dondo
01-05-2009, 01:37 PM
busy busy .. no time to post this before now. Not a horrible outing by the Giants, but the effort just wasn't there and the play was pretty sloppy. Considering the sloppy play, losing by only one goal while allowing 33 shots is not too bad, but the Giants deserved to take the loss in this one.
Here's I saw it from the corner:
Blazers Burn Giants
Vancouver 1 Kamloops 2
Don Robinson
The Giants suffered their first home regulation loss of the season at the hands of the Kamloops Blazers and they did not really play well enough to take the win. The Giants who have a remarkable record neglected to show up with the same intensity as the Blazers and although their goalie held them in there for the most part, they were not able to make it tough enough for the other guy’s goalie to really put serious pressure on him. Their passing was anemic on the night, failing to connect the crisp tape-to-tape pass that seemed so easy before Christmas break. Since returning from their brief hiatus, the Giants have not sparkled as a complete team unit the way they did before the break. Maybe its not having Jonathon Blum leading the way, or maybe they are missing Evander Kane’s ability to make things happen, but something has been lacking as the team has struggled to get the W’s. It could be that they aren’t quite getting the bounces they were before and winning has become harder and they have yet to adjust. Regardless this might be good for them as it’ll force them to work for their wins on their extended two week plus road trip coming up in early January. The Giants were undefeated in December playing just one game away in Tri-Cities and the rest at home. Since the break wins have become more challenging as the Giants put themselves behind early in a few games and Saturday night they couldn’t come back.
The Blazers came out pretty hard in the first, playing solid defensive hockey, but putting some good pressure on the home team with an aggressive forecheck. The Kamloops squad after being downed the night before 8-4 by lowly Moose Jaw were willing to put in the work at both ends of the ice for the win and it showed. Unlike the Rebels the night before the Blazers played a very clean game using solid positioning and aggressive play to keep the Giants back on their heels. Alex Rodgers opened the scoring for the visitors in the first off of a very nice passing play. Dalibor Bortnak got the puck to the front of the net and Rodgers put it past Tyson Sexsmith for the go-ahead goal. Late in the first the Giants took four consecutive penalties, but Sexy was able to shut the door when it counted.
The reffing was really picky early on and took a bit of the life out of the game in terms of physical play and compete energy, but leveled out later on in the contest. Neither zebra was having his best game though, but they were not the reason for the loss. Still not sure how stripping a goalie of the puck behind his own net and tapping him in the process is interference on the goaltender, but whatever. The Giants had a better second period and were able to even up the game off of a nice goal by Mikael Fisenko, who scored his second in as many games. Fisenko has a good shot and I wish he’d use it more instead of making that extra pass. The goal came on the PP and was assisted by Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Brent Regner, who despite the point struggled most of the night. The Giants squandered their own four consecutive PP stint in the second, over-passing the puck and not getting decent traffic in front of the net. Credit the Blazer defenders though as they aggressively challenged the point forcing the Giants to make plays along the blue-line as a lot of the lanes down to the low guys were frequently blocked. The Giants were not able to penetrate the Blazers box when they collapsed to the net either. Drawing penalties and bringing a harder game to fore in second ended up not working for the Giants as they failed to take advantage of the opportunities they earned.
Kamloops had some early pressure in the third capitalising on a PP in the opening minute of the final frame. Former Giant Kenton Dulle made a nice pass setting up Tyler Shattock for what proved to be the game-winning goal, 43 seconds into the final period. The Giants pushed back late in the third, but were not able to solve Jon Groenheyde as the Kamloops netminder made some solid stops, and any rebounds were tied up or cleared by his boys before the Giants could get a stick on the puck. It was just one of those rare games where the Giants allowed themselves to be out-worked and deservedly came on the losing end for their effort. Kamloops was the more intense team, wanted it more, got a bit of luck and made a lot of their own to get the win. The game was a reminder to the G-Men that they are not unbeatable despite their remarkable record and it might have been a lesson well-learned early.
The Giants went 1 for 8 on the PP squandering most their opportunities, looking for that perfect play instead of throwing it on net and crashing the crease. They got caught not working to maintain possession. Considering the score you might have thought it was a pretty even game, but the Giants were a step behind all night and Sexsmith had to be very solid to keep his team close when the pressure in front of his net became intense. The Blazers were 1 for 5 on the PP. The shots were 34-33 in favour of the home team. The Giants D were a bit porous and made more than few poor choices clearing their zone and low percentage plays up the middle. Both Craig Schira and Regner who are usually rock solid had a serious brain cramp evening, turning over the puck with great regularity in bad places on the ice. The Giants have a few days off before embarking on an extended road-trip through the Eastern Conference. On that trip they play four in five nights, with the toughest contest coming versus the red-hot Hitmen. That game will be a great yard-stick for the G-Men and even a great outing taking a slim loss, although a win is much preferred, would be a victory of sorts. They will see how good they are versus bigger teams and decide whether or not they need to add some beef to the line-up. Next up Kootenay. Puck drops 7pm local time.
Three Stars
1) Jon Groenheyde
2) Tyson Sexsmith
3) Tyler Shattock
Here's I saw it from the corner:
Blazers Burn Giants
Vancouver 1 Kamloops 2
Don Robinson
The Giants suffered their first home regulation loss of the season at the hands of the Kamloops Blazers and they did not really play well enough to take the win. The Giants who have a remarkable record neglected to show up with the same intensity as the Blazers and although their goalie held them in there for the most part, they were not able to make it tough enough for the other guy’s goalie to really put serious pressure on him. Their passing was anemic on the night, failing to connect the crisp tape-to-tape pass that seemed so easy before Christmas break. Since returning from their brief hiatus, the Giants have not sparkled as a complete team unit the way they did before the break. Maybe its not having Jonathon Blum leading the way, or maybe they are missing Evander Kane’s ability to make things happen, but something has been lacking as the team has struggled to get the W’s. It could be that they aren’t quite getting the bounces they were before and winning has become harder and they have yet to adjust. Regardless this might be good for them as it’ll force them to work for their wins on their extended two week plus road trip coming up in early January. The Giants were undefeated in December playing just one game away in Tri-Cities and the rest at home. Since the break wins have become more challenging as the Giants put themselves behind early in a few games and Saturday night they couldn’t come back.
The Blazers came out pretty hard in the first, playing solid defensive hockey, but putting some good pressure on the home team with an aggressive forecheck. The Kamloops squad after being downed the night before 8-4 by lowly Moose Jaw were willing to put in the work at both ends of the ice for the win and it showed. Unlike the Rebels the night before the Blazers played a very clean game using solid positioning and aggressive play to keep the Giants back on their heels. Alex Rodgers opened the scoring for the visitors in the first off of a very nice passing play. Dalibor Bortnak got the puck to the front of the net and Rodgers put it past Tyson Sexsmith for the go-ahead goal. Late in the first the Giants took four consecutive penalties, but Sexy was able to shut the door when it counted.
The reffing was really picky early on and took a bit of the life out of the game in terms of physical play and compete energy, but leveled out later on in the contest. Neither zebra was having his best game though, but they were not the reason for the loss. Still not sure how stripping a goalie of the puck behind his own net and tapping him in the process is interference on the goaltender, but whatever. The Giants had a better second period and were able to even up the game off of a nice goal by Mikael Fisenko, who scored his second in as many games. Fisenko has a good shot and I wish he’d use it more instead of making that extra pass. The goal came on the PP and was assisted by Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Brent Regner, who despite the point struggled most of the night. The Giants squandered their own four consecutive PP stint in the second, over-passing the puck and not getting decent traffic in front of the net. Credit the Blazer defenders though as they aggressively challenged the point forcing the Giants to make plays along the blue-line as a lot of the lanes down to the low guys were frequently blocked. The Giants were not able to penetrate the Blazers box when they collapsed to the net either. Drawing penalties and bringing a harder game to fore in second ended up not working for the Giants as they failed to take advantage of the opportunities they earned.
Kamloops had some early pressure in the third capitalising on a PP in the opening minute of the final frame. Former Giant Kenton Dulle made a nice pass setting up Tyler Shattock for what proved to be the game-winning goal, 43 seconds into the final period. The Giants pushed back late in the third, but were not able to solve Jon Groenheyde as the Kamloops netminder made some solid stops, and any rebounds were tied up or cleared by his boys before the Giants could get a stick on the puck. It was just one of those rare games where the Giants allowed themselves to be out-worked and deservedly came on the losing end for their effort. Kamloops was the more intense team, wanted it more, got a bit of luck and made a lot of their own to get the win. The game was a reminder to the G-Men that they are not unbeatable despite their remarkable record and it might have been a lesson well-learned early.
The Giants went 1 for 8 on the PP squandering most their opportunities, looking for that perfect play instead of throwing it on net and crashing the crease. They got caught not working to maintain possession. Considering the score you might have thought it was a pretty even game, but the Giants were a step behind all night and Sexsmith had to be very solid to keep his team close when the pressure in front of his net became intense. The Blazers were 1 for 5 on the PP. The shots were 34-33 in favour of the home team. The Giants D were a bit porous and made more than few poor choices clearing their zone and low percentage plays up the middle. Both Craig Schira and Regner who are usually rock solid had a serious brain cramp evening, turning over the puck with great regularity in bad places on the ice. The Giants have a few days off before embarking on an extended road-trip through the Eastern Conference. On that trip they play four in five nights, with the toughest contest coming versus the red-hot Hitmen. That game will be a great yard-stick for the G-Men and even a great outing taking a slim loss, although a win is much preferred, would be a victory of sorts. They will see how good they are versus bigger teams and decide whether or not they need to add some beef to the line-up. Next up Kootenay. Puck drops 7pm local time.
Three Stars
1) Jon Groenheyde
2) Tyson Sexsmith
3) Tyler Shattock