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JimboPark1
01-12-2005, 01:51 PM
Solid All-Round Performance in 4-1 Win Tuesday (http://www.vancouvergiants.com/)

By Matt Barkoff

The Vancouver Giants, with three new faces, and one familiar one, in tow, built up a 3-0 lead on Prince George Tuesday and then cruised to a 4-1 victory at the Pacific Coliseum. Playing their first home game with fresh forwards Cam Cunning and Ryan Costanzo, not too mention blueliner Brett Festerling, the Giants dominated the first two periods, then hung their hats on goaltender Marek Schwarz late in the third period to earn the win.

Matt Robinson scored the opening tally when his centering pass to Mitch Bartley went in behind Cougars' goalie Real Cyr (24 saves) off of blueliner Devin Featherstone's stick. Gilbert Brule kept the play alive when he faked a shot and spotted Robinson for the powerplay goal at 6:34 of the first period. Adam Courchaine went to work in the middle frame, setting up Tim Kraus on a partial breakaway at 9:43 and then sent a cross-ice powerplay feed to defenseman Conlan Seder, whose one-time shot went in at 11:40. Mitch Bartley put the Cougars to bed with an empty-net marker at 18:06 after Brule nudged the puck to his linemate who scored all the way from deep in the Giants' territory.

A titanic fight between team captain Triston Grant and hulking PG backliner Matej Trojovsky turned the tide in Vancouver 's favor late in the second period. The two ruffians went at it for 25 seconds and landed some extremely hard punches. Credit Grant, barely 6'1”, for taking a close decision from the hulking 6'5”, 220-lb. Czech defenseman.

“We were up 3-0 at that point and Trojovsky tried to spark his team when it was down and that was expected,” the rough and tumble Grant said. “He challenged me and the tough guy code says you have to respond and answer the bell. I look at it as going out there and doing my job. I thought it was important for me to make sure that they didn't gain any energy from that.”

Schwarz stopped 22 of 23 shots he saw, shoving out eight of nine in the third period. Ever since returning with a bronze medal from the World Junior Championship around his neck, the Czech stopper has been walking tall. The Giants' organization honored both Schwarz and defenseman Andrej Mezsaros, who captained Slovakia , prior to the game versus PG.

“Mentally he's really sharp,” Giants' coach Don Hay said of Schwarz. “He's walking with a big smile on his face and he's got a lot of confidence right now. He didn't get a lot of work the first two periods and that's tough for a goalie when you go sometimes without shots, especially after playing Team Canada where you face about 44 shots. I thought he did very well.”

With the fresh blood recently injected, Hay and his coaching staff can mix and match what now amounts to three scoring lines. Cunning, acquired from Kamloops for winger Matt Kassian prior to Monday's Western League trading deadline, did not look out of place on a fast unit featuring Courchaine and Robinson. Bartley-Brule-Kraus remain intact, but a brash third line now has Costanzo centering Grant and J.D. Watt.

“All three lines really gave us some quality minutes and the fourth line gave us a lot of energy,” Hay commented. “Putting Triston with Costanzo and Watt definitely strengthened that line. By playing Cunning with Courchaine, it gives him a lift coming into a new team (environment) and we really count on him to be a quality player for us. We need him to be a core player.”

The chemistry appears to be there for the 23-17-1-2 Giants who continue a busy schedule with a three-game weekend. A home-and-home Friday/Saturday set with rival Everett leads right into a Sunday 2PM matinee with the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Pacific Coliseum.

Staples 3 Stars:
1. Adam Courchaine
2. Triston Grant
3. Andy Rogers

rinkrat
01-13-2005, 05:41 PM
thanks for setting up this board.good luck.

C.F
01-14-2005, 09:52 AM
Well needed win!

Kassian
01-14-2005, 02:26 PM
Very good game. It is great having Hunt back in the line up. He always provides a much needed spark.