dondo
12-06-2009, 01:56 AM
Other than a really irritating decision by the officials manipulating the length of the periods to suit some of their personal agendas, ruining a very special event in the process, the game was pretty good. Cunningham got the hat, his first of his WHL career. Gally got four points as did Cunner. It was good to see the boys back in the win column, congrats to Cunningham.
Giants Dump Oil Kings
Vancouver 5 Edmonton 2
Don Robinson
It was teddy bear toss night at the arena and the Giants opened the scoring in the first period on the PP with 2:25 left, unleashing a hailstorm of furry teddies onto the ice. Much fun was had by all until the officials on the ice decided that they were going to play the rest of period at the top of the second and in the process shorten the intermission. I found out that the officials were responsible for this and to be honest it pissed me off royally. First of all they should not have that power, ever, and secondly what did they save by making that stupid decision; other than alienating a lot of the fans, killing any momentum the Giants had gotten and pushing the TimBits players all ready to play between the first and second to the second intermission.
The rest of the first period was played at the top of the second for 2:25, then the teams switched ends and played the full 20. What was the freaking point? Really what was the point and who the hell gave them those powers. It was a colossally stupid, petty, manipulative decision which solved only to dissolve the joy the teddy bears had given everyone. It succeeded in putting me in a funk for virtually the whole second and I was fuming. I hate crap like that which dismisses a nice, fun, silly event for a good cause by shoe-horning other crap into it and save a few minutes by ruining everything else. Needless to say it was the worst teddy bear toss and still has me very angry at the gall to make a selfish mindless decision like that. Craig Cunningham’s hat trick and four point night mollified me a bit, but only a bit. I get very passionate about things like this and I felt it was wrong, with no real upside other than practicality, god forbid we are impractical on a teddy bear toss night.
The Giants came out skating hard early on, getting chances but not quite able to cash them in. Cunningham scored his first of three on the night at the tail-end of the first period on the PP, finding a loose puck in the slot and roofing it over Torrie Jung. Brendan Gallagher and Kevin Connauton got the helpers on the play. Gallagher had four points himself scoring once and adding three assists. Remarkably the hat-trick was the first of Cunningham’s WHL career.
Cunningham potted another just past the mid-way mark of the second, the real second not the fake first - pretend second. Gallagher and Lance Bouma set-up Cunningham, who found the twine. The next shift Adrian van de Mosselaer tangled with Brett Lyon. It wasn’t the most lively of bouts, but Lyon got in a few more than van de Mosselaer and the take down was quick, with the Oil King pulling Lyon down on top of him. Gallagher padded the Giants lead, five minutes later with Cunningham getting the lone assist. The Oil Kings were able to solve Segal early in the second putting a long bomb past him through traffic from the point. Mark Pysyk scored his first of two on the night. Cunningham got that one back finishing off a nice passing play by Bouma and Gallagher. He got quite a few hats thrown on the ice too, including some nice new Giants hats in the mix. Pysyk put in a weird goal which appeared to go in off of a Giants defender’s elbow, changing direction and slipping over Segal’s shoulder. The Oil Kings got a late PP chance and pulled their goalie with over two minutes left when they had some good pressure down low. They kept the pressure on for a bit, but Lance Bouma was finally able to chip the puck loose and chase it down, putting the puck into the centre of the net for a SH/EN tally. Brett Breitkreuz took a late penalty and the Giants were not able to capitalise, but got the win regardless.
The Giants and Oil Kings each had 32 shots on net. The G-Men went 1 for 3 on the PP, while holding the Oil Kings to 0 for 4. It was good to see Cunningham get his first WHL career hat-trick, being rewarded for all of his hard work around the net. As is my bias, the crap with the carry-over period was only the tip of the ice-berg of the infractions the zebras ignored tonight. Still wondering how such a hard working team fails to draw those holding and hooking calls in the eyes of the striped men. We had another no-name tonight, this time from the OHL and he was no better than our guy. The Giants finish off their three in three nights (four in five) on national television in Chilliwack, being broadcast on Sportsnet across Canada. I am hoping that the Giants find some suitable revenge for the loss they took to the Bruins at the Coliseum and bring a hard full-sixty to the arena. Mark Friesen is no longer with the Bruins and it appears as if Lucas Gore has taken over the starting goaltending duties. The Giants will have to work hard to topple the rejuvenated Habscheid driven Bruins. The puck drops at 5pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Craig Cunningham
2. Brendan Gallagher
3. Mark Pysyk
Giants Dump Oil Kings
Vancouver 5 Edmonton 2
Don Robinson
It was teddy bear toss night at the arena and the Giants opened the scoring in the first period on the PP with 2:25 left, unleashing a hailstorm of furry teddies onto the ice. Much fun was had by all until the officials on the ice decided that they were going to play the rest of period at the top of the second and in the process shorten the intermission. I found out that the officials were responsible for this and to be honest it pissed me off royally. First of all they should not have that power, ever, and secondly what did they save by making that stupid decision; other than alienating a lot of the fans, killing any momentum the Giants had gotten and pushing the TimBits players all ready to play between the first and second to the second intermission.
The rest of the first period was played at the top of the second for 2:25, then the teams switched ends and played the full 20. What was the freaking point? Really what was the point and who the hell gave them those powers. It was a colossally stupid, petty, manipulative decision which solved only to dissolve the joy the teddy bears had given everyone. It succeeded in putting me in a funk for virtually the whole second and I was fuming. I hate crap like that which dismisses a nice, fun, silly event for a good cause by shoe-horning other crap into it and save a few minutes by ruining everything else. Needless to say it was the worst teddy bear toss and still has me very angry at the gall to make a selfish mindless decision like that. Craig Cunningham’s hat trick and four point night mollified me a bit, but only a bit. I get very passionate about things like this and I felt it was wrong, with no real upside other than practicality, god forbid we are impractical on a teddy bear toss night.
The Giants came out skating hard early on, getting chances but not quite able to cash them in. Cunningham scored his first of three on the night at the tail-end of the first period on the PP, finding a loose puck in the slot and roofing it over Torrie Jung. Brendan Gallagher and Kevin Connauton got the helpers on the play. Gallagher had four points himself scoring once and adding three assists. Remarkably the hat-trick was the first of Cunningham’s WHL career.
Cunningham potted another just past the mid-way mark of the second, the real second not the fake first - pretend second. Gallagher and Lance Bouma set-up Cunningham, who found the twine. The next shift Adrian van de Mosselaer tangled with Brett Lyon. It wasn’t the most lively of bouts, but Lyon got in a few more than van de Mosselaer and the take down was quick, with the Oil King pulling Lyon down on top of him. Gallagher padded the Giants lead, five minutes later with Cunningham getting the lone assist. The Oil Kings were able to solve Segal early in the second putting a long bomb past him through traffic from the point. Mark Pysyk scored his first of two on the night. Cunningham got that one back finishing off a nice passing play by Bouma and Gallagher. He got quite a few hats thrown on the ice too, including some nice new Giants hats in the mix. Pysyk put in a weird goal which appeared to go in off of a Giants defender’s elbow, changing direction and slipping over Segal’s shoulder. The Oil Kings got a late PP chance and pulled their goalie with over two minutes left when they had some good pressure down low. They kept the pressure on for a bit, but Lance Bouma was finally able to chip the puck loose and chase it down, putting the puck into the centre of the net for a SH/EN tally. Brett Breitkreuz took a late penalty and the Giants were not able to capitalise, but got the win regardless.
The Giants and Oil Kings each had 32 shots on net. The G-Men went 1 for 3 on the PP, while holding the Oil Kings to 0 for 4. It was good to see Cunningham get his first WHL career hat-trick, being rewarded for all of his hard work around the net. As is my bias, the crap with the carry-over period was only the tip of the ice-berg of the infractions the zebras ignored tonight. Still wondering how such a hard working team fails to draw those holding and hooking calls in the eyes of the striped men. We had another no-name tonight, this time from the OHL and he was no better than our guy. The Giants finish off their three in three nights (four in five) on national television in Chilliwack, being broadcast on Sportsnet across Canada. I am hoping that the Giants find some suitable revenge for the loss they took to the Bruins at the Coliseum and bring a hard full-sixty to the arena. Mark Friesen is no longer with the Bruins and it appears as if Lucas Gore has taken over the starting goaltending duties. The Giants will have to work hard to topple the rejuvenated Habscheid driven Bruins. The puck drops at 5pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Craig Cunningham
2. Brendan Gallagher
3. Mark Pysyk