dondo
10-24-2009, 01:15 AM
Craig Hartsburg has the Tips playing some very disciplined hockey and Don Hay admits that this team is playing very solid hockey and are dangerous and should be challenging all season. Both teams played a very disciplined hard-nosed game that felt at times like playoff hockey due to the intensity. It was good hockey for the most part with players on both sides willing to sacrifice to make plays. The Giants had to play the full sixty to get the win.
Giants Top Tips
Vancouver 4 Everett 2
Don Robinson
The Giants and Silvertips played a pretty hard-nosed game tonight, with neither team willing to give up territory easily. The checking was close and hard and the two teams were full money for entertainment having a few scraps, none of which lead to much, but revealing emotions boiling underneath. The shots were fairly even in the contest as both squads kept their intensity throughout the game. The Giants managed to get a 2 goal lead by the end of the second, but the Silvertips got a couple of their own in the third, a period in which they have dominated this season. The Giants were not ready to lay down though and with their recent collapse against the Americans foremost in their minds did not sit back, but kept the pressure up for the duration. Late in the game a few penalties were called, but it was the Giants who managed to get an empty netter to salt away the game and get the victory.
The first was a hard fought set-up for the rest of the game. No goals were scored and few shots made it to the net, but messages were sent as the Giants came out hitting hard and effectively. Lance Bouma in particular improved his hitting average tonight connecting frequently and effectively throughout the night. Brendan Gallagher was water-bug with teeth as he finished checks and battled hard at both ends of the ice, ditto James Henry who played yet another solid ballsy game from the drop of the puck. Sadly, Todd Kennedy despite taking boxing lessons during the summer and everything proved he is still one of the worst fighters in the league, but a damn fine hugger. Thankfully the rest of Todd’s game looks a lot better than it did last season. To be honest though I’d rather see Brandon Scholten out there in place of Kennedy. Kennedy fought Abney and took a few hard shots before implementing his patented duck and hug technique. The first was a feisty period as both teams were not willing to give an inch and were sacrificing the body whenever they could make a play.
The Giants opened the scoring in the second off David Musil and Neil Manning, who quietly notched 3A on the night, getting the puck to Craig Cunningham who made no mistake tipping it past Thomas Heemskerk. Jamie Tucker got the start for the Giants and was bouncing all over the ice effectively battling for loose pucks for the majority of the evening. Henry and Froese dropped the mitts for what could have been a pretty good tilt, but after a few punches Froese lost his footing and went down, dragging Henry with him. The Giants padded their lead on the PP when Gallagher went to the front of the net and cashed in a loose puck off the post. Kevin Connauton and Manning got the helpers. Bouma and Dailey tangled when Bouma laid out Rissanen with a hard clean hit along the boards. Dailey should have got an instigator as he jumped Bouma, but Derek Zalaski had his head up his ass for the majority of the game failing to call a few blatant elbows and interferences in the contest.
The Tips scored early in the third on the PP, getting an odd one. Zalaski failed to make a call one way or the other and immediately pointed upstairs when Tucker got the puck, but it looked as if his glove slid across the line on the replay. As far as I know it’s the refs responsibility to make a call one way or the other before going upstairs in the event that it’s inconclusive and they go with the call on the ice. The replay I saw was most definitely inconclusive, but I suspect the reviewers have more angles than we see in the building. The play was called a goal, despite the ref not calling it one way or the other on the ice, as is his job. Markus McCrea threw the puck toward the net and it disappeared near the goal-line and called in by the play review. The Giants got that one back about six minutes later when they made their PP work for them. Once again it was Gallagher with the goal, ripping it top shelf, and Manning and Connauton with the assists. Late in the game Craig Cunningham flipped the puck on the net with a back-hand missing the open net and clanging the rubber square off the post and out. Dale Hunt got his first of the season putting home a rebound from the side of the net when Gudas took a smart shot from the point, to close the gap back to one, but that’s a s close as they would come. The last five minutes were fairly intense as the teams battled for puck possession. A couple of late penalties made it interesting, but in the end the Giants got a smart empty netter with Henry just tipping the puck in the neutral zone sending it to the centre of the empty cage. Musil and newest Giant Milan Kytnar got the assists.
The Giants barely out shot the Silvertips 24-22, out-shooting the, dangerous in the third period, Tips in the final frame. It was close game all-around and some pretty good hard hockey. The Giants played a disciplined game within their skill set, something they completely failed to do versus the Americans. Giants were 2 for 4 on the PP, while the Tips went 1 for 3. Milan Kytnar’s debut though not spectacular was remarkably solid, good hard checks, excellent sense of battle, great hustle and few good passing plays. He won’t be replacing the 40 plus goals we lost with the exit of Evander Kane, but he will provide a very stable presence at all ends of the ice and seems to be tailor-made for Giants hockey. This feels like the kind of guy who can get you deep into the playoffs. Hay likes the player and his confidence and believes that he’ll be able to take some hard minutes off of the plate of Henry, Cunningham, Gallagher, Bouma and Piluso. Kytnar looked solid on the PK tonight.
The Giants beat the Silvertips for the first time this season with tonight’s game marking the first of three in three, which see the Giants travel to Kelowna tomorrow for the first game of a home at home series, Saturday at Prospera and Sunday back at the Coliseum. Puck drops in Kelowna at 7pm PDT and 5pm PDT on Sunday in Vancouver.
Three Stars
1. Lance Bouma
2. Brendan Gallagher
3. Zach Dailey
Giants Top Tips
Vancouver 4 Everett 2
Don Robinson
The Giants and Silvertips played a pretty hard-nosed game tonight, with neither team willing to give up territory easily. The checking was close and hard and the two teams were full money for entertainment having a few scraps, none of which lead to much, but revealing emotions boiling underneath. The shots were fairly even in the contest as both squads kept their intensity throughout the game. The Giants managed to get a 2 goal lead by the end of the second, but the Silvertips got a couple of their own in the third, a period in which they have dominated this season. The Giants were not ready to lay down though and with their recent collapse against the Americans foremost in their minds did not sit back, but kept the pressure up for the duration. Late in the game a few penalties were called, but it was the Giants who managed to get an empty netter to salt away the game and get the victory.
The first was a hard fought set-up for the rest of the game. No goals were scored and few shots made it to the net, but messages were sent as the Giants came out hitting hard and effectively. Lance Bouma in particular improved his hitting average tonight connecting frequently and effectively throughout the night. Brendan Gallagher was water-bug with teeth as he finished checks and battled hard at both ends of the ice, ditto James Henry who played yet another solid ballsy game from the drop of the puck. Sadly, Todd Kennedy despite taking boxing lessons during the summer and everything proved he is still one of the worst fighters in the league, but a damn fine hugger. Thankfully the rest of Todd’s game looks a lot better than it did last season. To be honest though I’d rather see Brandon Scholten out there in place of Kennedy. Kennedy fought Abney and took a few hard shots before implementing his patented duck and hug technique. The first was a feisty period as both teams were not willing to give an inch and were sacrificing the body whenever they could make a play.
The Giants opened the scoring in the second off David Musil and Neil Manning, who quietly notched 3A on the night, getting the puck to Craig Cunningham who made no mistake tipping it past Thomas Heemskerk. Jamie Tucker got the start for the Giants and was bouncing all over the ice effectively battling for loose pucks for the majority of the evening. Henry and Froese dropped the mitts for what could have been a pretty good tilt, but after a few punches Froese lost his footing and went down, dragging Henry with him. The Giants padded their lead on the PP when Gallagher went to the front of the net and cashed in a loose puck off the post. Kevin Connauton and Manning got the helpers. Bouma and Dailey tangled when Bouma laid out Rissanen with a hard clean hit along the boards. Dailey should have got an instigator as he jumped Bouma, but Derek Zalaski had his head up his ass for the majority of the game failing to call a few blatant elbows and interferences in the contest.
The Tips scored early in the third on the PP, getting an odd one. Zalaski failed to make a call one way or the other and immediately pointed upstairs when Tucker got the puck, but it looked as if his glove slid across the line on the replay. As far as I know it’s the refs responsibility to make a call one way or the other before going upstairs in the event that it’s inconclusive and they go with the call on the ice. The replay I saw was most definitely inconclusive, but I suspect the reviewers have more angles than we see in the building. The play was called a goal, despite the ref not calling it one way or the other on the ice, as is his job. Markus McCrea threw the puck toward the net and it disappeared near the goal-line and called in by the play review. The Giants got that one back about six minutes later when they made their PP work for them. Once again it was Gallagher with the goal, ripping it top shelf, and Manning and Connauton with the assists. Late in the game Craig Cunningham flipped the puck on the net with a back-hand missing the open net and clanging the rubber square off the post and out. Dale Hunt got his first of the season putting home a rebound from the side of the net when Gudas took a smart shot from the point, to close the gap back to one, but that’s a s close as they would come. The last five minutes were fairly intense as the teams battled for puck possession. A couple of late penalties made it interesting, but in the end the Giants got a smart empty netter with Henry just tipping the puck in the neutral zone sending it to the centre of the empty cage. Musil and newest Giant Milan Kytnar got the assists.
The Giants barely out shot the Silvertips 24-22, out-shooting the, dangerous in the third period, Tips in the final frame. It was close game all-around and some pretty good hard hockey. The Giants played a disciplined game within their skill set, something they completely failed to do versus the Americans. Giants were 2 for 4 on the PP, while the Tips went 1 for 3. Milan Kytnar’s debut though not spectacular was remarkably solid, good hard checks, excellent sense of battle, great hustle and few good passing plays. He won’t be replacing the 40 plus goals we lost with the exit of Evander Kane, but he will provide a very stable presence at all ends of the ice and seems to be tailor-made for Giants hockey. This feels like the kind of guy who can get you deep into the playoffs. Hay likes the player and his confidence and believes that he’ll be able to take some hard minutes off of the plate of Henry, Cunningham, Gallagher, Bouma and Piluso. Kytnar looked solid on the PK tonight.
The Giants beat the Silvertips for the first time this season with tonight’s game marking the first of three in three, which see the Giants travel to Kelowna tomorrow for the first game of a home at home series, Saturday at Prospera and Sunday back at the Coliseum. Puck drops in Kelowna at 7pm PDT and 5pm PDT on Sunday in Vancouver.
Three Stars
1. Lance Bouma
2. Brendan Gallagher
3. Zach Dailey