dondo
02-28-2009, 01:57 AM
The Giants mathematically killed all playoff hopes for the Chilliwack Bruins, while breaking a franchise record for points in a season. The Giants have had four consecutive 100 pt seasons and four consecutive BC Division titles. Each season has set a new record, going 100, 102, 106 last season and with 9 games left 108 points so far. If they run the table they can max out at 126, a plateau which might never been reached again.
Sadly the game was, as usual when the Bruins and Giants tangle, pretty boring over-all with few moments of real excitement. Tyson played a solid game, and had to be good in the second to keep his team close, with the Bruins pressing.
Sexsmith has been much maligned and although I understand where some of the doubts come from, in the end his numbers are simply too good to deny. Holds the shut out record for the WHL career regular season. His GAA is usually in the top five in the league. His SV% is not stellar, but you have to understand that he faces very few shots in a game, but those shots usually represent decent scoring chances, still his career SV% is above .900. He's a very solid positional goaltender that might lack a lot of flash to his game, but he plays a simple game and in the end just stops the puck. He has 37 wins this season and why he keeps getting the gears from the fans or media for occasional soft goals I have a hard time understanding.
Sexsmith will always give you a chance to win and he very rarely has truly bad games. I can think of two this whole season. The most recent being the Kelowna game at the Coliseum, where he was not great, but decent enough for being left high and dry. The other was game versus the Bruins in Chilliwack where the bears slipped by the Giants. The pressure on this guy must be intense, but he's cool and calm between the pipes and you'll never catch him making more of a save than was there. No big around-the-world move for a routine glove stop for Sexy. If a particular save looks impressive then it is and quite often he steals goals with his quick glove hand, or great lateral movement across the crease.
I personally feel very comfortable with him between the pipes and although rookie Jamie Tucker is flashier, you will get no more dependable a goalie than Sexsmith.
Evander Kane tried to be a force tonight, but he was being mauled by the Bruins all night long, with no calls from the crap zebras who donned the orange stripes tonight. Teams will continue to play clutchy trap hockey if you don't punish them for it. Casey seemed to be fairly floaty out there and needs to get that aggressive streak back on track. I'd much rather have him taking a few roughing penalties a game than play with the lack of emotion I saw tonight.
The Giants did tonight what you can't do with the Bruins, let them hang around, not taking it to them from the beginning and never let up. They will need to do that on Sunday as the Bruins have nothing left in the season, but to be spoilers, and will be playing very loose.
Giants Edge Bruins
Vancouver 3 Chilliwack 1
Don Robinson
Once again the Giants made a game versus the cellar dwelling Bruins far more difficult than it had to be. Watching the Bruins play Vancouver I still have to wonder why their record is so awful. They were hustling, checking well, have speed in the line-up and solid goaltending. They should be better and versus the Giants they seem to bring their best game. Tonight was no different as the Giants went MIA in the second period and were a hair’s breadth away from giving up the go-ahead goal when it was swept away at the last moment standing on edge on the goal-line. The Bruins pressed hard in the middle frame and managed the tying marker, but no more. The zebras, Brett Iverson and Carl Poole were simply abysmal tonight, making dumb calls and even worse assumptions awarding penalties. The Bruins, as they usually tend to be, were guilty of some serious obstruction which was gamely ignored by the orange stripers. On the other side of the puck the Giants were given a goaltender interference when Nunn was trying to stickhandle the puck past Mark Friesen, while wearing a Bruin back-pack, running over the goaltender in the process. Most of the calls followed that pattern and were pretty poor over-all.
The Giants opened the scoring in the first. Mid-way through the opening frame the puck got around to Nick Ross who blasted it at the net. Both Brenden Gallagher and James Wright were screening the goalie and Wright got his stick on the puck to tip it past Friesen. Kevin Sundher got one for the Bruins in the second, tying the game. Sexsmith made a couple of point blank stops, but the rebound finally squirted loose and Sundher was ready to pounce. In the second, the Giants struggled to get anything going and were being out-worked by the Bruins. Sexsmith had to make more than a few big stops to keep his team in the game. Craig Cunningham and Gallagher were hustling all night long. You can add Garry Nunn to that list as he had some serious forays into the offensive zone and was finally rewarded when he tracked down a feed from JT Barnett in the slot and put the puck home. James Henry, who was also hustling his butt off, potted the empty net goal taking a Mike Berube feed down the ice and depositing it into the net.
The Giants out shot the Bruins 34-23. Neither team were able to take advantage of their PPs as the Giants went 0 for 3 and the Bruins 0 for 6, including a 5 on 3 opportunity, which opened the third period. Mike Berube had two assists and was very solid at both ends of the ice tonight. The Giants looked ugly in the second and really need to stop having those shoddy periods where they don’t bring their game to the fore. Adam Basford and Todd Kennedy both had big hits tonight, but they were frequently late and put the themselves out of position. Craig Schira, on the other hand, managed to make his big hits, while still being part of the play. The game was the first of three in three and the Giants head down to Everett for a game tomorrow night and come back up to Chilliwack for a game on Sunday. The Giants shut out Everett 8-0 on Wednesday and have three shut out wins versus the Tips this season in four games. They hope to continue that streak on Saturday. The puck drops at 7:05pm PST at the Comcast Arena, where there will be a myriad of Giants fans and minor hockey players in attendance.
Three Stars
1) Tyson Sexsmith
2) Garry Nunn
3) Kevin Sundher
Sadly the game was, as usual when the Bruins and Giants tangle, pretty boring over-all with few moments of real excitement. Tyson played a solid game, and had to be good in the second to keep his team close, with the Bruins pressing.
Sexsmith has been much maligned and although I understand where some of the doubts come from, in the end his numbers are simply too good to deny. Holds the shut out record for the WHL career regular season. His GAA is usually in the top five in the league. His SV% is not stellar, but you have to understand that he faces very few shots in a game, but those shots usually represent decent scoring chances, still his career SV% is above .900. He's a very solid positional goaltender that might lack a lot of flash to his game, but he plays a simple game and in the end just stops the puck. He has 37 wins this season and why he keeps getting the gears from the fans or media for occasional soft goals I have a hard time understanding.
Sexsmith will always give you a chance to win and he very rarely has truly bad games. I can think of two this whole season. The most recent being the Kelowna game at the Coliseum, where he was not great, but decent enough for being left high and dry. The other was game versus the Bruins in Chilliwack where the bears slipped by the Giants. The pressure on this guy must be intense, but he's cool and calm between the pipes and you'll never catch him making more of a save than was there. No big around-the-world move for a routine glove stop for Sexy. If a particular save looks impressive then it is and quite often he steals goals with his quick glove hand, or great lateral movement across the crease.
I personally feel very comfortable with him between the pipes and although rookie Jamie Tucker is flashier, you will get no more dependable a goalie than Sexsmith.
Evander Kane tried to be a force tonight, but he was being mauled by the Bruins all night long, with no calls from the crap zebras who donned the orange stripes tonight. Teams will continue to play clutchy trap hockey if you don't punish them for it. Casey seemed to be fairly floaty out there and needs to get that aggressive streak back on track. I'd much rather have him taking a few roughing penalties a game than play with the lack of emotion I saw tonight.
The Giants did tonight what you can't do with the Bruins, let them hang around, not taking it to them from the beginning and never let up. They will need to do that on Sunday as the Bruins have nothing left in the season, but to be spoilers, and will be playing very loose.
Giants Edge Bruins
Vancouver 3 Chilliwack 1
Don Robinson
Once again the Giants made a game versus the cellar dwelling Bruins far more difficult than it had to be. Watching the Bruins play Vancouver I still have to wonder why their record is so awful. They were hustling, checking well, have speed in the line-up and solid goaltending. They should be better and versus the Giants they seem to bring their best game. Tonight was no different as the Giants went MIA in the second period and were a hair’s breadth away from giving up the go-ahead goal when it was swept away at the last moment standing on edge on the goal-line. The Bruins pressed hard in the middle frame and managed the tying marker, but no more. The zebras, Brett Iverson and Carl Poole were simply abysmal tonight, making dumb calls and even worse assumptions awarding penalties. The Bruins, as they usually tend to be, were guilty of some serious obstruction which was gamely ignored by the orange stripers. On the other side of the puck the Giants were given a goaltender interference when Nunn was trying to stickhandle the puck past Mark Friesen, while wearing a Bruin back-pack, running over the goaltender in the process. Most of the calls followed that pattern and were pretty poor over-all.
The Giants opened the scoring in the first. Mid-way through the opening frame the puck got around to Nick Ross who blasted it at the net. Both Brenden Gallagher and James Wright were screening the goalie and Wright got his stick on the puck to tip it past Friesen. Kevin Sundher got one for the Bruins in the second, tying the game. Sexsmith made a couple of point blank stops, but the rebound finally squirted loose and Sundher was ready to pounce. In the second, the Giants struggled to get anything going and were being out-worked by the Bruins. Sexsmith had to make more than a few big stops to keep his team in the game. Craig Cunningham and Gallagher were hustling all night long. You can add Garry Nunn to that list as he had some serious forays into the offensive zone and was finally rewarded when he tracked down a feed from JT Barnett in the slot and put the puck home. James Henry, who was also hustling his butt off, potted the empty net goal taking a Mike Berube feed down the ice and depositing it into the net.
The Giants out shot the Bruins 34-23. Neither team were able to take advantage of their PPs as the Giants went 0 for 3 and the Bruins 0 for 6, including a 5 on 3 opportunity, which opened the third period. Mike Berube had two assists and was very solid at both ends of the ice tonight. The Giants looked ugly in the second and really need to stop having those shoddy periods where they don’t bring their game to the fore. Adam Basford and Todd Kennedy both had big hits tonight, but they were frequently late and put the themselves out of position. Craig Schira, on the other hand, managed to make his big hits, while still being part of the play. The game was the first of three in three and the Giants head down to Everett for a game tomorrow night and come back up to Chilliwack for a game on Sunday. The Giants shut out Everett 8-0 on Wednesday and have three shut out wins versus the Tips this season in four games. They hope to continue that streak on Saturday. The puck drops at 7:05pm PST at the Comcast Arena, where there will be a myriad of Giants fans and minor hockey players in attendance.
Three Stars
1) Tyson Sexsmith
2) Garry Nunn
3) Kevin Sundher