dondo
11-19-2007, 12:48 AM
The Giants played a bit lazy today and it bit them. Their PK was decent but they lacked focus and effort throughout the game, except in short spurts, which would have been okay were Sexsmith on his game, but he wasn't and it cost them. Swando sat behind me in the third so he can vouch for my viewpoint.
Rockets Shaft Giants 5-3 - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/November_18_Vancouverbk3bkbkKelownabk5_168.html)
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 5
Rockets Shaft Giants
Don Robinson
The Giants decided not to show up until they were down 3 goals and I must give kudos to them for clawing their way back into the game and tying it with 4:06 remaining in the third, but then they just handed the game back – far too easily with some very lazy play in their own end. The G-men played a very poor game tonight, then some excellent hockey for oh about ten minutes and then they sucked once again. The home squad seems to need some adversity to play their best, but lately have been unable to crawl out of some of the holes they have been putting themselves into. Tyson Sexsmith was very, very average and downright awful for a few of the 5 goals against. The team seems to be lacking the effort and intensity they play with when they are down a goal, when they are even. When they are ahead they seem to be able to maintain the status quo, but playing even they are far too patient for my liking. The two teams ended the first tied at zeros. The Rockets scored two quick ones early in the second at 4:03 and 4:50 of the middle stanza. They padded that lead with a nice goal which could have been prevented. Sexsmith went down too quickly and was too far back in his net to prevent the third goal which was roofed glove side from the doorstep. The Giants managed to get within a goal by the end of the middle frame off of two PP markers from Kane and Blum, ending the period in a good position to make a difference in the third.
Late in the third the Giants tied it up with their first even-strength goal of the game. Bouma muscled the puck to CPZ behind the net and he fed Repik at the face-off dot. Repik held onto the puck as the defenseman sprawled stepped around and ripped a shot top corner short side on Kristofer Westblom. There was not much room there, but Repik managed to find twine. Less than two minutes later Lucas Bloodoff, the Rockets PP goal leader, batted the puck home on the doorstep on his second try, stunning the home team and their fans who figured they would get at least a point out of the game. 30 seconds later the Rockets salted away the game with a marker by Kytnar, assisted by McEwan who took a wicked neutral zone hit from Brent Regner, but managed to get the puck to a streaking Kytnar who went in and buried the biscuit past Sexsmith.
The Giants came out with decent energy. Both teams seemed to lack a bunch of puck support in the offensive end of the ice, but were covering their own ends well limiting quality scoring chances. 35 seconds into the game Garet Hunt and Rocket Captain James McEwan dropped the gloves (hopefully that extra 32 seconds will satisfy the league who seem to be happy to punish players for doing their job). It was a decent battle, but Garet got the worst of it and it seemed to be a foreshadow how the Giants would play out the game. A lot of promise, just no finish. The Giants got the majority of penalties in the first and it seemed to give the Rockets the momentum they needed to really take it to the home squad in the second. Carl Poole and Colby Smith were mostly useless as they lumbered through the game missing blatant elbows and tagging players for knees for which they were not responsible. I can’t blame the refs for the poor play of the home team, but they certainly didn’t help as they seemed to see only black this evening, especially calling the G-Men for four straight penalties against most of which were of the soft variety while the same “infractions” were happening on the other side of the puck.
The Rockets opened the scoring early in the second notching two markers less than minute apart. The goals were due to defensive breakdowns and a failure to clear the front of the net. Luke Schenn scored the opener wiring one from the point, assisted by Colin Long. Brady Leavold added a unassisted marker when the Giants coughed up the puck. Less than three minutes later Schenn and Long hooked up for another goal with Colin Long bulging the twine this time. The Giants used two PP’s, their only two of the game, to get the score close scoring on both of their opportunities. Evander Kane was stymied by an excellent save by Westblom down low, but Kane got the rebound, swung around the opposite side of the net and managed to flip the backhand wrap-around by the Rocket ‘tender. A few minutes later the Giants put away another PP marker. Jonathon Blum trolling around the side of the net got the rebound off of a sharp and low Brent Regner shot and made no mistake burying it into the open side. The Giants would end the second on the PK.
The Giants continued to press in the third, killing the Rockets early PP and building on that momentum. It took until the 15:54 of the third frame to get the puck past Westblom, but it was beauty. Lance Bouma playing a gutsy game all night long, dug the puck out of the corner and got the puck to CPZ behind the net. CPZ who was seeing the ice extremely well tonight, tallying two assists, fed Repik at the right face-off dot. Michal Repik stick handled around the Rocket player, who went down to block the shot, ripping the puck high short side on Westblom for a real goal scorers goal. The tying marker got the small crowd back into the game and the place was rocking, that is until a couple of minutes later when the Rockets sucked the life out of the crowd by scoring their only PP marker of the game. The home team visibly showed their 3 in 3 fatigue when they allowed yet another goal about forty seconds later. The goals were scored by Lucas Bloodoff and James McEwan. The G-Men had some very uncharacteristic breakdowns in their own end and allowed too many far too easy goals, letting the Rockets walk into the Giants zone practically unmolested.
I was so enjoying not even mentioning the reffing in my last few recaps, or mentioning them in a positive way at least and then the last two games the reffing sucked. Maybe its because of the loss that I’ve let it get to me, but really from the sounds of it Savage butchered the game in Everett and Poole and Smith collaborated on a less than professional effort tonight. Sexsmith was uber-weak, but the team didn’t give him any help either. The Giants barely out shot the visitors 24-23. They were 2 for 2 on the PP, while they held their opponent to 1 for 6. Not a very auspicious way to kick off an two game Eastern swing next week, but that’s what they have to deal with. Hopefully the G-Men will rediscover the effort and attention to detail they need to win on the road.
Their next tilt takes place in Lethbridge on Friday against a solid Hurricane team, before taking on Medicine Hat on the Saturday. The puck drops in Lethbridge 7:00pm MST ( 6:00pm PST).
Three Stars
1. Luke Schenn
2. Casey Pierro-Zabotel (CPZ)
3. Colin Long
Rockets Shaft Giants 5-3 - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/November_18_Vancouverbk3bkbkKelownabk5_168.html)
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 5
Rockets Shaft Giants
Don Robinson
The Giants decided not to show up until they were down 3 goals and I must give kudos to them for clawing their way back into the game and tying it with 4:06 remaining in the third, but then they just handed the game back – far too easily with some very lazy play in their own end. The G-men played a very poor game tonight, then some excellent hockey for oh about ten minutes and then they sucked once again. The home squad seems to need some adversity to play their best, but lately have been unable to crawl out of some of the holes they have been putting themselves into. Tyson Sexsmith was very, very average and downright awful for a few of the 5 goals against. The team seems to be lacking the effort and intensity they play with when they are down a goal, when they are even. When they are ahead they seem to be able to maintain the status quo, but playing even they are far too patient for my liking. The two teams ended the first tied at zeros. The Rockets scored two quick ones early in the second at 4:03 and 4:50 of the middle stanza. They padded that lead with a nice goal which could have been prevented. Sexsmith went down too quickly and was too far back in his net to prevent the third goal which was roofed glove side from the doorstep. The Giants managed to get within a goal by the end of the middle frame off of two PP markers from Kane and Blum, ending the period in a good position to make a difference in the third.
Late in the third the Giants tied it up with their first even-strength goal of the game. Bouma muscled the puck to CPZ behind the net and he fed Repik at the face-off dot. Repik held onto the puck as the defenseman sprawled stepped around and ripped a shot top corner short side on Kristofer Westblom. There was not much room there, but Repik managed to find twine. Less than two minutes later Lucas Bloodoff, the Rockets PP goal leader, batted the puck home on the doorstep on his second try, stunning the home team and their fans who figured they would get at least a point out of the game. 30 seconds later the Rockets salted away the game with a marker by Kytnar, assisted by McEwan who took a wicked neutral zone hit from Brent Regner, but managed to get the puck to a streaking Kytnar who went in and buried the biscuit past Sexsmith.
The Giants came out with decent energy. Both teams seemed to lack a bunch of puck support in the offensive end of the ice, but were covering their own ends well limiting quality scoring chances. 35 seconds into the game Garet Hunt and Rocket Captain James McEwan dropped the gloves (hopefully that extra 32 seconds will satisfy the league who seem to be happy to punish players for doing their job). It was a decent battle, but Garet got the worst of it and it seemed to be a foreshadow how the Giants would play out the game. A lot of promise, just no finish. The Giants got the majority of penalties in the first and it seemed to give the Rockets the momentum they needed to really take it to the home squad in the second. Carl Poole and Colby Smith were mostly useless as they lumbered through the game missing blatant elbows and tagging players for knees for which they were not responsible. I can’t blame the refs for the poor play of the home team, but they certainly didn’t help as they seemed to see only black this evening, especially calling the G-Men for four straight penalties against most of which were of the soft variety while the same “infractions” were happening on the other side of the puck.
The Rockets opened the scoring early in the second notching two markers less than minute apart. The goals were due to defensive breakdowns and a failure to clear the front of the net. Luke Schenn scored the opener wiring one from the point, assisted by Colin Long. Brady Leavold added a unassisted marker when the Giants coughed up the puck. Less than three minutes later Schenn and Long hooked up for another goal with Colin Long bulging the twine this time. The Giants used two PP’s, their only two of the game, to get the score close scoring on both of their opportunities. Evander Kane was stymied by an excellent save by Westblom down low, but Kane got the rebound, swung around the opposite side of the net and managed to flip the backhand wrap-around by the Rocket ‘tender. A few minutes later the Giants put away another PP marker. Jonathon Blum trolling around the side of the net got the rebound off of a sharp and low Brent Regner shot and made no mistake burying it into the open side. The Giants would end the second on the PK.
The Giants continued to press in the third, killing the Rockets early PP and building on that momentum. It took until the 15:54 of the third frame to get the puck past Westblom, but it was beauty. Lance Bouma playing a gutsy game all night long, dug the puck out of the corner and got the puck to CPZ behind the net. CPZ who was seeing the ice extremely well tonight, tallying two assists, fed Repik at the right face-off dot. Michal Repik stick handled around the Rocket player, who went down to block the shot, ripping the puck high short side on Westblom for a real goal scorers goal. The tying marker got the small crowd back into the game and the place was rocking, that is until a couple of minutes later when the Rockets sucked the life out of the crowd by scoring their only PP marker of the game. The home team visibly showed their 3 in 3 fatigue when they allowed yet another goal about forty seconds later. The goals were scored by Lucas Bloodoff and James McEwan. The G-Men had some very uncharacteristic breakdowns in their own end and allowed too many far too easy goals, letting the Rockets walk into the Giants zone practically unmolested.
I was so enjoying not even mentioning the reffing in my last few recaps, or mentioning them in a positive way at least and then the last two games the reffing sucked. Maybe its because of the loss that I’ve let it get to me, but really from the sounds of it Savage butchered the game in Everett and Poole and Smith collaborated on a less than professional effort tonight. Sexsmith was uber-weak, but the team didn’t give him any help either. The Giants barely out shot the visitors 24-23. They were 2 for 2 on the PP, while they held their opponent to 1 for 6. Not a very auspicious way to kick off an two game Eastern swing next week, but that’s what they have to deal with. Hopefully the G-Men will rediscover the effort and attention to detail they need to win on the road.
Their next tilt takes place in Lethbridge on Friday against a solid Hurricane team, before taking on Medicine Hat on the Saturday. The puck drops in Lethbridge 7:00pm MST ( 6:00pm PST).
Three Stars
1. Luke Schenn
2. Casey Pierro-Zabotel (CPZ)
3. Colin Long