dondo
11-17-2008, 12:29 AM
I have to say I was expecting a snoozer, but I felt that both teams were hitting decently and hustling well. The Winterhawks look to actually be a competitive team now and that bodes well for the future.
Ridding themselves of all of their OA players (yes Mucha is still only 19), was a smart move. When Scott Gabriel is wearing an "A" you know you're in trouble. Sorry Scott but its the truth.
A new direction for the hawks which will probably see them drop a few games this season than they might have, but next year those young players will have played in more situations and for more minutes and it will only help them develop more quickly. A small price to pay for a competitive team next season.
Giants Pluck Winterhawks
Vancouver 5 Portland 2
Don Robinson
Evander Kane kept his point streak going by the skin of his teeth, scoring an empty net goal with 21 seconds left in the game to push his consecutive point run to 21 games, tying with one other for that mark in the Dub, he has two more to go to tie the all-time point streak and three more to break it. Kane did not have his best game tonight and seemed to be floating for the most part out there, but in the end it was good (for me at least) to see him extend his streak. The Winterhawks who were playing their third game in four nights, have had a resurgence to respectability since getting new owners, gutting their front office and replacing their coaching staff, going 5-2 in their last seven, 5-3 now in their last eight after tonight’s game. They also no longer have any over-age players on their roster, going instead for a youth movement which will put them in better stead for the future. The ‘hawks kept the game close until the third period when the Giants blew the doors off with a couple of quick goals. Brent Regner was a Jekyll and Hyde player tonight adding some unnecessary excitement by putting himself into trouble getting himself out of it and putting himself back into it, all night long. The zebras let the boys play and although there were some decent body checks being laid by both sides, neither team really went for the dirty stuff. The first penalty of the game came about 5 minutes into the second and was a good call, as Ridgeway ran over Tucker in his crease.
Portland opened the scoring in the first off of a turnover and odd-man rush misplayed by the lone D-man back, Regner. Killian Hutt picked the top corner sliding through the slot, beating Jamie Tucker high to the stick side. The goal came at 11:24 of the first after some solid forays by the G-Men in the Portland end of the ice. Colin Reddin got the only assist on the play. The Giants got that one back when Regner made up for his earlier gaffe going from his end of the rink all the way down the ice into the Portland zone. Cutting down the right side Regner picked the far side on Keith Hamilton from the face-dot. A great solo effort by the defenseman who took it upon himself to get something going for the home squad, who were spinning their wheels a bit at that time.
The Giants had tons of shots in the first, but were not getting decent traffic in front of Hamilton and taking the easy shots from the outside. Credit Portland’s defense early for keeping the Giants at bay in the first with close checking and some solid puck hustle. Hamilton did not have to be that good as the Giants were not getting in his face or forcing him to make huge saves. Hamilton was solid down low though and thwarted more than a few wrap-around attempts during the game. The home team out shot the visitors from Portland 19-6 in the first period, but the score was still tied by the end of the opening frame.
The Giants padded their lead in the second just past the mid-way mark on their second PP chance of the game. Some great work by Craig Cunningham got the puck to CPZ, who drifted the puck out to Jonathon Blum. Blum wired the puck and either picked the top corner or had it go off a defender’s stick, beating Hamilton high stick side. The Giants played a fairly casual period, but were willing to take hits to make plays and put some solid forechecking pressure on the Portland defenders. They needed to push a bit harder to get to the slot though and seemed content to play perimeter hockey.
A quick goal to open the third, plus an unassisted short-handed tally less than a minute after that and the Giants put the game almost out reach before the two minute mark of the final frame. Garry Nunn finally got a Giants wrap-around attempt to finally go as he slipped it past Hamilton and the puck could have gone in off of the Portland goalie’s pad or a defender’s skate in the crease, but the result was the same. James Wright was then caught for a high stick on Hutt giving the Winterhawks a chance to close the gap, but it was the Giants who would score. James Henry pressuring the point on the PK tipped the disc loose and raced down the ice carrying the puck. Coming hard down the slot he picked the top corner glove-side on Hamilton to put the Giants up by three. The Winterhawks still on the PP tried to rally, but the Giants managed to get to the loose pucks quicker. The G-Men gave up another PP opportunity during the kill going down 3 on 5 for about ten seconds, before springing Wright from the box. The PK shut down the rest of the penalty from then on.
Portland made it interesting late in the third when Blum failed on a poke-check attempt and allowed the forward to slip the puck by him. A low shot that Tucker probably should have had slipped in short side and the ‘hawks were within two. This was almost necessary though to set the stage for Kane to get his only point of the night, as the Portland squad probably would not have pulled their goalie down by three, but did down by two. Credit Don Hay for not double shifting Kane in the third, who really didn’t earn extra ice-time tonight, to get him a point to continue his streak. Blum stripped a Portland player of the puck in the Giant’s zone and Kane raced down the ice receiving a pass in full stride. Being hounded from behind Kane was almost tripped up, but managed to keep his feet long enough to skate right up to goal to deposit the puck into the empty net. He celebrated a bit heartily, but it wasn’t because of the goal he scored, but the streak he extended. The game was out reach from then on as the Giants downed a much better, much hungrier and much more willing Portland squad than they faced earlier in the season in front of just over 9,000 fans. A pretty good turn out for a Sunday game against what may no longer be the worst team in the Dub.
The Giants went 1 for 3 on the PP, while holding Portland to 0 for 3. Trevor Hanson and Brett Iverson called an excellent game, but to be fair there wasn’t a whole lot of extraneous crap to call. Thankfully, unlike some WHL refs I could mention, they didn’t invent anything either. There was one fight tonight which came after a beautiful open ice hit laid by Todd Kennedy, who had a really good game tonight, playing hard, but not putting himself out of position doing something physical just to do something physical. Kennedy still has yet to throw a decent flurry of punches that I have seen, but he did other things tonight which has made me reassess his value to the team. Tayler Jordan cross-checked Kennedy after the hit and they both dropped the gloves. Mostly a wrestling match, Jordan got the better shots in and the take down with a nasty punch to back of Kennedy’s head as both players were going down. Mike Piluso was a healthy (?) scratch tonight. I also would have given the first star to Henry over Nunn as he put together a great game tonight at all ends of the ice. Craig Schira had a very solid game as he seemed to take the void left by Berube’s injury personally and fill it with his own defensive prowess.
The G-Men out shot the Portland squad 38-20 with the majority coming in the first period. They have a few days off before taking on Chilliwack at the Coliseum on Wednesday. Chilliwack is the only team to have handed the Giants a regulation loss and there is bound to be some energy as the Giants hope to put together a better game in their home barn than they did in the valley. Sexsmith is bound to be better and the whole team knows they need step up their game to make sure Chilliwack doesn’t take another from them. The puck drops at 7pm on Wednesday the 19th.
Three Stars
1) Garry Nunn
2) Craig Schira
3) Killian Hutt
Ridding themselves of all of their OA players (yes Mucha is still only 19), was a smart move. When Scott Gabriel is wearing an "A" you know you're in trouble. Sorry Scott but its the truth.
A new direction for the hawks which will probably see them drop a few games this season than they might have, but next year those young players will have played in more situations and for more minutes and it will only help them develop more quickly. A small price to pay for a competitive team next season.
Giants Pluck Winterhawks
Vancouver 5 Portland 2
Don Robinson
Evander Kane kept his point streak going by the skin of his teeth, scoring an empty net goal with 21 seconds left in the game to push his consecutive point run to 21 games, tying with one other for that mark in the Dub, he has two more to go to tie the all-time point streak and three more to break it. Kane did not have his best game tonight and seemed to be floating for the most part out there, but in the end it was good (for me at least) to see him extend his streak. The Winterhawks who were playing their third game in four nights, have had a resurgence to respectability since getting new owners, gutting their front office and replacing their coaching staff, going 5-2 in their last seven, 5-3 now in their last eight after tonight’s game. They also no longer have any over-age players on their roster, going instead for a youth movement which will put them in better stead for the future. The ‘hawks kept the game close until the third period when the Giants blew the doors off with a couple of quick goals. Brent Regner was a Jekyll and Hyde player tonight adding some unnecessary excitement by putting himself into trouble getting himself out of it and putting himself back into it, all night long. The zebras let the boys play and although there were some decent body checks being laid by both sides, neither team really went for the dirty stuff. The first penalty of the game came about 5 minutes into the second and was a good call, as Ridgeway ran over Tucker in his crease.
Portland opened the scoring in the first off of a turnover and odd-man rush misplayed by the lone D-man back, Regner. Killian Hutt picked the top corner sliding through the slot, beating Jamie Tucker high to the stick side. The goal came at 11:24 of the first after some solid forays by the G-Men in the Portland end of the ice. Colin Reddin got the only assist on the play. The Giants got that one back when Regner made up for his earlier gaffe going from his end of the rink all the way down the ice into the Portland zone. Cutting down the right side Regner picked the far side on Keith Hamilton from the face-dot. A great solo effort by the defenseman who took it upon himself to get something going for the home squad, who were spinning their wheels a bit at that time.
The Giants had tons of shots in the first, but were not getting decent traffic in front of Hamilton and taking the easy shots from the outside. Credit Portland’s defense early for keeping the Giants at bay in the first with close checking and some solid puck hustle. Hamilton did not have to be that good as the Giants were not getting in his face or forcing him to make huge saves. Hamilton was solid down low though and thwarted more than a few wrap-around attempts during the game. The home team out shot the visitors from Portland 19-6 in the first period, but the score was still tied by the end of the opening frame.
The Giants padded their lead in the second just past the mid-way mark on their second PP chance of the game. Some great work by Craig Cunningham got the puck to CPZ, who drifted the puck out to Jonathon Blum. Blum wired the puck and either picked the top corner or had it go off a defender’s stick, beating Hamilton high stick side. The Giants played a fairly casual period, but were willing to take hits to make plays and put some solid forechecking pressure on the Portland defenders. They needed to push a bit harder to get to the slot though and seemed content to play perimeter hockey.
A quick goal to open the third, plus an unassisted short-handed tally less than a minute after that and the Giants put the game almost out reach before the two minute mark of the final frame. Garry Nunn finally got a Giants wrap-around attempt to finally go as he slipped it past Hamilton and the puck could have gone in off of the Portland goalie’s pad or a defender’s skate in the crease, but the result was the same. James Wright was then caught for a high stick on Hutt giving the Winterhawks a chance to close the gap, but it was the Giants who would score. James Henry pressuring the point on the PK tipped the disc loose and raced down the ice carrying the puck. Coming hard down the slot he picked the top corner glove-side on Hamilton to put the Giants up by three. The Winterhawks still on the PP tried to rally, but the Giants managed to get to the loose pucks quicker. The G-Men gave up another PP opportunity during the kill going down 3 on 5 for about ten seconds, before springing Wright from the box. The PK shut down the rest of the penalty from then on.
Portland made it interesting late in the third when Blum failed on a poke-check attempt and allowed the forward to slip the puck by him. A low shot that Tucker probably should have had slipped in short side and the ‘hawks were within two. This was almost necessary though to set the stage for Kane to get his only point of the night, as the Portland squad probably would not have pulled their goalie down by three, but did down by two. Credit Don Hay for not double shifting Kane in the third, who really didn’t earn extra ice-time tonight, to get him a point to continue his streak. Blum stripped a Portland player of the puck in the Giant’s zone and Kane raced down the ice receiving a pass in full stride. Being hounded from behind Kane was almost tripped up, but managed to keep his feet long enough to skate right up to goal to deposit the puck into the empty net. He celebrated a bit heartily, but it wasn’t because of the goal he scored, but the streak he extended. The game was out reach from then on as the Giants downed a much better, much hungrier and much more willing Portland squad than they faced earlier in the season in front of just over 9,000 fans. A pretty good turn out for a Sunday game against what may no longer be the worst team in the Dub.
The Giants went 1 for 3 on the PP, while holding Portland to 0 for 3. Trevor Hanson and Brett Iverson called an excellent game, but to be fair there wasn’t a whole lot of extraneous crap to call. Thankfully, unlike some WHL refs I could mention, they didn’t invent anything either. There was one fight tonight which came after a beautiful open ice hit laid by Todd Kennedy, who had a really good game tonight, playing hard, but not putting himself out of position doing something physical just to do something physical. Kennedy still has yet to throw a decent flurry of punches that I have seen, but he did other things tonight which has made me reassess his value to the team. Tayler Jordan cross-checked Kennedy after the hit and they both dropped the gloves. Mostly a wrestling match, Jordan got the better shots in and the take down with a nasty punch to back of Kennedy’s head as both players were going down. Mike Piluso was a healthy (?) scratch tonight. I also would have given the first star to Henry over Nunn as he put together a great game tonight at all ends of the ice. Craig Schira had a very solid game as he seemed to take the void left by Berube’s injury personally and fill it with his own defensive prowess.
The G-Men out shot the Portland squad 38-20 with the majority coming in the first period. They have a few days off before taking on Chilliwack at the Coliseum on Wednesday. Chilliwack is the only team to have handed the Giants a regulation loss and there is bound to be some energy as the Giants hope to put together a better game in their home barn than they did in the valley. Sexsmith is bound to be better and the whole team knows they need step up their game to make sure Chilliwack doesn’t take another from them. The puck drops at 7pm on Wednesday the 19th.
Three Stars
1) Garry Nunn
2) Craig Schira
3) Killian Hutt