dondo
03-26-2008, 11:56 PM
Well the energy was bit lower tonight, but it was a pretty decent game. The Bruins were very good with their sticks defensively, but not quite as good offensively. Like last night -- they missed what the broadcasters on Shaw called blue-chip chances and it was the difference. A pretty good series and I am sure the Bruins as a team learned a lot, but in the end the Giants know how to win these high-pressure tight games and that knowledge shone through. The high-flying Americans swept the Kamloops Blazers tonight as well, but the Giants won't face them 'til the third round if both teams manage to make it through.
Giants Slimly Sweep Bruins 2-1 - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/March_26_GiantsbkSlimlybkSweepbkBruins_214.html)
Giants Slimly Sweep Bruins
Vancouver 2 Chilliwack 1
Don Robinson
They were all one goal games, but the Vancouver Giants have already proved that they are capable of winning those kinds of games and in the end were able to sweep the Chilliwack Bruins. Give the Bruins credit as they never gave in and fought hard every game, but in the end it was the Memorial Cup champs who got the right goals at the right time and were able to hold on for the victory. There’s still a lot for the fans of both teams to hash out in this series and I am sure the forums will be packed with what-ifs and some sour grapes, but to be blunt the Chilliwack Bruins are in their second year in the playoffs and second year as a franchise and they lack the kind of playoff experience to pull out this kind of series. The Giants have 13 players returning from their Memorial Cup team on their roster and the experience showed in the end. Their patient play and ability to press when the odds were the best and hang back the rest of the time may be frustrating at times to fans, but in the end it’s the kind of strategy which has served them well. The Bruins had some rookies and journeymen players up their games and the team as a whole learned a bunch about how to play playoff hockey. The Bruins future is pretty bright right now and with goaltenders like Mark Friesen on the team for a few years yet, they have a great place from which to build.
The Giants opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game on a 5 on 3 PP, their first of the series. Bruins D-Man Jeff Einhorn blocked a shot and was down and out of it. Jonathon Blum picked up the puck and fed Michal Repik who got the puck to Spencer Machacek in the corner. Machacek stepped away from the boards and threw the puck on the net from a bad angle finding the short side. The Giants badly out-played and out-shot the Bruins in the first, but were only able to get one past Friesen. They out-shot the Bruins 19-4 in the opening frame, but Friesen saw most of the shots and a fair amount of the shots were of the less than dangerous variety. The Bruins upped their game in the second and although they only got 8 shots on net in the second they had the far superior chances and some lazy plays by the visitors lead to the Bruins tying up the game just past the mid-way mark of the second.
Blum got the puck in the slot and just threw the puck quickly to the boards. Mark Santorelli carried the puck down the boards and flipped it out to Ryan Howse coming down the right wing. Howse stepped up to the face off dot and wired a puck low far-side on Sexsmith to even up the game. To this point in the series the Bruins still had not lead for more than 4:35 and it was all they would lead in the series as the tie would be as close as they would come. In the third the Bruins continued the momentum of the second period getting few brilliant chances early in the third frame. A combination of Sexsmith being virtually unbeatable down low and a few Chilliwack players squeezing the stick too tight, meant that the home team was unable to break the deadlock with their best chances. The Giants bided their time sitting back and waiting for opportunities and they finally came in the form of Craig Cunningham who brought a tenacious forecheck into the Bruins zone. Working the puck with Kane he got a nice chance in the slot and blasted the puck at Friesen who made the save, but the puck trickled behind the net. Moller had fallen on Friesen coming back to the crease and CPZ took advantage with a sweet wraparound in the open side, for his first playoff goal in the WHL. It would prove to be the game winner.
There was no shortage of controversy as both teams had goals waived off that they thought they should have had. The Giants scored off a few rebounds at the side of the net and the puck was never really frozen, but the ref apparently was in the process of blowing the whistle and waived off the goal immediately. The replay showed the puck in the net a micro-second before the whistle actually blew, but the goal did not stand. Then with seconds ticking down Spencer Machacek put the puck off the goal post of an empty net when a Chilliwack defender got a piece of the biscuit. The play went back down the ice and the Bruins got a good chance getting the puck to the front of the net. Sexsmith had the puck in his pads down low and Evan Pighin just pushed the goalie into the net with the puck and the ref waived off the goal. From my perspective pushing a goalie into the net should automatically negate a goal anyway, unless its part of play where player, puck and goalie go into the net all at the same time. This was not the case. Sexsmith had frozen the puck under his pads and Pighin just pushed him into the net with his stick. No goal. The fans were not pleased, but it was the right call. With 6 seconds left CPZ won the face-off and the puck went behind the net and a great diving block from Mario Bliznak killed the final seconds preserving the sweep in the valley.
Unlike last years physical ending to an emotional series, this series was very clean and neither team were cheap in the least. They shook hands at the end this time. They were both so hot last year that they did not shake hands as the officials had already cleared the ice to avoid the battle escalating. This year it felt good to see these teams shake hands and maintain the respect for one another after a good battle in trenches. The armistice held and tradition was upheld.
The Giants out-shot the Bruins by a slim 31-27 margin after putting 19 on the net in the first. The Giants were 1 for 4 on the PP, while the Bruins were 0 for 2. Neither team really elevated their game to the level they did last night and there was some fatigue evident on the ice. The refs were not a factor other than being Johnny on the spot by the nets, but the decisions were clean and emphatic and we had none of the wishy-washy stuff we had earlier in the series from the zebras. The Giants await to see who they will face in round two, which most likely will be the Spokane Chiefs a team they had a tough time with during the regular season. The difference is that the playoffs are not the regular season. Don Hay knows this and so do his boys. There seems to be some question as to whether the season series is the deciding factor or the conference standings (which has the Giants 2nd due to winning the BC Division) hold into the second round and whether the Giants will play Game 1 at home, or on the road. Stay tuned. The Giants continue on to Round 2, having completed the first leg of a four series climb to be top of the WHL and get back to the Memorial Cup in Kitchener to defend their title.
Three Stars
1. Casey Pierro-Zabotel
2. Ryan Howse
3. Spencer Machacek
Giants Slimly Sweep Bruins 2-1 - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/March_26_GiantsbkSlimlybkSweepbkBruins_214.html)
Giants Slimly Sweep Bruins
Vancouver 2 Chilliwack 1
Don Robinson
They were all one goal games, but the Vancouver Giants have already proved that they are capable of winning those kinds of games and in the end were able to sweep the Chilliwack Bruins. Give the Bruins credit as they never gave in and fought hard every game, but in the end it was the Memorial Cup champs who got the right goals at the right time and were able to hold on for the victory. There’s still a lot for the fans of both teams to hash out in this series and I am sure the forums will be packed with what-ifs and some sour grapes, but to be blunt the Chilliwack Bruins are in their second year in the playoffs and second year as a franchise and they lack the kind of playoff experience to pull out this kind of series. The Giants have 13 players returning from their Memorial Cup team on their roster and the experience showed in the end. Their patient play and ability to press when the odds were the best and hang back the rest of the time may be frustrating at times to fans, but in the end it’s the kind of strategy which has served them well. The Bruins had some rookies and journeymen players up their games and the team as a whole learned a bunch about how to play playoff hockey. The Bruins future is pretty bright right now and with goaltenders like Mark Friesen on the team for a few years yet, they have a great place from which to build.
The Giants opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game on a 5 on 3 PP, their first of the series. Bruins D-Man Jeff Einhorn blocked a shot and was down and out of it. Jonathon Blum picked up the puck and fed Michal Repik who got the puck to Spencer Machacek in the corner. Machacek stepped away from the boards and threw the puck on the net from a bad angle finding the short side. The Giants badly out-played and out-shot the Bruins in the first, but were only able to get one past Friesen. They out-shot the Bruins 19-4 in the opening frame, but Friesen saw most of the shots and a fair amount of the shots were of the less than dangerous variety. The Bruins upped their game in the second and although they only got 8 shots on net in the second they had the far superior chances and some lazy plays by the visitors lead to the Bruins tying up the game just past the mid-way mark of the second.
Blum got the puck in the slot and just threw the puck quickly to the boards. Mark Santorelli carried the puck down the boards and flipped it out to Ryan Howse coming down the right wing. Howse stepped up to the face off dot and wired a puck low far-side on Sexsmith to even up the game. To this point in the series the Bruins still had not lead for more than 4:35 and it was all they would lead in the series as the tie would be as close as they would come. In the third the Bruins continued the momentum of the second period getting few brilliant chances early in the third frame. A combination of Sexsmith being virtually unbeatable down low and a few Chilliwack players squeezing the stick too tight, meant that the home team was unable to break the deadlock with their best chances. The Giants bided their time sitting back and waiting for opportunities and they finally came in the form of Craig Cunningham who brought a tenacious forecheck into the Bruins zone. Working the puck with Kane he got a nice chance in the slot and blasted the puck at Friesen who made the save, but the puck trickled behind the net. Moller had fallen on Friesen coming back to the crease and CPZ took advantage with a sweet wraparound in the open side, for his first playoff goal in the WHL. It would prove to be the game winner.
There was no shortage of controversy as both teams had goals waived off that they thought they should have had. The Giants scored off a few rebounds at the side of the net and the puck was never really frozen, but the ref apparently was in the process of blowing the whistle and waived off the goal immediately. The replay showed the puck in the net a micro-second before the whistle actually blew, but the goal did not stand. Then with seconds ticking down Spencer Machacek put the puck off the goal post of an empty net when a Chilliwack defender got a piece of the biscuit. The play went back down the ice and the Bruins got a good chance getting the puck to the front of the net. Sexsmith had the puck in his pads down low and Evan Pighin just pushed the goalie into the net with the puck and the ref waived off the goal. From my perspective pushing a goalie into the net should automatically negate a goal anyway, unless its part of play where player, puck and goalie go into the net all at the same time. This was not the case. Sexsmith had frozen the puck under his pads and Pighin just pushed him into the net with his stick. No goal. The fans were not pleased, but it was the right call. With 6 seconds left CPZ won the face-off and the puck went behind the net and a great diving block from Mario Bliznak killed the final seconds preserving the sweep in the valley.
Unlike last years physical ending to an emotional series, this series was very clean and neither team were cheap in the least. They shook hands at the end this time. They were both so hot last year that they did not shake hands as the officials had already cleared the ice to avoid the battle escalating. This year it felt good to see these teams shake hands and maintain the respect for one another after a good battle in trenches. The armistice held and tradition was upheld.
The Giants out-shot the Bruins by a slim 31-27 margin after putting 19 on the net in the first. The Giants were 1 for 4 on the PP, while the Bruins were 0 for 2. Neither team really elevated their game to the level they did last night and there was some fatigue evident on the ice. The refs were not a factor other than being Johnny on the spot by the nets, but the decisions were clean and emphatic and we had none of the wishy-washy stuff we had earlier in the series from the zebras. The Giants await to see who they will face in round two, which most likely will be the Spokane Chiefs a team they had a tough time with during the regular season. The difference is that the playoffs are not the regular season. Don Hay knows this and so do his boys. There seems to be some question as to whether the season series is the deciding factor or the conference standings (which has the Giants 2nd due to winning the BC Division) hold into the second round and whether the Giants will play Game 1 at home, or on the road. Stay tuned. The Giants continue on to Round 2, having completed the first leg of a four series climb to be top of the WHL and get back to the Memorial Cup in Kitchener to defend their title.
Three Stars
1. Casey Pierro-Zabotel
2. Ryan Howse
3. Spencer Machacek