dondo
04-25-2009, 11:08 AM
with whlfans being down for so long I am going to have to try to find my old recaps and post them here-- bear with me -- hopefully I have them archived properly. Thanks HAF and Billy for keeping the site and changing over to a better server -- yeah baby!
Crank up the way-back machine Mr Peabody!
D
The Giants didn't show up for more than a period in this one and even then the Chiefs had the jump and the momentum from the drop of the puck. Better effort is needed and better focus as the Giants allowed themselves to be effectively harassed in their own end of the ice.
Sexsmith was probably one of the better Giants out there tonight as he preserved a tie into the top of the third and then the Giants decided to stop playing, getting a simply awful 2 shots on net. Not the kind of effort I expect and not the kind of effort they need or should ever be bringing.
The Chiefs were great tonight, forcing the Giants to rush the puck, keeping the puck in the Giants zone and pinning the visitors in their own end of the ice. The Giants were horrible clearing pucks from their own zone and were seriously guilty of a lack of focus taking more off-side calls than I have seen before. A lot of that could be due to the poor linesmen calls, but a good portion is just not paying attention.
I do have to say that the linesmen were pretty poor over-all tonight, with some late late offside calls (three passes made on a rush before they blow the whistle?), some other poor off-side calls and failing to call definite icings. Both ways. Add to that their inability to drop the puck quickly and you get two guys who didn't do their job tonight.
Bouma Cunningham and Sexsmith were the only Giants who showed up ready to play tonight.
Refs called soft as butter calls, that had those watching scratching their heads trying to figure out what the infraction was. On the other side they allowed a few big trips and goalie interferences without calls. Kinda sad actually. The refs weren't the reason for the Giants loss, by any stretch, but they did in my mind suck any and all emotion out of this one.
Great game by the Chiefs. The Giants have got to be better.
here's how I saw it from my chair watching the sky box view and some of the poorest camera-work in a hockey game I have seen:
Rnd 2 Gm 3:
Chiefs Chop Giants
Vancouver 2 Spokane 5
Don Robinson
The Giants played a solid first, a tentative second and a scrambly third, losing their first game of the playoffs. They really got out-hustled to loose pucks, as the Chiefs kept up the pressure. Spokane brought a big forecheck and checked the Giants very tightly, challenging the point with great success. The Giants lack of effort in their own end, meant that they allowed the puck to stay in their zone and gave up quality scoring chances. Tyson Sexsmith did his damnedest to keep his team in the game, but most of the boys didn’t really show the kind of intensity that they have to bring in the playoffs, especially versus this team. The Vancouver squad squandered most of their PP chances, dumping and not chasing and making dumb passes along the blue-line when they were already under pressure as opposed to putting the puck down low to open up the point shot. Remarkably, the Giants came into the third period tied 2-2, but seemed apathetic about pushing for the go-ahead goal and instead allowed the Chiefs to work them over and gain their own momentum. The Chiefs had several quality short-handed chances in the game and that just cannot happen. The Giants deserved to lose this game and they did. Better effort is needed if they don’t want to play more than five games in this series.
The Chiefs opened the scoring in front of about 4300 fans, not a great turnout for a playoff game. Levko Koper scored his first of the playoffs on the PP. The Chiefs held the puck in and got it across to Trevor Glass who slid the puck in with an accurate low shot which went in off of Sexy’s pads and to the open side. The Giants got that back on a PP of their own less than two minutes later. Jonny Blum got his fifth goal of the playoffs and 12th point finding a lane firing the puck on net and having it deflect past Dustin Tokarski, who did not need to be great tonight making his stops. Lance Bouma gave them the lead going to the net, tipping a nice pass from Craig Cunningham past Tokarski. Jared Spurgeon tied it up in the second going to the net and having it go in off his body past Sexsmith. The Chiefs lit it up in the third getting two odd man rush goals off of Drayson Bowman and Justin McCrae who put the past Sexy off of a sweet cross crease pass. Glass salted the game with a lofted EN goal finding the back of the net. No fisticuffs in this one, no real emotion.
The Giants struggled getting pucks on Tokarski tonight as it appeared they lacked the kind of focus they need in games like this. They put a season low 18 shots on Tokarski, scoring two on 7 shots early in the game, but failing to bulge the twine with less than stellar chances the rest of the way. They had a measly 2 shots on goal in the third, also a season low, and failed miserably to make it dangerous in the final frame for the Chiefs or Tokarski. They lacked the battle they needed and allowed the Chiefs to out-work them and that’s not Giants hockey. Hay is sure to be on his boys for their sub-par appearance and players could be sitting tomorrow night. I’d nominate Andrej Kudrna to ride the pine for a game as he half-assedly waived at a puck in his own zone giving the Chiefs a fantastic opportunity on which they scored the go-ahead marker and GWG. The Giants D were not awful, but they also were not motivated to fight for the puck. They failed repeatedly to clear their zone throughout the game, often with a clear open lane. Two really bad give-aways by Ross with poor clears and players generally not working hard enough along the boards. The positive is that the boys know they did not bring enough to this game and we can hope that bring what they need to tomorrow night. If they set-up the dump and chase they damn well better be chasing hard, not coasting into the zone.
The Giants were 1 for 4 on PP, while the Chiefs went 1 for 3. Both teams scored on their first chance with the man-advantage. A rarity in and of itself, the Giants were out shot by their opponents garnering a paltry 18 shots on goal to the Chiefs 28. The Giants now know they have a game 5 back at the Coliseum on Friday, but if they hope to be able to stop the Chiefs there they need to win tomorrow night in Spokane. It will take a bit more effort and maybe some nastiness as this series lost the emotion which had been brewing in Vancouver. The Chiefs got their big guns going tonight and the Giants will have to silence those guns again and have their own top guys step back up, as they were soundly checked to uselessness tonight and it will take a whole lot more battle in Game 4 to bring their game back to an effective one. Puck drops tomorrow night at 7pm PDT at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Spokane.
Three Stars
1) Drayson Bowman
2) Jonathon Blum
3) Dustin Tokarski
Crank up the way-back machine Mr Peabody!
D
The Giants didn't show up for more than a period in this one and even then the Chiefs had the jump and the momentum from the drop of the puck. Better effort is needed and better focus as the Giants allowed themselves to be effectively harassed in their own end of the ice.
Sexsmith was probably one of the better Giants out there tonight as he preserved a tie into the top of the third and then the Giants decided to stop playing, getting a simply awful 2 shots on net. Not the kind of effort I expect and not the kind of effort they need or should ever be bringing.
The Chiefs were great tonight, forcing the Giants to rush the puck, keeping the puck in the Giants zone and pinning the visitors in their own end of the ice. The Giants were horrible clearing pucks from their own zone and were seriously guilty of a lack of focus taking more off-side calls than I have seen before. A lot of that could be due to the poor linesmen calls, but a good portion is just not paying attention.
I do have to say that the linesmen were pretty poor over-all tonight, with some late late offside calls (three passes made on a rush before they blow the whistle?), some other poor off-side calls and failing to call definite icings. Both ways. Add to that their inability to drop the puck quickly and you get two guys who didn't do their job tonight.
Bouma Cunningham and Sexsmith were the only Giants who showed up ready to play tonight.
Refs called soft as butter calls, that had those watching scratching their heads trying to figure out what the infraction was. On the other side they allowed a few big trips and goalie interferences without calls. Kinda sad actually. The refs weren't the reason for the Giants loss, by any stretch, but they did in my mind suck any and all emotion out of this one.
Great game by the Chiefs. The Giants have got to be better.
here's how I saw it from my chair watching the sky box view and some of the poorest camera-work in a hockey game I have seen:
Rnd 2 Gm 3:
Chiefs Chop Giants
Vancouver 2 Spokane 5
Don Robinson
The Giants played a solid first, a tentative second and a scrambly third, losing their first game of the playoffs. They really got out-hustled to loose pucks, as the Chiefs kept up the pressure. Spokane brought a big forecheck and checked the Giants very tightly, challenging the point with great success. The Giants lack of effort in their own end, meant that they allowed the puck to stay in their zone and gave up quality scoring chances. Tyson Sexsmith did his damnedest to keep his team in the game, but most of the boys didn’t really show the kind of intensity that they have to bring in the playoffs, especially versus this team. The Vancouver squad squandered most of their PP chances, dumping and not chasing and making dumb passes along the blue-line when they were already under pressure as opposed to putting the puck down low to open up the point shot. Remarkably, the Giants came into the third period tied 2-2, but seemed apathetic about pushing for the go-ahead goal and instead allowed the Chiefs to work them over and gain their own momentum. The Chiefs had several quality short-handed chances in the game and that just cannot happen. The Giants deserved to lose this game and they did. Better effort is needed if they don’t want to play more than five games in this series.
The Chiefs opened the scoring in front of about 4300 fans, not a great turnout for a playoff game. Levko Koper scored his first of the playoffs on the PP. The Chiefs held the puck in and got it across to Trevor Glass who slid the puck in with an accurate low shot which went in off of Sexy’s pads and to the open side. The Giants got that back on a PP of their own less than two minutes later. Jonny Blum got his fifth goal of the playoffs and 12th point finding a lane firing the puck on net and having it deflect past Dustin Tokarski, who did not need to be great tonight making his stops. Lance Bouma gave them the lead going to the net, tipping a nice pass from Craig Cunningham past Tokarski. Jared Spurgeon tied it up in the second going to the net and having it go in off his body past Sexsmith. The Chiefs lit it up in the third getting two odd man rush goals off of Drayson Bowman and Justin McCrae who put the past Sexy off of a sweet cross crease pass. Glass salted the game with a lofted EN goal finding the back of the net. No fisticuffs in this one, no real emotion.
The Giants struggled getting pucks on Tokarski tonight as it appeared they lacked the kind of focus they need in games like this. They put a season low 18 shots on Tokarski, scoring two on 7 shots early in the game, but failing to bulge the twine with less than stellar chances the rest of the way. They had a measly 2 shots on goal in the third, also a season low, and failed miserably to make it dangerous in the final frame for the Chiefs or Tokarski. They lacked the battle they needed and allowed the Chiefs to out-work them and that’s not Giants hockey. Hay is sure to be on his boys for their sub-par appearance and players could be sitting tomorrow night. I’d nominate Andrej Kudrna to ride the pine for a game as he half-assedly waived at a puck in his own zone giving the Chiefs a fantastic opportunity on which they scored the go-ahead marker and GWG. The Giants D were not awful, but they also were not motivated to fight for the puck. They failed repeatedly to clear their zone throughout the game, often with a clear open lane. Two really bad give-aways by Ross with poor clears and players generally not working hard enough along the boards. The positive is that the boys know they did not bring enough to this game and we can hope that bring what they need to tomorrow night. If they set-up the dump and chase they damn well better be chasing hard, not coasting into the zone.
The Giants were 1 for 4 on PP, while the Chiefs went 1 for 3. Both teams scored on their first chance with the man-advantage. A rarity in and of itself, the Giants were out shot by their opponents garnering a paltry 18 shots on goal to the Chiefs 28. The Giants now know they have a game 5 back at the Coliseum on Friday, but if they hope to be able to stop the Chiefs there they need to win tomorrow night in Spokane. It will take a bit more effort and maybe some nastiness as this series lost the emotion which had been brewing in Vancouver. The Chiefs got their big guns going tonight and the Giants will have to silence those guns again and have their own top guys step back up, as they were soundly checked to uselessness tonight and it will take a whole lot more battle in Game 4 to bring their game back to an effective one. Puck drops tomorrow night at 7pm PDT at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Spokane.
Three Stars
1) Drayson Bowman
2) Jonathon Blum
3) Dustin Tokarski