dondo
04-06-2008, 11:11 PM
Listened to this one again and it made me angry. I really don't like it when my team doesn't show up and for the vast majority of this game that was the case. Credit the Chiefs for upping their game as well, but really the Giants weren't in this one taking some really dumb penalties. The Giants PK was excellent though and against one of the top PPs this season, even more so. part of me is happy that we get to see all three home games now for sure though just so long as they leave this kind of performance in the trash bin where it belongs.
Chiefs Club Giants 4-1 - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/April_6_ChiefsbkClubbkGiants_217.html)
Chiefs Club Giants
Vancouver 1 Spokane 4
Don Robinson
The score was the same yet opposite in tonight’s game, although one of the Chiefs goals was an empty-netter. It would too be easy to blame the refs tonight for the Giants loss, but the ever useless Derek Zalaski was in his usual showboating form regardless. The Giants were very un-Giantlike tonight taking soft and stupid penalties and found themselves down 0 for 7 penalty-wise. They weren’t skating and they weren’t working and at one point they were at risk of having their lowest shot total this season. The G-Men did not take care of the puck in their own end of the ice and that more than anything killed them. Spokane has a team that can take those chances and make them count and tonight they did. The Chiefs angry at being embarrassed in their first game at home were not about to take this game for granted. But instead of getting mad and losing their cool they did better than that, they got even, literally and figuratively. David Rutherford (know as Rudy to the Chief faithful) tainted his two goal outing tonight, by challenging Chris Cloud in the second and then not dropping his gloves or stick. In the end both players got misconducts as Cloud recognizing that the guy who started it, with Rudy essentially turtling like the proverbial red-eared slider shell tucker, tackled Rudy down to the ice.
The Chiefs opened the scoring in the first when Mario Bliznak turned over the puck in his own zone, giving Ondrej Roman the chance to find Rudy cutting to the net. The game remained that way as the Giants weathered 7 consecutive penalties against, two of them 5 on 3’s, holding their opponent to donuts on the PP tonight and going perfect on their PK. Early in the third Jonathon Blum got his second of this playoff campaign PP marker to tie the game. It was the Giants first PP opportunity of the game at 2:52 of the final frame. Less than a minute later off of yet another horrible give-away in their own zone, this time by Blum, Roman and Rudy hooked up for yet another tally and that was it for the Giants as they seemed to not be able to climb back up the hill after spending all their energy killing off so many penalties earlier in the game and not playing to their strength which is 5 on 5.
Mitch Wahl put the boots to the visitors off of a goal mouth scramble when he tapped a puck past Tyson Sexsmith, who had an excellent night and felt that he had frozen the puck before the goal. Referee Andy Thiessen thought differently. Levko Koper poured the salt in the wounds as he capped off the Chiefs night with an empty netter with 19 seconds left in the game. The Giants were undisciplined and were not skating until the third period. After tying the game they allowed a quick one against which proved to be the coffin nail goal.
Tyson Sexsmith was excellent tonight turning away quality shot after shot and weathering many PP opportunities against, but in the end could not stop them all. His team abandoned him when playing the puck as they were uncharacteristically sloppy with the biscuit. They had feet of stone and hands of lead and it got them into trouble early and continued until early in the third and then returned for the latter part of the third. The Giants were not ready to go tonight against a very motivated Chiefs squad who were looking for the right kind of revenge to their loss this past Friday. Maybe one of these days we’ll get a game in this series when both teams show up at the same game.
Some positives in the game were the play of Sexsmith and the spectacular performance of the PK unit which earned its biscuit tonight holding its team in the game as several beyond lazy players were taking sloppy and careless penalties, putting the G-Men behind the eight ball early on. The series is now a five game series and the Giants still have the chance, slim though it might be, to finish this one up at home with the 2-3-2 format of this particular playoff series. The Giants faithful will probably not be too upset as the loss guarantees them three games at home, but I’m sure that any more lapses like this won’t have them too pleased.
The Giants were out-shot 18-26, matching their worst shot output of the season. Normally the Giants not only out-shoot their opponents, but out shoot them by a huge margin. Shot totals like this are very indicative of how soft the G-Men were playing. The Giants went 1 for 3 on the PP, while holding the Chiefs to 0 for 7, with all 7 penalties being consecutive and then giving the Giants 3 straight penalties. I suspect that even though the Giants were undisciplined that the Chiefs weren’t quite that disciplined and that the officials were essentially on the crack, but whatever. The series continues Wednesday night in Vancouver. The puck drops at the Coliseum at 7pm PDT.
Three Stars
1. David Rutherford
2. Ondrej Roman
3. Spencer Machacek
Chiefs Club Giants 4-1 - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/April_6_ChiefsbkClubbkGiants_217.html)
Chiefs Club Giants
Vancouver 1 Spokane 4
Don Robinson
The score was the same yet opposite in tonight’s game, although one of the Chiefs goals was an empty-netter. It would too be easy to blame the refs tonight for the Giants loss, but the ever useless Derek Zalaski was in his usual showboating form regardless. The Giants were very un-Giantlike tonight taking soft and stupid penalties and found themselves down 0 for 7 penalty-wise. They weren’t skating and they weren’t working and at one point they were at risk of having their lowest shot total this season. The G-Men did not take care of the puck in their own end of the ice and that more than anything killed them. Spokane has a team that can take those chances and make them count and tonight they did. The Chiefs angry at being embarrassed in their first game at home were not about to take this game for granted. But instead of getting mad and losing their cool they did better than that, they got even, literally and figuratively. David Rutherford (know as Rudy to the Chief faithful) tainted his two goal outing tonight, by challenging Chris Cloud in the second and then not dropping his gloves or stick. In the end both players got misconducts as Cloud recognizing that the guy who started it, with Rudy essentially turtling like the proverbial red-eared slider shell tucker, tackled Rudy down to the ice.
The Chiefs opened the scoring in the first when Mario Bliznak turned over the puck in his own zone, giving Ondrej Roman the chance to find Rudy cutting to the net. The game remained that way as the Giants weathered 7 consecutive penalties against, two of them 5 on 3’s, holding their opponent to donuts on the PP tonight and going perfect on their PK. Early in the third Jonathon Blum got his second of this playoff campaign PP marker to tie the game. It was the Giants first PP opportunity of the game at 2:52 of the final frame. Less than a minute later off of yet another horrible give-away in their own zone, this time by Blum, Roman and Rudy hooked up for yet another tally and that was it for the Giants as they seemed to not be able to climb back up the hill after spending all their energy killing off so many penalties earlier in the game and not playing to their strength which is 5 on 5.
Mitch Wahl put the boots to the visitors off of a goal mouth scramble when he tapped a puck past Tyson Sexsmith, who had an excellent night and felt that he had frozen the puck before the goal. Referee Andy Thiessen thought differently. Levko Koper poured the salt in the wounds as he capped off the Chiefs night with an empty netter with 19 seconds left in the game. The Giants were undisciplined and were not skating until the third period. After tying the game they allowed a quick one against which proved to be the coffin nail goal.
Tyson Sexsmith was excellent tonight turning away quality shot after shot and weathering many PP opportunities against, but in the end could not stop them all. His team abandoned him when playing the puck as they were uncharacteristically sloppy with the biscuit. They had feet of stone and hands of lead and it got them into trouble early and continued until early in the third and then returned for the latter part of the third. The Giants were not ready to go tonight against a very motivated Chiefs squad who were looking for the right kind of revenge to their loss this past Friday. Maybe one of these days we’ll get a game in this series when both teams show up at the same game.
Some positives in the game were the play of Sexsmith and the spectacular performance of the PK unit which earned its biscuit tonight holding its team in the game as several beyond lazy players were taking sloppy and careless penalties, putting the G-Men behind the eight ball early on. The series is now a five game series and the Giants still have the chance, slim though it might be, to finish this one up at home with the 2-3-2 format of this particular playoff series. The Giants faithful will probably not be too upset as the loss guarantees them three games at home, but I’m sure that any more lapses like this won’t have them too pleased.
The Giants were out-shot 18-26, matching their worst shot output of the season. Normally the Giants not only out-shoot their opponents, but out shoot them by a huge margin. Shot totals like this are very indicative of how soft the G-Men were playing. The Giants went 1 for 3 on the PP, while holding the Chiefs to 0 for 7, with all 7 penalties being consecutive and then giving the Giants 3 straight penalties. I suspect that even though the Giants were undisciplined that the Chiefs weren’t quite that disciplined and that the officials were essentially on the crack, but whatever. The series continues Wednesday night in Vancouver. The puck drops at the Coliseum at 7pm PDT.
Three Stars
1. David Rutherford
2. Ondrej Roman
3. Spencer Machacek