SectionNDeserter
10-25-2008, 09:10 AM
It was what I thought was a reasonable effort last night at the Centrium. A very soft goal by Morgan Clark on the second goal, and Cullen Morin throwing up the screen/interference on Clark on the third goal aside, and you have a much closer game.
The Rebels showed the top team from the west absolutely no respect, stepping up and forcing some turnovers and taking an early 2 goal lead, as they have so many times this year. An early timeout by Don Hay was the turning point in this game, as it killed the momentum the Rebels had, and got a far more experienced team back on track, and as a result the Giants dominated the rest of the period, and controlled much of the game until the final 7 minutes or so.
Two fights in this one. The two team's respective stars in Ferraro and Kane dropped the gloves. Ferraro connected with a few solid ones, Kane had more softer punches and the takedown, so I give him the edge in this one. Esposito and former Rebel Mike Berube also went in this one. A few good shots by both, as well as a great deal of wrestling and time spent squaring off--I would call it a draw.
Who/what impressed me;
Joel Kot: He is just getting better every game. He made a number of nice moves, as well he has been throwing some nice hits on guys that are much bigger than him. Really a shame that he missed a full season of development to injury.
Alex Petrovic: Getting better every game as well, really starting to throw that big frame of his around a lot more now, particuarly on guys trying to go outside on him (which has been his weakness so far).
Mike Piluso: Big time energy guy out there, was the best Giant on the ice over the full 60 minutes. Looked far better than the puzzling eventual first star Nunn.
Neil Manning: Shows a lot of poise for a '91, he is going to be a good one.
Who/what didn't impress me;
Cullen Morin: Horrendous in his own end again, made a number of pathetic 'Scarborough' backhand passes up the boards that were easily intercepted, got manhandled on the boards and in front of the net, and screened/interfered with Clark while being manhandled in front of his own net. He needs a move, whether it be to forward, or 'the **** outta town' as another poster at the game so eloquently put it.
Morgan Clark: Some rookie mistakes resulted in some gift scoring chances for the Giants, and throw in another softy, and you see why he gets the hook in this one.
Esposito- I love the element that this guy brings to the game, but much like Mike Reich, just getting into lots of fights and losing/holding your own in them doesn't make you an enforcer. I thought he did much better in most of his fights last season.
Evander Kane: Was instrumental in the Rebels quick start to this game, then tried to kill his team's momentum with a lazy penalty, and spent a great deal of the game coasting around the perimeter. I was looking forward to seeing why he was the league's leading scorer, but I thought Perro-Zabotel and Piluso looked to be a step or two ahead of him on most shifts last night.
JT Barnett: His level of hustle and skill appeared to be a LOT lower than the rest of this Giant's team. I'm assuming that he is only a '92 though.
Weller's injury misfortunes: A broken wrist for Weller in the 2nd period couldn't possibly happen at a more unfortunate time for this young man.
The Rebels showed the top team from the west absolutely no respect, stepping up and forcing some turnovers and taking an early 2 goal lead, as they have so many times this year. An early timeout by Don Hay was the turning point in this game, as it killed the momentum the Rebels had, and got a far more experienced team back on track, and as a result the Giants dominated the rest of the period, and controlled much of the game until the final 7 minutes or so.
Two fights in this one. The two team's respective stars in Ferraro and Kane dropped the gloves. Ferraro connected with a few solid ones, Kane had more softer punches and the takedown, so I give him the edge in this one. Esposito and former Rebel Mike Berube also went in this one. A few good shots by both, as well as a great deal of wrestling and time spent squaring off--I would call it a draw.
Who/what impressed me;
Joel Kot: He is just getting better every game. He made a number of nice moves, as well he has been throwing some nice hits on guys that are much bigger than him. Really a shame that he missed a full season of development to injury.
Alex Petrovic: Getting better every game as well, really starting to throw that big frame of his around a lot more now, particuarly on guys trying to go outside on him (which has been his weakness so far).
Mike Piluso: Big time energy guy out there, was the best Giant on the ice over the full 60 minutes. Looked far better than the puzzling eventual first star Nunn.
Neil Manning: Shows a lot of poise for a '91, he is going to be a good one.
Who/what didn't impress me;
Cullen Morin: Horrendous in his own end again, made a number of pathetic 'Scarborough' backhand passes up the boards that were easily intercepted, got manhandled on the boards and in front of the net, and screened/interfered with Clark while being manhandled in front of his own net. He needs a move, whether it be to forward, or 'the **** outta town' as another poster at the game so eloquently put it.
Morgan Clark: Some rookie mistakes resulted in some gift scoring chances for the Giants, and throw in another softy, and you see why he gets the hook in this one.
Esposito- I love the element that this guy brings to the game, but much like Mike Reich, just getting into lots of fights and losing/holding your own in them doesn't make you an enforcer. I thought he did much better in most of his fights last season.
Evander Kane: Was instrumental in the Rebels quick start to this game, then tried to kill his team's momentum with a lazy penalty, and spent a great deal of the game coasting around the perimeter. I was looking forward to seeing why he was the league's leading scorer, but I thought Perro-Zabotel and Piluso looked to be a step or two ahead of him on most shifts last night.
JT Barnett: His level of hustle and skill appeared to be a LOT lower than the rest of this Giant's team. I'm assuming that he is only a '92 though.
Weller's injury misfortunes: A broken wrist for Weller in the 2nd period couldn't possibly happen at a more unfortunate time for this young man.