dondo
11-20-2008, 01:10 AM
My man Jonny has a hell of a night, a hat trick and four points, in on every goal the Giants scored. You gotta love this guy.
Sexsmith was a hundred times better than he was in Chilliwack and that and the Giants PP was the difference tonight.
here's how I saw/heard it:
Giants Thump Bruins
Vancouver 4 Chilliwack 1
Don Robinson
The Giants answered back to the Bruins after losing their only game in regulation of the season to the Bears in their arena. Leading the charge with a four point night and his first hat trick in the WHL, was defenseman and Captain Jonathon Blum. Blum had one of those games where he put the team on his back and carried them all over the ice. He had some luck tonight, but also created a lot of opportunities for himself and his team-mates. Since the beginning of the season there has been no doubt what-so-ever who is the captain of this team. Blum, who missed the first four games of the season still up with the Nashville Predators in the NHL, now has 9 goals and 18 assists for 27 points in 18 games. Last season he scored 18 goals, added 45 assists for 63 points in 64 games. He is a leader on the ice, calm as a ripple-free pond with the puck with excellent vision of the ice and almost flawless instincts. Tonight was his night, but then again most nights are his night as he often gets singled out for a star even on nights where he doesn’t notch points in the game. Tyson Sexsmith was very close to getting a shut-out tonight, but for the determined work of Kevin Sundher who was Chilliwack’s best player on the night, breaking the goose-egg with about two minutes left in the game. Not sure why he didn’t get the nod for the third star.
The Giants opened the scoring about mid-way through the first after coming out a bit sloppy to start the game. Blum threw the puck on net from the point and it went in off of Scott Ramsay’s glove and in behind Mark Friesen. It would prove to be the only goal of the opening frame, as the game was feeling suspiciously like the game in Chilliwack except for one big difference. Sexsmith wasn’t a soft sieve. In fact he weathered a big PP and ensuing momentum by the Bruins when the game was still close to keep his team on the right side of the score-sheet. The Bruins out shot the Giants in the first, coming from behind and really putting on the pressure late in the first.
The Giants held Chilliwack to 3 shots in the second while putting 10 of their own on Friesen. Jonny Blum got his second of the night taking the puck from Curtis Kulchar, storming into the Bruin’s zone and wiring the puck low and hard. Following up, he drove the net and lifted a nice backhand high into the net off of Friesen’s huge rebound. Apparently, Blum’s Dad was in the stands tonight and I suppose that might have given him that extra bit of incentive to dominate the game as he did. Chilliwack got into trouble tonight taking a lot of penalties. The refs did them no favours with some soft calls, but in the end the Bruin players caught themselves by scrambling and taking some lazy and careless infractions. Credit the Giants for working hard and drawing some of the penalties, especially James Henry who was working very hard tonight. The score could have been uglier if it wasn’t for Friesen as the Bruins turned over the puck in prime areas several times on the night. JT Barnett fanned on a clear chance tonight.
Some nights, taking those penalties might not have hurt the Bruins so much, but tonight the Giants were deadly with the man-advantage, going 3 for 7 on the PP and it was the tale of the game. The official box score has the Bruins 0 for 2, but it was 0 for 3 with one of the penalties against the Giants a double minor. Early in the third the Giants poured a bit of salt into the Bruins wound by notching their second PP tally. Blum set-up Casey Pierro-Zabotel for his 7th of the season, putting the home squad up 3-0. Then just past the mid-way mark of the third the Giants struck again with the man-ad and it seemed that whole PP the boys kept trying to get the puck back to Jon at the point. Finally Blum scored his first hat trick goal of his WHL career, getting the puck past Friesen. Brent Regner who had another one of those good/bad nights and James Wright garnered the assists. Late in the game Bronson Maschmeyer got some time playing the point on the PP when the Bruins took a late penalty and Jonny was given some much earned rest. Sexsmith’s 24th career shut-out bid was ruined when Kevin Sundher scored on a nice play with about two minutes left in the game, but that’s as close as the boys from the valley would get as the Giants notched their 18th win of the season.
The Giants went 3 for 7 with the man-advantage, while holding Chilliwack to 0 for 3. The home team, who were out shot in the first, managed to turn the tide and end out-shooting the visitors 30-23. The Giants have a day off before taking on the Kamloops Blazers in some back to back, home at home, tilts Friday and Saturday. Friday at the Coliseum will be an NHL oldies night with appearances by Steve Shutt, Gerry Cheevers, Yvan Cournoyer, Johnny Bower and Dave Schultz. The Stanley Cup will make an appearance as well and the boys will be wearing traditional Vancouver Millionaires jerseys on the ice. The house is going to be packed as close to 15,000 seats have already been sold for the game and it could end up being a full sell-out by Friday. The puck drops at 7:30 pm PST at the Rink on Renfrew.
Three Stars
1) Jonathon Blum
2) Casey Pierro-Zabotel
3) Ryan Howse
Sexsmith was a hundred times better than he was in Chilliwack and that and the Giants PP was the difference tonight.
here's how I saw/heard it:
Giants Thump Bruins
Vancouver 4 Chilliwack 1
Don Robinson
The Giants answered back to the Bruins after losing their only game in regulation of the season to the Bears in their arena. Leading the charge with a four point night and his first hat trick in the WHL, was defenseman and Captain Jonathon Blum. Blum had one of those games where he put the team on his back and carried them all over the ice. He had some luck tonight, but also created a lot of opportunities for himself and his team-mates. Since the beginning of the season there has been no doubt what-so-ever who is the captain of this team. Blum, who missed the first four games of the season still up with the Nashville Predators in the NHL, now has 9 goals and 18 assists for 27 points in 18 games. Last season he scored 18 goals, added 45 assists for 63 points in 64 games. He is a leader on the ice, calm as a ripple-free pond with the puck with excellent vision of the ice and almost flawless instincts. Tonight was his night, but then again most nights are his night as he often gets singled out for a star even on nights where he doesn’t notch points in the game. Tyson Sexsmith was very close to getting a shut-out tonight, but for the determined work of Kevin Sundher who was Chilliwack’s best player on the night, breaking the goose-egg with about two minutes left in the game. Not sure why he didn’t get the nod for the third star.
The Giants opened the scoring about mid-way through the first after coming out a bit sloppy to start the game. Blum threw the puck on net from the point and it went in off of Scott Ramsay’s glove and in behind Mark Friesen. It would prove to be the only goal of the opening frame, as the game was feeling suspiciously like the game in Chilliwack except for one big difference. Sexsmith wasn’t a soft sieve. In fact he weathered a big PP and ensuing momentum by the Bruins when the game was still close to keep his team on the right side of the score-sheet. The Bruins out shot the Giants in the first, coming from behind and really putting on the pressure late in the first.
The Giants held Chilliwack to 3 shots in the second while putting 10 of their own on Friesen. Jonny Blum got his second of the night taking the puck from Curtis Kulchar, storming into the Bruin’s zone and wiring the puck low and hard. Following up, he drove the net and lifted a nice backhand high into the net off of Friesen’s huge rebound. Apparently, Blum’s Dad was in the stands tonight and I suppose that might have given him that extra bit of incentive to dominate the game as he did. Chilliwack got into trouble tonight taking a lot of penalties. The refs did them no favours with some soft calls, but in the end the Bruin players caught themselves by scrambling and taking some lazy and careless infractions. Credit the Giants for working hard and drawing some of the penalties, especially James Henry who was working very hard tonight. The score could have been uglier if it wasn’t for Friesen as the Bruins turned over the puck in prime areas several times on the night. JT Barnett fanned on a clear chance tonight.
Some nights, taking those penalties might not have hurt the Bruins so much, but tonight the Giants were deadly with the man-advantage, going 3 for 7 on the PP and it was the tale of the game. The official box score has the Bruins 0 for 2, but it was 0 for 3 with one of the penalties against the Giants a double minor. Early in the third the Giants poured a bit of salt into the Bruins wound by notching their second PP tally. Blum set-up Casey Pierro-Zabotel for his 7th of the season, putting the home squad up 3-0. Then just past the mid-way mark of the third the Giants struck again with the man-ad and it seemed that whole PP the boys kept trying to get the puck back to Jon at the point. Finally Blum scored his first hat trick goal of his WHL career, getting the puck past Friesen. Brent Regner who had another one of those good/bad nights and James Wright garnered the assists. Late in the game Bronson Maschmeyer got some time playing the point on the PP when the Bruins took a late penalty and Jonny was given some much earned rest. Sexsmith’s 24th career shut-out bid was ruined when Kevin Sundher scored on a nice play with about two minutes left in the game, but that’s as close as the boys from the valley would get as the Giants notched their 18th win of the season.
The Giants went 3 for 7 with the man-advantage, while holding Chilliwack to 0 for 3. The home team, who were out shot in the first, managed to turn the tide and end out-shooting the visitors 30-23. The Giants have a day off before taking on the Kamloops Blazers in some back to back, home at home, tilts Friday and Saturday. Friday at the Coliseum will be an NHL oldies night with appearances by Steve Shutt, Gerry Cheevers, Yvan Cournoyer, Johnny Bower and Dave Schultz. The Stanley Cup will make an appearance as well and the boys will be wearing traditional Vancouver Millionaires jerseys on the ice. The house is going to be packed as close to 15,000 seats have already been sold for the game and it could end up being a full sell-out by Friday. The puck drops at 7:30 pm PST at the Rink on Renfrew.
Three Stars
1) Jonathon Blum
2) Casey Pierro-Zabotel
3) Ryan Howse