dondo
10-05-2008, 05:07 PM
A part of me wishes the last two games weren't so boring or easy. I know that falls under the category of be careful of what you wish for, but I can't help but entertain those thoughts.
Now don't get me wrong - the scoring is great, but the goals are coming pretty easy right now and it worries me that when the goals become difficult that the Giants are going to be in for a surprise. Also without the passion of the game, some fisticuffs and some real adversity from the other guys, the game is not as enjoyable. The scoring moments are great, but the rest of game seems a bit a flat as our opponents so far have not played back.
I mean part of me likes that it hasn't turned into a complete brawl fest, but another part would be royally pissed off if my team went down without a fight (not even a whimper) like these guys have done. The teams have still been working on the ice, but where's the pride, the passion and guts which is a denial that you will take the loss lying down and ina sense a denail of losing at all. The Seattle game should have been a chippy vicious game by the end with lots of battle and emotion, but it was a whitewash. The Portland game should have had players up in arms and creating some havoc to put the Giants off of their game. There wasn't and the quality of hockey suffered because of it.
This is why an all offense league without the passion like the one the NHL are trying to force down our throats, is at its very root boring hockey. One the fans will not be able to stomach for long and lots of former NHL fans have gone to leagues like the dub to regain the passion and hunger the game absolutely must have.
how i saw it ..
Giants Crush Winterhawks
Vancouver 7 Portland 1
Don Robinson
The Vancouver Giants have won yet another lop-sided game and one has to wonder if they are really that good or they just haven’t encountered any real challenges yet. Don Hay has the luxury to be able to go with a 1/ 1A goalie arrangement and put Jamie Tucker back between the pipes for the second of back to back games. Tucker had a great outing turning away 19 of 20 and had to be good early as the Giants came out of the gate a bit sloppy and sluggish, which is remarkable considering the final score. Kurtis Mucha, the poor 20 yr old goalie in Portland who deserved a better fate that to be saddled with their defensive corps and coaching crew during his tenure with the team, started between the pipes, but allowed 3 goals on 16 shots and was not in net for the second and third. Credit Mucha, who could have been a more than capable starter on any other dub team, for sticking it out with this hapless squad, possibly hurting his future in hockey. That’s loyalty. Mucha had a couple very good playoff series early on in his career and unfortunately it all went downhill from there.
The Giants opened the scoring on the PP. The Giants PP looks a hell of a lot better this season than last, as they are getting great traffic in front of the net and taking shots much more than the perimeter passing of last season. It’s a much more interesting PP to watch and in the end, to me at least, a much more satisfying event when they tickle the twine. They also have a few different looks on the PP rolling close to three line combinations at any given time and trotting out a fourth arrangement when they have a dominating lead and a man-advantage opportunity. Jonathon Blum proudly sporting the C, scored his second of two games from the point threading a low shot through traffic to beat Mucha. Evander Kane and Casey Pierro-Zabotel got the assists off of some pretty fine puck handling. We had the point shot and now we have the greasy goal. Lance Bouma scored his third of the campaign on the PP, going to the net and getting the rebound. Mikhail Fisenko (Mischa to his friends), made a nice play to get the puck back to Neil Manning who ripped the puck on net from the point. Mucha made the stop, letting out a small rebound, but Bouma swept in and put the biscuit into the can.
The Giants finished off the first with the top line combining for yet another tally as Mike Piluso and Kane got the puck to CPZ who finessed the puck just outside the blue-ice, out-waiting Mucha before slipping the puck pass the ‘tender. Lone referee Derek Zalaski was picky in the first, let them play in the second, and equalised calls in the third. In the end it wasn’t really an emotional or feisty game so it was pretty easy to call. Had Zalaski continued calling the way he called it in the first it could have been a bit of an ugly game, but he didn’t so its all good. The G-Men managed to go 2 for 2 in the first and 2 for 3 for the game, with the man-advantage. The Giants out shot the Winterhawks 16-7.
Jordan White was between the pipes for Portland to start the second, but the Giants wasted no time shredding him early. Craig Schira who has been a monster on the blue-line to start the season, scored the goal going to the net off of the rush. CPZ got the puck to Piluso who slipped the puck to Schira, with both coming in on the right side. Schira made no mistake burying the puck and Portland’s hope of a come-back. But wait, a mere 18 seconds later the Winterhawks solved Tucker off of some sloppy play by the Giants. Brent Regner had trouble taking a cross-ice pass in his own zone and then barely avoided getting caught as he spun and fired the puck up ice. The pass was picked off by Chris Francis, who got the puck to Killian Hutt. Hutt came into the zone and found Bradley Ross going to the net. Ross had a wide open cage to put the puck into. A very good goal off of a some uncharacteristically sloppy play by the Giants. About three minutes later Regner made up for his gaffe pulling an assist on an Kane goal. Kane who has been on a tear to start this season, found the twine with his sixth of the season. CPZ got the other assist. That gave CPZ a goal and three assists on the night and Kane a goal and two assists. These two players have some serious chemistry together. Let’s hope it continues as its pretty damn fun to watch. CPZ is a self-professed set-up guy who likes to pass and both Kane and Piluso are interested in scoring. It makes for a great combo.
The Giants padded their lead in third off of a couple of good defensive plays. Mike Berube stripped the puck in the neutral zone and feathered it to Andrej Kudrna. The big Slovak, my apologies as in the past I have called him a Czech player, but he is in fact a Slovakian player as was Mario Bliznak. Maybe its because he was reminding me much more of Michal Repik than Bliznak lately. Anyway I will be calling him a Slovak from now on. Sorry Andrej, I expect I have made some sort of grievous politically reaching international faux pas here, ah well. Its a good thing Andrej can’t read English yet. Anyway… Andrej was reminding me of Repik Saturday night as he came into the zone with big speed and stick-handled beautifully around two defenders before handcuffing White with a knuckle–ball which squeaked through. The Giants finished off their scoring when James Henry who has had a couple of pretty good games lately, stripped the puck and beating White with a convincing shot, for an unassisted tally. That was the end of the scoring as boots were soundly put into the Winterhawks. The Giants have now scored 40 goals in 7 games while allowing 11 against.
James Wright’s line had some great forays tonight, but were not able to get any points. There’s a few players who are fighting hard and making things happen out there, but aren’t seeing the numbers racking up. JT Barnett and Bronson Maschmeyer were in for Simon Witt and Brendan Gallagher and I expect that they will be alternating games (especially back-to back games) throughout the season. Barnett looked okay, but failed to really do anything with his limited ice-time. Maschmeyer looked pretty good, but was on the ice for Portland’s lone goal. He might need a bit of seasoning, but the parts are all there, he just needs to put them together and playing with any of the regulars will make him a much better d-man simply through osmosis.
The Giants went 2 for 3 on a red-hot PP which moved the puck quickly, set-up point shot one timers and got good traffic to the net. They held the Hawks to 0 for 4. The Giants out shot the Winterhawks 38-20. The Giants get a few days off before continuing their home-stand which will top out at five games. The Giants take on the Kelowna Rockets, who should be a better challenge despite their early .500 record on Friday October 10th as they hope to continue their dominance at home.
The puck drops at 7:30 at the Pacific Coliseum, which in its infinite stupidity has decided to revert to all Molson products after making great strides getting a micro-brew on tap last season. This decision is an insult to fans who like to have a real option in their beverage selection. That and the prices at the Coliseum have gone up by pretty much 50 cents across the board. Way to reward the working man trying to see some hockey and have a couple of brews - PNE. By the way folks, Rickards is basically “Canadian” with food colouring and handful of extra refined white sugar. Crap by any other name tastes just as bad, and just as chocked full of preservatives.
Three Stars
1) Casey Pierro-Zabotel
2) Evander Kane
3) James Henry
Now don't get me wrong - the scoring is great, but the goals are coming pretty easy right now and it worries me that when the goals become difficult that the Giants are going to be in for a surprise. Also without the passion of the game, some fisticuffs and some real adversity from the other guys, the game is not as enjoyable. The scoring moments are great, but the rest of game seems a bit a flat as our opponents so far have not played back.
I mean part of me likes that it hasn't turned into a complete brawl fest, but another part would be royally pissed off if my team went down without a fight (not even a whimper) like these guys have done. The teams have still been working on the ice, but where's the pride, the passion and guts which is a denial that you will take the loss lying down and ina sense a denail of losing at all. The Seattle game should have been a chippy vicious game by the end with lots of battle and emotion, but it was a whitewash. The Portland game should have had players up in arms and creating some havoc to put the Giants off of their game. There wasn't and the quality of hockey suffered because of it.
This is why an all offense league without the passion like the one the NHL are trying to force down our throats, is at its very root boring hockey. One the fans will not be able to stomach for long and lots of former NHL fans have gone to leagues like the dub to regain the passion and hunger the game absolutely must have.
how i saw it ..
Giants Crush Winterhawks
Vancouver 7 Portland 1
Don Robinson
The Vancouver Giants have won yet another lop-sided game and one has to wonder if they are really that good or they just haven’t encountered any real challenges yet. Don Hay has the luxury to be able to go with a 1/ 1A goalie arrangement and put Jamie Tucker back between the pipes for the second of back to back games. Tucker had a great outing turning away 19 of 20 and had to be good early as the Giants came out of the gate a bit sloppy and sluggish, which is remarkable considering the final score. Kurtis Mucha, the poor 20 yr old goalie in Portland who deserved a better fate that to be saddled with their defensive corps and coaching crew during his tenure with the team, started between the pipes, but allowed 3 goals on 16 shots and was not in net for the second and third. Credit Mucha, who could have been a more than capable starter on any other dub team, for sticking it out with this hapless squad, possibly hurting his future in hockey. That’s loyalty. Mucha had a couple very good playoff series early on in his career and unfortunately it all went downhill from there.
The Giants opened the scoring on the PP. The Giants PP looks a hell of a lot better this season than last, as they are getting great traffic in front of the net and taking shots much more than the perimeter passing of last season. It’s a much more interesting PP to watch and in the end, to me at least, a much more satisfying event when they tickle the twine. They also have a few different looks on the PP rolling close to three line combinations at any given time and trotting out a fourth arrangement when they have a dominating lead and a man-advantage opportunity. Jonathon Blum proudly sporting the C, scored his second of two games from the point threading a low shot through traffic to beat Mucha. Evander Kane and Casey Pierro-Zabotel got the assists off of some pretty fine puck handling. We had the point shot and now we have the greasy goal. Lance Bouma scored his third of the campaign on the PP, going to the net and getting the rebound. Mikhail Fisenko (Mischa to his friends), made a nice play to get the puck back to Neil Manning who ripped the puck on net from the point. Mucha made the stop, letting out a small rebound, but Bouma swept in and put the biscuit into the can.
The Giants finished off the first with the top line combining for yet another tally as Mike Piluso and Kane got the puck to CPZ who finessed the puck just outside the blue-ice, out-waiting Mucha before slipping the puck pass the ‘tender. Lone referee Derek Zalaski was picky in the first, let them play in the second, and equalised calls in the third. In the end it wasn’t really an emotional or feisty game so it was pretty easy to call. Had Zalaski continued calling the way he called it in the first it could have been a bit of an ugly game, but he didn’t so its all good. The G-Men managed to go 2 for 2 in the first and 2 for 3 for the game, with the man-advantage. The Giants out shot the Winterhawks 16-7.
Jordan White was between the pipes for Portland to start the second, but the Giants wasted no time shredding him early. Craig Schira who has been a monster on the blue-line to start the season, scored the goal going to the net off of the rush. CPZ got the puck to Piluso who slipped the puck to Schira, with both coming in on the right side. Schira made no mistake burying the puck and Portland’s hope of a come-back. But wait, a mere 18 seconds later the Winterhawks solved Tucker off of some sloppy play by the Giants. Brent Regner had trouble taking a cross-ice pass in his own zone and then barely avoided getting caught as he spun and fired the puck up ice. The pass was picked off by Chris Francis, who got the puck to Killian Hutt. Hutt came into the zone and found Bradley Ross going to the net. Ross had a wide open cage to put the puck into. A very good goal off of a some uncharacteristically sloppy play by the Giants. About three minutes later Regner made up for his gaffe pulling an assist on an Kane goal. Kane who has been on a tear to start this season, found the twine with his sixth of the season. CPZ got the other assist. That gave CPZ a goal and three assists on the night and Kane a goal and two assists. These two players have some serious chemistry together. Let’s hope it continues as its pretty damn fun to watch. CPZ is a self-professed set-up guy who likes to pass and both Kane and Piluso are interested in scoring. It makes for a great combo.
The Giants padded their lead in third off of a couple of good defensive plays. Mike Berube stripped the puck in the neutral zone and feathered it to Andrej Kudrna. The big Slovak, my apologies as in the past I have called him a Czech player, but he is in fact a Slovakian player as was Mario Bliznak. Maybe its because he was reminding me much more of Michal Repik than Bliznak lately. Anyway I will be calling him a Slovak from now on. Sorry Andrej, I expect I have made some sort of grievous politically reaching international faux pas here, ah well. Its a good thing Andrej can’t read English yet. Anyway… Andrej was reminding me of Repik Saturday night as he came into the zone with big speed and stick-handled beautifully around two defenders before handcuffing White with a knuckle–ball which squeaked through. The Giants finished off their scoring when James Henry who has had a couple of pretty good games lately, stripped the puck and beating White with a convincing shot, for an unassisted tally. That was the end of the scoring as boots were soundly put into the Winterhawks. The Giants have now scored 40 goals in 7 games while allowing 11 against.
James Wright’s line had some great forays tonight, but were not able to get any points. There’s a few players who are fighting hard and making things happen out there, but aren’t seeing the numbers racking up. JT Barnett and Bronson Maschmeyer were in for Simon Witt and Brendan Gallagher and I expect that they will be alternating games (especially back-to back games) throughout the season. Barnett looked okay, but failed to really do anything with his limited ice-time. Maschmeyer looked pretty good, but was on the ice for Portland’s lone goal. He might need a bit of seasoning, but the parts are all there, he just needs to put them together and playing with any of the regulars will make him a much better d-man simply through osmosis.
The Giants went 2 for 3 on a red-hot PP which moved the puck quickly, set-up point shot one timers and got good traffic to the net. They held the Hawks to 0 for 4. The Giants out shot the Winterhawks 38-20. The Giants get a few days off before continuing their home-stand which will top out at five games. The Giants take on the Kelowna Rockets, who should be a better challenge despite their early .500 record on Friday October 10th as they hope to continue their dominance at home.
The puck drops at 7:30 at the Pacific Coliseum, which in its infinite stupidity has decided to revert to all Molson products after making great strides getting a micro-brew on tap last season. This decision is an insult to fans who like to have a real option in their beverage selection. That and the prices at the Coliseum have gone up by pretty much 50 cents across the board. Way to reward the working man trying to see some hockey and have a couple of brews - PNE. By the way folks, Rickards is basically “Canadian” with food colouring and handful of extra refined white sugar. Crap by any other name tastes just as bad, and just as chocked full of preservatives.
Three Stars
1) Casey Pierro-Zabotel
2) Evander Kane
3) James Henry