dondo
10-31-2009, 01:12 AM
Well the Giants worked pretty hard tonight, but looked a bit out of step when they had the puck on their sticks. The Hitmen forced the G's to make early decisions and pressured players all night long. The Hitmen never looked scrambly in their own end of the ice and were rock solid in front of their own net. The Giants needed to focus their offensive forays a bit more and might be able to take away some solid lessons from this loss. Jones was very good, but the Giants rarely made it really tough for him.
Hitmen Stone Giants
Vancouver 0 Calgary 2
Don Robinson
It was a scary night for the Giants as they failed to score on three consecutive PP chances early in the game, giving up a short-handed goal on their third opportunity. The Hitmen held their end of the ice well, keeping shots to the outside and taking away space for the home team. When the Giants finally did get through to the net, Martin Jones was there to shut the door. The game had a couple of fights, neither of which succeeded in changing any momentum. Both squads played very solidly in their own end. It wasn’t the most scintillating hockey, but it was hard fought and tight checking all night long. Neither team gave an inch. Calgary added an empty-netter to pad their stats and put away the game.
The home squad came out hard early in the first, drawing penalties with their tenacious play. Unfortunately they were not able to get their PP going with their chances, giving up instead a short handed goal against mid-way through the first. Some poor luck on a decent pinch, sprung the puck loose to Cody Gross who tipped it ahead to the speedy Brandon Kozun who stormed down the ice all alone, ripping one high top shelf on Tucker who played some good hockey in tonight’s loss. Late in the first Kevin Connauton and Ian Schultz dropped the mitts, to a pretty even bout. Both guys got in some shots, but Schultz connected with a late upper-cut to take marginal nod. Connauton got the take down and Schultz’s helmet off at one point. Mid-second Brandon Scholten and Jessi Hilton dropped the mitts, but not the helmets as dictated by the new stupid WHL fighting rule, designed to break players hands and not really to protect their heads as they would have you believe. A complete over-reaction in my mind and the only thing I am thankful for is that they didn’t go the OHL, QMJHL rule which has ostensibly removed fistcuffs from their game with their extreme new rules. A slightly better tilt with Scholten getting in the majority of shots and the take-down. Hilton hung in there though.
Both Tucker and Jones had some good nights, but Jones turned away 33 shots for his shutout, while Tucker pushed aside 20 of 21. The Giants were a bit unlucky tonight and could not seem to get the puck to settle down on their sticks. Part of that was the quick sticks by the Hitmen and their good work collapsing well to the front of their net. The Giants failed to get good shots through traffic though, frequently going too high instead of shooting for the pads and going for the rebounds. The G-Men struck more than a little bit of red iron tonight, but never really looked fully cohesive on the offensive side of the puck despite getting more shots than the visitors. The Hitmen by moderate contrast never looked out of place in this game though. They challenged the puck carrier whether on the rush or back-check and tenaciously on their PK. They gave up very few second chances and were dominant in front of their own net. The Giants were not able to get their PP going and seem a lot more predictable than they have been lately, moving the puck a lot slower than the past couple of weeks when it looked as if their PP was gaining momentum.
The Giants out shot the Calgary boys 33-22. The G’s went 0 for 5 on the PP (giving up the GWG short-handed), while the Hitmen went 0 for 4. The official WHL site and box score has the Giants going 0 for 7, but for some reason have tripled a single minor penalty slash on their stats sheet. The penalty was on the boards for just the two minutes in the building, so not sure why the triplication. The officials had a tough night and gave the fans a frustrating ride as well. This time it wasn’t the refs but the linesmen who were out of their minds. Late whistles, quick whistles, whistles out of nowhere followed by a face-off at centre ice (why I don’t know – and this happened several times) littered the game and especially the last half of the third period. This succeeded in killing either team gaining any momentum during crunch time. I also have yet to see so many icing and offside calls that were beyond marginal. From what I saw the linesmen were petty and invasive in the game, bogging it down unnecessarily. A face-off without shifting around personnel was a rarity. It had to be the most picky example of linesmen officiating I have ever seen, and I’ve seen plenty. It didn’t help the game. It might not have exactly hindered it either, but their pettiness made for a lot of stoppages, too many by my reckoning.
The Giants have a day off for some dry land training and watching game video before taking on the surging Chilliwack Bruins on Sunday at the Coliseum. Mark Habscheid has his crew on the same page as of late. The Bruins crushed the Blazers tonight in Kamloops 7-1. The Giants cannot afford to take this game lightly especially with tonight’s loss and will need to bring a full sixty to the Rink on Renfrew come Sunday. The game starts at 5pm PST (note: PST not PDT as the clocks slip back Sunday morning early taking us out of daylight savings and back into early darkness).
Three Stars
1. Martin Jones
2. Craig Cunningham
3. Brandon Kozun
Hitmen Stone Giants
Vancouver 0 Calgary 2
Don Robinson
It was a scary night for the Giants as they failed to score on three consecutive PP chances early in the game, giving up a short-handed goal on their third opportunity. The Hitmen held their end of the ice well, keeping shots to the outside and taking away space for the home team. When the Giants finally did get through to the net, Martin Jones was there to shut the door. The game had a couple of fights, neither of which succeeded in changing any momentum. Both squads played very solidly in their own end. It wasn’t the most scintillating hockey, but it was hard fought and tight checking all night long. Neither team gave an inch. Calgary added an empty-netter to pad their stats and put away the game.
The home squad came out hard early in the first, drawing penalties with their tenacious play. Unfortunately they were not able to get their PP going with their chances, giving up instead a short handed goal against mid-way through the first. Some poor luck on a decent pinch, sprung the puck loose to Cody Gross who tipped it ahead to the speedy Brandon Kozun who stormed down the ice all alone, ripping one high top shelf on Tucker who played some good hockey in tonight’s loss. Late in the first Kevin Connauton and Ian Schultz dropped the mitts, to a pretty even bout. Both guys got in some shots, but Schultz connected with a late upper-cut to take marginal nod. Connauton got the take down and Schultz’s helmet off at one point. Mid-second Brandon Scholten and Jessi Hilton dropped the mitts, but not the helmets as dictated by the new stupid WHL fighting rule, designed to break players hands and not really to protect their heads as they would have you believe. A complete over-reaction in my mind and the only thing I am thankful for is that they didn’t go the OHL, QMJHL rule which has ostensibly removed fistcuffs from their game with their extreme new rules. A slightly better tilt with Scholten getting in the majority of shots and the take-down. Hilton hung in there though.
Both Tucker and Jones had some good nights, but Jones turned away 33 shots for his shutout, while Tucker pushed aside 20 of 21. The Giants were a bit unlucky tonight and could not seem to get the puck to settle down on their sticks. Part of that was the quick sticks by the Hitmen and their good work collapsing well to the front of their net. The Giants failed to get good shots through traffic though, frequently going too high instead of shooting for the pads and going for the rebounds. The G-Men struck more than a little bit of red iron tonight, but never really looked fully cohesive on the offensive side of the puck despite getting more shots than the visitors. The Hitmen by moderate contrast never looked out of place in this game though. They challenged the puck carrier whether on the rush or back-check and tenaciously on their PK. They gave up very few second chances and were dominant in front of their own net. The Giants were not able to get their PP going and seem a lot more predictable than they have been lately, moving the puck a lot slower than the past couple of weeks when it looked as if their PP was gaining momentum.
The Giants out shot the Calgary boys 33-22. The G’s went 0 for 5 on the PP (giving up the GWG short-handed), while the Hitmen went 0 for 4. The official WHL site and box score has the Giants going 0 for 7, but for some reason have tripled a single minor penalty slash on their stats sheet. The penalty was on the boards for just the two minutes in the building, so not sure why the triplication. The officials had a tough night and gave the fans a frustrating ride as well. This time it wasn’t the refs but the linesmen who were out of their minds. Late whistles, quick whistles, whistles out of nowhere followed by a face-off at centre ice (why I don’t know – and this happened several times) littered the game and especially the last half of the third period. This succeeded in killing either team gaining any momentum during crunch time. I also have yet to see so many icing and offside calls that were beyond marginal. From what I saw the linesmen were petty and invasive in the game, bogging it down unnecessarily. A face-off without shifting around personnel was a rarity. It had to be the most picky example of linesmen officiating I have ever seen, and I’ve seen plenty. It didn’t help the game. It might not have exactly hindered it either, but their pettiness made for a lot of stoppages, too many by my reckoning.
The Giants have a day off for some dry land training and watching game video before taking on the surging Chilliwack Bruins on Sunday at the Coliseum. Mark Habscheid has his crew on the same page as of late. The Bruins crushed the Blazers tonight in Kamloops 7-1. The Giants cannot afford to take this game lightly especially with tonight’s loss and will need to bring a full sixty to the Rink on Renfrew come Sunday. The game starts at 5pm PST (note: PST not PDT as the clocks slip back Sunday morning early taking us out of daylight savings and back into early darkness).
Three Stars
1. Martin Jones
2. Craig Cunningham
3. Brandon Kozun