dondo
11-17-2007, 01:54 AM
Well not the most scintillating of hockey tonight. Error-free hockey can be pretty boring and when the goalies are as solid as the players it compounds the issue. A good tilt between Cloud and McCue. CPZ is interesting, looking forward to watching him grow as a dub player.
Giants Elude Bruins 2-1 OT - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/November_16_GiantsbkEludebkBruins_166.html)
Giants Elude Bruins
Vancouver 2 Chilliwack 1 OT
Don Robinson
The Bears from the valley played Giants hockey tonight and so did the home team. Both teams put together a tight-checking game, with excellent gap control. One of the reasons these two teams match-up so well is that they play a similar style of hockey and neither side really sags in the defensive department (forwards included). The Bruins have the edge in speed, and the Giants have a slight edge on the blue-line, but other than that the two squads are very similar. The Giants are no longer the high flyers they were with the loaded line-up, which won the Memorial Cup, and they have had to remember how to be a patient team, taking their opportunities when they come. Its curious that Chilliwack’s goal and the Giants OT winner were very similar plays. In both instances the defensive player made a smart and safe defensive move poking the puck off the stick. The loose puck in both cases ended up in the open and the trailing man wired the puck past the goalie. Both ‘tenders were solid, but neither were spectacular or needed to be. You could say that Tyson Sexsmith made a great stop sliding across the crease to stymie an open chance, but other than that the goalies were positionally solid giving their respective teams the chance to get the W.
The thing about solid text-book hockey, not taking too many chances, playing solid D, is that its boring. The 10000 plus fans watched some very good hockey on paper, with refs who let the boys play, but other than few good hits and some moments here and there the game itself was pretty dull. Chilliwack opened the scoring in the second, after the two teams played the first to a scoreless draw. Evan Pighin trailed the play, came in and rifled the puck top shelf. The Giants had been a bit too patient up to that point, but after the goal against they upped their intensity on the ice. The Giants tied the game about 5 minutes later when Mario Bliznak deflected a Jonathon Blum point-shot past Matt Esposito, picking it out of the air. The game remained tied until OT, when Michal Repik maintained possession, but it knocked off his stick by a prone player laying on the ice and Blum came late one-timing the puck far side on Espo for the win. It was the biggest cheer of the night from the crowd and the Giants team all gathered in the corner (right in front of where I sit, as a matter of fact) celebrating en-masse.
Tonight was the first opportunity the fans had to see newest Giant Casey Pierro-Zabotel (here-to-fore known as, ad infinitum, as CPZ). CPZ was sporting the number 17 for the first time since Brule wore the digits. He reminded me of Lucic out there. Wide-stance, big body and although he seemed a bit slow, he never seemed to be struggling to keep up with the play. His stride is similar to Mikkelson’s as he has a low smooth skating style. He made a few really nice passes, did not look to be a defensive liability and seamlessly rotated back to cover for a D-Man who pinched into the zone, a few times. He started the game with Kane and Piluso and it looked to be a good fit, but later in the game Kane moved up to play with Bliznak and Repik and that’s the line which scored the tying marker. Piluso, Machacek and CPZ were matched up and it looked to be a pretty decent line as well. Early in the game CPZ had the best chance to break the donut standing in the slot barely missing getting it over Espos pad on a wicked one-timer. This is going to be a fun player to watch. I’m eager to see how well he’ll do when he brings his game intensity up to the level of the dub.
As I said before - the reffing was solid, as there were things allowed to go on both sides of the puck and on a bad night it could have been a parade to the penalty box as both squads played a border-line clutch game, but thankfully the refs didn’t bite. One of the more exciting moments tonight though was a great dust-up between Matt McCue and Chris Cloud (“hey McCue get off of ma Cloud” ). McCue has a good six inches on Cloud, but Cloud took a page from Hunt’s book and got inside the reach of McCue. Cloud got some good shots in early, took a couple, but in the end got the majority of shots in, almost pulled McCue’s jersey over his head and got the full-nelson take-down.
The Giants out shot the visitors 33-19. Both teams went 0 for 3 on the PP. The Giants travel down the road to Everett for a tilt against the Silvertips in their barn, always a tough place to play, before returning for a home game versus the Rockets at the Coliseum. Everett edged out the Rockets 3-2 tonight. The puck drops at the Everett Events Centre at 7:05pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Jonathon Blum
2. Spencer Machacek
3. Matt Esposito
Giants Elude Bruins 2-1 OT - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/November_16_GiantsbkEludebkBruins_166.html)
Giants Elude Bruins
Vancouver 2 Chilliwack 1 OT
Don Robinson
The Bears from the valley played Giants hockey tonight and so did the home team. Both teams put together a tight-checking game, with excellent gap control. One of the reasons these two teams match-up so well is that they play a similar style of hockey and neither side really sags in the defensive department (forwards included). The Bruins have the edge in speed, and the Giants have a slight edge on the blue-line, but other than that the two squads are very similar. The Giants are no longer the high flyers they were with the loaded line-up, which won the Memorial Cup, and they have had to remember how to be a patient team, taking their opportunities when they come. Its curious that Chilliwack’s goal and the Giants OT winner were very similar plays. In both instances the defensive player made a smart and safe defensive move poking the puck off the stick. The loose puck in both cases ended up in the open and the trailing man wired the puck past the goalie. Both ‘tenders were solid, but neither were spectacular or needed to be. You could say that Tyson Sexsmith made a great stop sliding across the crease to stymie an open chance, but other than that the goalies were positionally solid giving their respective teams the chance to get the W.
The thing about solid text-book hockey, not taking too many chances, playing solid D, is that its boring. The 10000 plus fans watched some very good hockey on paper, with refs who let the boys play, but other than few good hits and some moments here and there the game itself was pretty dull. Chilliwack opened the scoring in the second, after the two teams played the first to a scoreless draw. Evan Pighin trailed the play, came in and rifled the puck top shelf. The Giants had been a bit too patient up to that point, but after the goal against they upped their intensity on the ice. The Giants tied the game about 5 minutes later when Mario Bliznak deflected a Jonathon Blum point-shot past Matt Esposito, picking it out of the air. The game remained tied until OT, when Michal Repik maintained possession, but it knocked off his stick by a prone player laying on the ice and Blum came late one-timing the puck far side on Espo for the win. It was the biggest cheer of the night from the crowd and the Giants team all gathered in the corner (right in front of where I sit, as a matter of fact) celebrating en-masse.
Tonight was the first opportunity the fans had to see newest Giant Casey Pierro-Zabotel (here-to-fore known as, ad infinitum, as CPZ). CPZ was sporting the number 17 for the first time since Brule wore the digits. He reminded me of Lucic out there. Wide-stance, big body and although he seemed a bit slow, he never seemed to be struggling to keep up with the play. His stride is similar to Mikkelson’s as he has a low smooth skating style. He made a few really nice passes, did not look to be a defensive liability and seamlessly rotated back to cover for a D-Man who pinched into the zone, a few times. He started the game with Kane and Piluso and it looked to be a good fit, but later in the game Kane moved up to play with Bliznak and Repik and that’s the line which scored the tying marker. Piluso, Machacek and CPZ were matched up and it looked to be a pretty decent line as well. Early in the game CPZ had the best chance to break the donut standing in the slot barely missing getting it over Espos pad on a wicked one-timer. This is going to be a fun player to watch. I’m eager to see how well he’ll do when he brings his game intensity up to the level of the dub.
As I said before - the reffing was solid, as there were things allowed to go on both sides of the puck and on a bad night it could have been a parade to the penalty box as both squads played a border-line clutch game, but thankfully the refs didn’t bite. One of the more exciting moments tonight though was a great dust-up between Matt McCue and Chris Cloud (“hey McCue get off of ma Cloud” ). McCue has a good six inches on Cloud, but Cloud took a page from Hunt’s book and got inside the reach of McCue. Cloud got some good shots in early, took a couple, but in the end got the majority of shots in, almost pulled McCue’s jersey over his head and got the full-nelson take-down.
The Giants out shot the visitors 33-19. Both teams went 0 for 3 on the PP. The Giants travel down the road to Everett for a tilt against the Silvertips in their barn, always a tough place to play, before returning for a home game versus the Rockets at the Coliseum. Everett edged out the Rockets 3-2 tonight. The puck drops at the Everett Events Centre at 7:05pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Jonathon Blum
2. Spencer Machacek
3. Matt Esposito