dondo
11-22-2009, 02:10 AM
Well the boys got the win by going to the net and getting greasy goals, something that's been lacking as of late. Bouma looked much better playing with Gally and Cunner, and I think that that line should stick. The team had some bad give-aways, had to be patient until the refs started to see white jerseys as well as red ones. Out of 7 goals, 6 of them were got going hard to the net, creating traffic. Mark Segal got his first WHL start and looked good, but was not star worthy. Cunner Gally and Bouma would have been better choices. Cunningham had four points for goodness sake and was a force. The Giants were lucky that their sloppy puck play didn't result in more goals against. All three of the 'hawks goals came directly off of bad turnovers by the Giants. Unacceptable. Some positives and some negatives, but it will do the team good to get this kind of win.
Giants Bounce Back
Vancouver 7 Portland 3
Don Robinson
The score flattered the Giants a bit on the night and they found a lot of that luck that went AWOL the past two games, but they were going to the net, had solid traffic in the crease and made it difficult for the Portland ‘tender to see the puck. Both teams played their back-ups, with 18 year old Mark Segal making his WHL debut for the Giants (as Brendan Jensen was sent down) and Mac Carruth for the Winterhawks, a 17 year old goalie who it appears also made his WHL debut tonight. The G’s clicked 3 for 3 on their PP tonight giving up one SH tally in the process. The Winterhawks did not play as poorly as the score indicates and Carruth was not really a sieve. For such a score it was actually a close game until the Giants broke it open late in the third when the refs decide to finally call some penalties against the ‘hawks. Shades of Wednesday on the zebra front in this one. The Hawks out shot the Giants in every period, as the Giants were being a bit too cute with the puck, making that extra move which would cause the puck to go off their stick failing to get a shot off. The Giants were also fortunate when they were gifting the puck to the Winterhawks with soft sloppy puck-handling which could easily have hurt them badly.
The first was a tightly played period with both squads getting their chances, but the Winterhawks controlling the flow of the play. The Giants sat back a bit and were either killing penalties or playing four on four for the majority of the period as the only penalties the refs were willing to give the Winterhawks until very late in the second, were one part of a coincidental minor. Mark Segal had to be solid in the first until the Giants got rolling. The Giants opened the scoring in the last minute of the first, squeaking a puck five-hole through Carruth. Neil Manning cut across the slot backhanding a soft knuckle ball toward the net. The puck dipped between Carruth’s legs and trickled over the line putting the G’s on the board. It was the first, first goal for the Giants in a couple of games and I bet it felt good. That gave the team a much needed lift going into the break.
Portland responded just past the five minute mark of the second finishing off a 2 on 1 with a wicked shot to the top corner. Kevin Connauton bobbled the puck in the neutral zone, sending Francis and goal scorer Ty Rattie in on Segal. Francis flipped the puck over the defender’s stick and right onto Rattie’s, who made no mistake. The Giants got that one back less than minute later. Brendan Gallagher, who had a four point night 2G 2A, potted his 14th of the season going to the net. Playing with Lance Bouma and Craig Cunningham the three make a very balanced line-combo. In this case it was James Henry and Dillon Scholten who got the assists. Five minutes later Cunningham got a goal going to the net, batting a loose puck out of the air and into the open side of the cage. Gallagher and Bouma got the helpers on the play, but everyone was at the top of the crease. Luke Walker got that back for Portland when the Giants once again bobbled the puck, turning it over on the PP. Segal was once again beat by a 2 on 1 rush eerily similar to the previous goal. Lance Bouma made up for the gaffe scoring on the same PP, crashing the net and muscling the puck past Carruth. Cunningham and David Musil got the assists.
Portland closed the gap back to one off yet another poor play with the puck by the Giants. Another soft give-away over-playing and pissing around with the puck which despite the score was epidemic tonight and the Giants were very lucky not have been burned more on those soft blind flip pass plays. Connauton, Nolan Toigo and Ryan Funk were all guilty of really poor give-aways, but the forwards were in on the errors as well. Musil had some give-aways as well, but no where near as egregious as the other D. With less than five minutes remaining in the game the Giants were given their second PP of the game, yet another blatant interference call that would have been criminal to not call. Manning scored his second going to the net, trying to just flip the puck toward the net, but going off a Portland defender in the crease. Connauton and Cunningham got the assists on the play. A few minutes later Connauton and Cunningham teamed up to get Gallagher his second of the game on another PP. Gallagher on the doorstep swept a rebound past an out-stretched Carruth. Sebastian Svendsen scored his third goal of the season, in how many games? This is not what I call a good euro player. He plays a solid defensive game, but your euro has to be a point producer and Svendsen might still be without an assist and only three goals. Time for him to be sat. Kudrna would have been sat eight times over by now. Sebby ripped a feed from Milan Kytnar top corner wide-open in the slot.
The Giants were out shot by the visitors 30-25 as the G-Men were held to single digits each period. The Giants made their PP work tonight using their meagre chances to best advantage going 3 for 3, while more importantly holding the ‘hawks to 0 for 4. There’s a lot of things that could have shifted this game the other direction with a lucky break or really poor defensively play. The Winterhawks had lead in their legs at the tail-end of the third, allowing a few they might not normally have allowed, after playing a better game than the final score showed. The G’s were also fortunate to be facing the Hawks back-up as there were rebounds they might not have had, were it Kurtis Mucha between the pipes.
The Giants should use this game to boost their confidence, but they need to realize that the score does not tell the tale of this game and the smattering of plus players and minus players on both sides of the scoresheet means they still have some learning to do. The score makes it look like a walk, but it was anything but and if the Giants don’t start to take care of the puck and focus every time they are making passes, they could find they drop games they played better than this one. That said, I loved how they went en-masse to the net. I liked their forecheck when they brought more than one guy, and appreciated how hard they battled for loose pucks, something that was severely lacking in their two lop-sided losses. I liked a lot of their attempts to fight through traffic and make that nice stick-handle past defenders. I love that kind of work and if they keep their heads then those plays will pay off more often than not. They did not score pretty goals at all tonight they were all, other than maybe Svendsen’s wide-open tally, greasy goals got by going hard to the net and creating masses of traffic and that’s a big positive to take from this tilt.
Newest Giant, Maple Ridge native Connor Redmond was a minus tonight, but looked to have some nice speed and offensive instincts. He’s a different player than Scheidl who I felt was coming into his own, but checked well and looks to bring more eventual up-side than Scheidl might have. The Rebels got a good player though and might have a young Mappin kind of player back in their fold. We got a mid first round bantam pick who might just need a fresh start and being closer to home can’t hurt either. Mark Segal was solid, but third star? Come-on. I do remember Segal being one of the more notable goalies during camp though and I am happy to see him up here to push Tucker, who in my mind has gotten a tad too complacent as of late. Jensen really wasn’t making those stops he had to make and more playing time at a lower level will serve him well. He’s 16, while Segal is 18 and I believe that Segal will be a more stable presence for a team that has proven to be fragile this season so far.
The boys have a bunch of time off before they head up to PG for back to back roadsies. PG have been the whipping boys of the BC Division so far, but they are not the kind of team to lay down in their home arena and play tougher there than anywhere else. Visiting teams are lucky to come away with splits at times, but the Giants should be shooting for the sweep. A solid week of practice, getting everyone back on the same system page usually does wonders for these Hay coached squads and the Giants are no exception. The next tilt will take place in Prince George Friday and Saturday. The Giants will then have a few more days off before playing at the Coliseum on Wednesday December 2nd, for their next home tilt. Puck drops at 7pm.
Three Stars
1. Brendan Gallagher
2. Lance Bouma
3. Mark Segal
Giants Bounce Back
Vancouver 7 Portland 3
Don Robinson
The score flattered the Giants a bit on the night and they found a lot of that luck that went AWOL the past two games, but they were going to the net, had solid traffic in the crease and made it difficult for the Portland ‘tender to see the puck. Both teams played their back-ups, with 18 year old Mark Segal making his WHL debut for the Giants (as Brendan Jensen was sent down) and Mac Carruth for the Winterhawks, a 17 year old goalie who it appears also made his WHL debut tonight. The G’s clicked 3 for 3 on their PP tonight giving up one SH tally in the process. The Winterhawks did not play as poorly as the score indicates and Carruth was not really a sieve. For such a score it was actually a close game until the Giants broke it open late in the third when the refs decide to finally call some penalties against the ‘hawks. Shades of Wednesday on the zebra front in this one. The Hawks out shot the Giants in every period, as the Giants were being a bit too cute with the puck, making that extra move which would cause the puck to go off their stick failing to get a shot off. The Giants were also fortunate when they were gifting the puck to the Winterhawks with soft sloppy puck-handling which could easily have hurt them badly.
The first was a tightly played period with both squads getting their chances, but the Winterhawks controlling the flow of the play. The Giants sat back a bit and were either killing penalties or playing four on four for the majority of the period as the only penalties the refs were willing to give the Winterhawks until very late in the second, were one part of a coincidental minor. Mark Segal had to be solid in the first until the Giants got rolling. The Giants opened the scoring in the last minute of the first, squeaking a puck five-hole through Carruth. Neil Manning cut across the slot backhanding a soft knuckle ball toward the net. The puck dipped between Carruth’s legs and trickled over the line putting the G’s on the board. It was the first, first goal for the Giants in a couple of games and I bet it felt good. That gave the team a much needed lift going into the break.
Portland responded just past the five minute mark of the second finishing off a 2 on 1 with a wicked shot to the top corner. Kevin Connauton bobbled the puck in the neutral zone, sending Francis and goal scorer Ty Rattie in on Segal. Francis flipped the puck over the defender’s stick and right onto Rattie’s, who made no mistake. The Giants got that one back less than minute later. Brendan Gallagher, who had a four point night 2G 2A, potted his 14th of the season going to the net. Playing with Lance Bouma and Craig Cunningham the three make a very balanced line-combo. In this case it was James Henry and Dillon Scholten who got the assists. Five minutes later Cunningham got a goal going to the net, batting a loose puck out of the air and into the open side of the cage. Gallagher and Bouma got the helpers on the play, but everyone was at the top of the crease. Luke Walker got that back for Portland when the Giants once again bobbled the puck, turning it over on the PP. Segal was once again beat by a 2 on 1 rush eerily similar to the previous goal. Lance Bouma made up for the gaffe scoring on the same PP, crashing the net and muscling the puck past Carruth. Cunningham and David Musil got the assists.
Portland closed the gap back to one off yet another poor play with the puck by the Giants. Another soft give-away over-playing and pissing around with the puck which despite the score was epidemic tonight and the Giants were very lucky not have been burned more on those soft blind flip pass plays. Connauton, Nolan Toigo and Ryan Funk were all guilty of really poor give-aways, but the forwards were in on the errors as well. Musil had some give-aways as well, but no where near as egregious as the other D. With less than five minutes remaining in the game the Giants were given their second PP of the game, yet another blatant interference call that would have been criminal to not call. Manning scored his second going to the net, trying to just flip the puck toward the net, but going off a Portland defender in the crease. Connauton and Cunningham got the assists on the play. A few minutes later Connauton and Cunningham teamed up to get Gallagher his second of the game on another PP. Gallagher on the doorstep swept a rebound past an out-stretched Carruth. Sebastian Svendsen scored his third goal of the season, in how many games? This is not what I call a good euro player. He plays a solid defensive game, but your euro has to be a point producer and Svendsen might still be without an assist and only three goals. Time for him to be sat. Kudrna would have been sat eight times over by now. Sebby ripped a feed from Milan Kytnar top corner wide-open in the slot.
The Giants were out shot by the visitors 30-25 as the G-Men were held to single digits each period. The Giants made their PP work tonight using their meagre chances to best advantage going 3 for 3, while more importantly holding the ‘hawks to 0 for 4. There’s a lot of things that could have shifted this game the other direction with a lucky break or really poor defensively play. The Winterhawks had lead in their legs at the tail-end of the third, allowing a few they might not normally have allowed, after playing a better game than the final score showed. The G’s were also fortunate to be facing the Hawks back-up as there were rebounds they might not have had, were it Kurtis Mucha between the pipes.
The Giants should use this game to boost their confidence, but they need to realize that the score does not tell the tale of this game and the smattering of plus players and minus players on both sides of the scoresheet means they still have some learning to do. The score makes it look like a walk, but it was anything but and if the Giants don’t start to take care of the puck and focus every time they are making passes, they could find they drop games they played better than this one. That said, I loved how they went en-masse to the net. I liked their forecheck when they brought more than one guy, and appreciated how hard they battled for loose pucks, something that was severely lacking in their two lop-sided losses. I liked a lot of their attempts to fight through traffic and make that nice stick-handle past defenders. I love that kind of work and if they keep their heads then those plays will pay off more often than not. They did not score pretty goals at all tonight they were all, other than maybe Svendsen’s wide-open tally, greasy goals got by going hard to the net and creating masses of traffic and that’s a big positive to take from this tilt.
Newest Giant, Maple Ridge native Connor Redmond was a minus tonight, but looked to have some nice speed and offensive instincts. He’s a different player than Scheidl who I felt was coming into his own, but checked well and looks to bring more eventual up-side than Scheidl might have. The Rebels got a good player though and might have a young Mappin kind of player back in their fold. We got a mid first round bantam pick who might just need a fresh start and being closer to home can’t hurt either. Mark Segal was solid, but third star? Come-on. I do remember Segal being one of the more notable goalies during camp though and I am happy to see him up here to push Tucker, who in my mind has gotten a tad too complacent as of late. Jensen really wasn’t making those stops he had to make and more playing time at a lower level will serve him well. He’s 16, while Segal is 18 and I believe that Segal will be a more stable presence for a team that has proven to be fragile this season so far.
The boys have a bunch of time off before they head up to PG for back to back roadsies. PG have been the whipping boys of the BC Division so far, but they are not the kind of team to lay down in their home arena and play tougher there than anywhere else. Visiting teams are lucky to come away with splits at times, but the Giants should be shooting for the sweep. A solid week of practice, getting everyone back on the same system page usually does wonders for these Hay coached squads and the Giants are no exception. The next tilt will take place in Prince George Friday and Saturday. The Giants will then have a few more days off before playing at the Coliseum on Wednesday December 2nd, for their next home tilt. Puck drops at 7pm.
Three Stars
1. Brendan Gallagher
2. Lance Bouma
3. Mark Segal