to Dorsett. Watt repeated those sentiments following the game.
"He's a good player, a good complimentary player for [Darren] Helm, he's a gritty guy, but we talk about him so much," said Watt. "We talk about him so much, we're worried about him a little too much."
But on Wednesday night, it looked like the Giants didn't key on him enough.
Both teams played a disciplined and cautious opening period, with few scoring chances. The Giants failed to take advantage of a Tigers gaffe that put Vancouver on a 5-on-3 advantage for 52 seconds midway through the second period. With Michael Sauer already in the penalty box for interference, defenceman Trevor Glass was assessed a delay of game penalty for firing the puck over the boards from his own zone. However, the Giants failed to generate any good scoring chances and only managed one shot on goal on the power play.
The third period was a static, tight-checking affair with the Tigers bottling up the neutral zone.
"We beat ourselves," said Giants captain Brett Festerling. "Not to take anything away from the Tigers, but we didn't play the way we can and we have to play better on Friday."
Sexsmith finished with 20 saves while Tigers netminder Matt Keetley stopped all 29 shots directed his way for the tournament's first shutout. Keetley was the MVP of the WHL championship.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/story.html?id=914d5e20-22d5-40cd-87a6-2f48933707b4&k=6887