dondo
01-30-2010, 07:01 PM
Sorry folks but I was occupied for the US road swing, so I've quickly recapped those games in the first paragraph. The Giants were fortunate to get the win in Kamloops and unlucky not to get more past Curtis in Portland as the team really did control the play in Oregon. The Giants and Blazers teams have gone to extra minutes in the majority of their games, with the Bonner boys matching each up head to head pretty well. Segal who was very shaky early in the road trip, has put together two very good outings and seems to have settled down a bit for the boys in front of him, who really need to give him some help on the offensive side of the puck.
The Giants deadline deal is still paying big dividends and I am actually a bit scared how they would have fared had they not got those players into their line-up. Its never a bad idea to add both size and skill to your team while giving up some undersized under-performing players who are all gamers and don't lack effort, just effectiveness and some mid round picks from the next three drafts.
Giants Barely Best Blazers
Vancouver 2 Kamloops 1 OT/SO
Don Robinson
The Giants had a tough time down South in their most recent road swing dropping decisions to Everett, Tri-Cities and Portland. The G’s must feel like they spent their goal allotment in Prince George as they struggles to get offense and had to rely mainly upon their defensive corps for their offense. In Everett all the scoring took place in the second period, with the Giants opening and closing the scoring on the PP, but Everett added three unanswered in-between and took the win 3-2. Not a great outing by Mark Segal by any stretch as two of the three were soft as whipped butter. The goals for the G’s came off Neil Manning and Kevin Connauton. In Tri-Cities the Giants notched two early ones against Drew Owsley, but the Americans got more. By the 8 minute mark of the first period, both teams had swapped their goalies, with Segal being pulled after letting an awful goal in 42 seconds into the game. All four goals came on the PP. The Americans added another one a few minutes later and one in the second to take an easy 4-2 victory. Once again the only goals came off of the blue-line as Manning scored both. The Giants were in tough in Portland as they controlled the flow of the game and peppered Ian Curtis with 52 shots, but only managed to squeak one past him late in the third succeeding only to ruin his shut-out bid. Segal had a very solid outing after a couple of questionable ones and deserved the win as much as his counter-part at the other end of the ice. Finally a forward got a goal, as Craig Cunningham extended his point streak with the only marker for the G-Men.
In Kamloops the Giants were once again in tough as the Blazers did an excellent job limiting chances and controlled the scoring lanes very well. It looked as if the Blazers might take a 2-0 victory into their dressing room when Dalibor Bortnak missed a wide-open 6 x 4, golfing it high over the net. The Giants found a lot more fight in the back-end of the third finally getting one past Kurtis Mucha. Tomas Vincour notched the tying marker, sending the game to OT a place not uncommon for these two teams to go this season. Cunningham whose point streak was broken in this game scored the GWG in the shootout.
The Giants were lucky not to take their fourth straight loss in this one and could have used the effort they had in the latter half of the third in the rest of the game, but a win’s a win no matter how you get it and the boys need to feel happy to have dodged a bullet and also for finding a reserve to get the tying marker. OT was very lively though, with solid chance at both ends of the ice giving the fans some excitement heading into the shootout. The Giants were the only team to get a PP goal and had a couple of short-handed chances which were turned away by Mucha. The G’s went 1 for 3 on the night, while holding the Blazers to 0 for 4. Shots were even at 33 apiece as Segal and Mucha both had solid outings between the pipes. The Giants are hoping to get some offense from their forward group as well as their rear-guard in the next two games, especially with James Wright back from Tampa Bay and in the line-up.
The Giants play their first “home” game in Langley on Saturday versus the Prince George Cougars and then another Langley tilt on Sunday versus the Portland Winterhawks, a team they are anxious to solve this time around. The Giants will be playing 6 “home” games in Langley while the Coliseum is occupied with The Winter Olympic programming. The G’s are hoping James Wright can bring more offense and energy to their line-up giving them a lift in their long road trips and adventures away for the Coliseum. Puck drops in Langley at 7pm PST, with the Portland game on Sunday going at 6pm PST. It appears as if only single seats are obtainable for all of the Langley tilts at this point, but there might be a bar/buffet option with standing room still available.
Three Stars
1. CJ Stretch
2. Kurtis Mucha
3. Mark Segal
The Giants deadline deal is still paying big dividends and I am actually a bit scared how they would have fared had they not got those players into their line-up. Its never a bad idea to add both size and skill to your team while giving up some undersized under-performing players who are all gamers and don't lack effort, just effectiveness and some mid round picks from the next three drafts.
Giants Barely Best Blazers
Vancouver 2 Kamloops 1 OT/SO
Don Robinson
The Giants had a tough time down South in their most recent road swing dropping decisions to Everett, Tri-Cities and Portland. The G’s must feel like they spent their goal allotment in Prince George as they struggles to get offense and had to rely mainly upon their defensive corps for their offense. In Everett all the scoring took place in the second period, with the Giants opening and closing the scoring on the PP, but Everett added three unanswered in-between and took the win 3-2. Not a great outing by Mark Segal by any stretch as two of the three were soft as whipped butter. The goals for the G’s came off Neil Manning and Kevin Connauton. In Tri-Cities the Giants notched two early ones against Drew Owsley, but the Americans got more. By the 8 minute mark of the first period, both teams had swapped their goalies, with Segal being pulled after letting an awful goal in 42 seconds into the game. All four goals came on the PP. The Americans added another one a few minutes later and one in the second to take an easy 4-2 victory. Once again the only goals came off of the blue-line as Manning scored both. The Giants were in tough in Portland as they controlled the flow of the game and peppered Ian Curtis with 52 shots, but only managed to squeak one past him late in the third succeeding only to ruin his shut-out bid. Segal had a very solid outing after a couple of questionable ones and deserved the win as much as his counter-part at the other end of the ice. Finally a forward got a goal, as Craig Cunningham extended his point streak with the only marker for the G-Men.
In Kamloops the Giants were once again in tough as the Blazers did an excellent job limiting chances and controlled the scoring lanes very well. It looked as if the Blazers might take a 2-0 victory into their dressing room when Dalibor Bortnak missed a wide-open 6 x 4, golfing it high over the net. The Giants found a lot more fight in the back-end of the third finally getting one past Kurtis Mucha. Tomas Vincour notched the tying marker, sending the game to OT a place not uncommon for these two teams to go this season. Cunningham whose point streak was broken in this game scored the GWG in the shootout.
The Giants were lucky not to take their fourth straight loss in this one and could have used the effort they had in the latter half of the third in the rest of the game, but a win’s a win no matter how you get it and the boys need to feel happy to have dodged a bullet and also for finding a reserve to get the tying marker. OT was very lively though, with solid chance at both ends of the ice giving the fans some excitement heading into the shootout. The Giants were the only team to get a PP goal and had a couple of short-handed chances which were turned away by Mucha. The G’s went 1 for 3 on the night, while holding the Blazers to 0 for 4. Shots were even at 33 apiece as Segal and Mucha both had solid outings between the pipes. The Giants are hoping to get some offense from their forward group as well as their rear-guard in the next two games, especially with James Wright back from Tampa Bay and in the line-up.
The Giants play their first “home” game in Langley on Saturday versus the Prince George Cougars and then another Langley tilt on Sunday versus the Portland Winterhawks, a team they are anxious to solve this time around. The Giants will be playing 6 “home” games in Langley while the Coliseum is occupied with The Winter Olympic programming. The G’s are hoping James Wright can bring more offense and energy to their line-up giving them a lift in their long road trips and adventures away for the Coliseum. Puck drops in Langley at 7pm PST, with the Portland game on Sunday going at 6pm PST. It appears as if only single seats are obtainable for all of the Langley tilts at this point, but there might be a bar/buffet option with standing room still available.
Three Stars
1. CJ Stretch
2. Kurtis Mucha
3. Mark Segal