dondo
12-04-2010, 12:46 PM
Hitmen Stick Giants
Vancouver 3 Calgary 4
It was a hard game to watch. For the most part the Giants out-worked and out shot the Hitmen, the worst team in the Dub, but found iron a few times and frequently missed the net on their better chances. Calgary had one of those games where all of their work seemed to lead to something. They made their best chances count, scoring 4 on 17 shots, two of them on the PP. With those stats you would think Brendan Jensen sucked, but really he was beat soundly by good shots up top shelf for the most part and it was mainly his teammates that were giving the Hitmen those quality chances, leaving them wide open in the slot and at the side of the net. Don Hay failed to get his 500th WHL win as a coach for yet another tilt as the boys brought lots, but not enough. The hometown boys badly squandered their PP chances in this one.
The Hitmen opened the scoring in this one, with Justin Kirsch finding twine on a late PP, fishing a high one through from the slot. Kris Foucault made it a two-goal bulge in the second. David Musil beat Brandon Glover with a wrist shot from the point on the PP putting it in the top of the net, with Cunningham getting the assist. Kirsch scored another PP tally of his own early in the third, giving the Hitmen back the lead. Brendan Gallagher got that back when Brendan Rowinski stripped a player of the puck in the neutral zone and Gallagher drove hard to the net, finishing off with cheeky backhand five-hole as he cut across the crease, a Hitman player hanging off of him.
Musil got his second goal of the game flicking a shot, which looked as if it tipped off of a Hitman player’s stick before finding the top corner. The goal tied the game, but before the Giants and their fans could celebrate the next shift the Hitmen put it past Jensen off of Cody Sylvester’s skate driving the net and a wide open player at the face-off dot to complete a perfect pass. The goal sucked the energy out of the building and after that even though there was ample time to come back (over 15 minutes), the Giants failed to get it done. The Giants wasted some late PP chances and did not really gut it out and get it to the net. The G’s had some metal lapses, which cost them and Calgary finally had one of those games where they were in the right position and their shots were finding twine.
Rookie Watch: Dalton Sward and Cain Franson were both –1, but each had some visible shifts in which they were noted doing some good things. Matt Bellerive was even and likewise had some decent shifts. Tyler Hart was even, pretty solid in his own end of the ice and is playing more top crunch minutes.
Fight Night: Lots of fights, none of the giant variety. James Henry and Ben Wilson dropped the mitts 32 seconds into the game. Wilson threw more, but they seemed to mostly miss and Henry got the takedown. Matt Mackay and Trevor Cheek dusted it up when Cheek boarded someone from behind. MacKay leapt to his defense taking the instigator on the chin and battling evenly with Cheek. Early in the second Henry and this time Jaynen Rissling gave the nod and dropped the gloves. Henry got tied up early, but unleashed a flurry when he got loose. The boys eventually ended up being broken up by the linesmen along the boards.
Zebra Cage: I don’t know why Matt Kirk is still a WHL ref, he consistently makes the worst decisions, can’t manage a game to save his life and always likes to be in the spotlight, which for me are three major reasons he should have the orange stripe ripped from his arm. Pat Smith was no better. There was no consistency or predictability in this game as the refs ignored infractions, while calling the slimmest penalties a minute later. I don’t blame the refs for the Giants loss as they should have made their chances work better for them, but I really do hate bad reffing as it always affects the flow and feeling of a game in a negative way.
The Giants out shot the visitors 32-17, going 1 for 6 on the PP, while the Hitmen went 2 for 4. They wasted their PP chances badly, with poor soft passes, soft shots and not really using the extra man well. Their PK was not much better, sitting back in front of their net and giving the Hitmen clean shooting lanes. The Hitmen may be bottom of the league, but you give any team those kinds of looks and more often than not you will be fishing the puck out of your own net. Jensen needed to be better and make a few more clutch stops. When his team gained momentum he would give up a goal he could have battled harder to get set for. Jensen needed to come across more square to the shooter and force the Hitmen to really make that perfect shot. He was not to blame for the goals for the most part, but a clutch stop here and there could have turned the tide in the game. It’s a part of his game consistently needed for him to make that next step up the ladder. Brandon Glover was solid, but really was not what I would call challenged to really gut out his saves. The G’s had more chances than they could convert and needed to bear down much better in this one.
Gallagher was all over the ice gutting it out every shift and weaving around towers of Hitmen. Henry had his nose in there the whole time. Jordan Martinook laid the body well and was hustling on the forecheck. He looks to be capable of becoming a Machacek-like player if he continues to improve. David Musil was pretty solid tonight and Neil Manning was hustling. Craig Cunningham seems to think he’s only a set-up guy now and isn’t taking the shots he was taking earlier in the season. With players like Gally and Henry ready to pounce at the side of the net he needs to just shoot the puck trying for a rebound if nothing else. Brendan Rowinski may have had two points tonight, but I hated his game. He’s a very soft floaty player and is very easily stripped of the puck at all ends of the ice. The boys had a bit of bad puck luck tonight, but also lacked finish around the net.
Game 2 of 6 at home down, with two regulation losses, no 500th win for Hay and team morale rapidly slipping. The Giants need one of their goalies to cobble out a win and the G-Men’s big guns have start filling the net again. Usually a tilt versus the Chilliwack Bruins would be a gift, but this season they have proved a handful for the G’s and the local boys really need gut out a win with all hands on deck. The puck drops at 7pm on Saturday at the Coliseum.
Three Stars:
1. Justin Kirsch
2. David Musil
3. Trevor Cheek
Dondo’s Doghouse: Despite getting two points Rowinski is sitting in my doghouse, his lack of finish on his checks, soft play along the boards and general floating will hurt the team more than help them in the long run. His hustle back on the back check was suspect as well. Jensen can also take a seat on the bench in the doghouse for now. He had an opportunity to get back into his former groove and he squandered his chances, allowing goals on too few shots.
Vancouver 3 Calgary 4
It was a hard game to watch. For the most part the Giants out-worked and out shot the Hitmen, the worst team in the Dub, but found iron a few times and frequently missed the net on their better chances. Calgary had one of those games where all of their work seemed to lead to something. They made their best chances count, scoring 4 on 17 shots, two of them on the PP. With those stats you would think Brendan Jensen sucked, but really he was beat soundly by good shots up top shelf for the most part and it was mainly his teammates that were giving the Hitmen those quality chances, leaving them wide open in the slot and at the side of the net. Don Hay failed to get his 500th WHL win as a coach for yet another tilt as the boys brought lots, but not enough. The hometown boys badly squandered their PP chances in this one.
The Hitmen opened the scoring in this one, with Justin Kirsch finding twine on a late PP, fishing a high one through from the slot. Kris Foucault made it a two-goal bulge in the second. David Musil beat Brandon Glover with a wrist shot from the point on the PP putting it in the top of the net, with Cunningham getting the assist. Kirsch scored another PP tally of his own early in the third, giving the Hitmen back the lead. Brendan Gallagher got that back when Brendan Rowinski stripped a player of the puck in the neutral zone and Gallagher drove hard to the net, finishing off with cheeky backhand five-hole as he cut across the crease, a Hitman player hanging off of him.
Musil got his second goal of the game flicking a shot, which looked as if it tipped off of a Hitman player’s stick before finding the top corner. The goal tied the game, but before the Giants and their fans could celebrate the next shift the Hitmen put it past Jensen off of Cody Sylvester’s skate driving the net and a wide open player at the face-off dot to complete a perfect pass. The goal sucked the energy out of the building and after that even though there was ample time to come back (over 15 minutes), the Giants failed to get it done. The Giants wasted some late PP chances and did not really gut it out and get it to the net. The G’s had some metal lapses, which cost them and Calgary finally had one of those games where they were in the right position and their shots were finding twine.
Rookie Watch: Dalton Sward and Cain Franson were both –1, but each had some visible shifts in which they were noted doing some good things. Matt Bellerive was even and likewise had some decent shifts. Tyler Hart was even, pretty solid in his own end of the ice and is playing more top crunch minutes.
Fight Night: Lots of fights, none of the giant variety. James Henry and Ben Wilson dropped the mitts 32 seconds into the game. Wilson threw more, but they seemed to mostly miss and Henry got the takedown. Matt Mackay and Trevor Cheek dusted it up when Cheek boarded someone from behind. MacKay leapt to his defense taking the instigator on the chin and battling evenly with Cheek. Early in the second Henry and this time Jaynen Rissling gave the nod and dropped the gloves. Henry got tied up early, but unleashed a flurry when he got loose. The boys eventually ended up being broken up by the linesmen along the boards.
Zebra Cage: I don’t know why Matt Kirk is still a WHL ref, he consistently makes the worst decisions, can’t manage a game to save his life and always likes to be in the spotlight, which for me are three major reasons he should have the orange stripe ripped from his arm. Pat Smith was no better. There was no consistency or predictability in this game as the refs ignored infractions, while calling the slimmest penalties a minute later. I don’t blame the refs for the Giants loss as they should have made their chances work better for them, but I really do hate bad reffing as it always affects the flow and feeling of a game in a negative way.
The Giants out shot the visitors 32-17, going 1 for 6 on the PP, while the Hitmen went 2 for 4. They wasted their PP chances badly, with poor soft passes, soft shots and not really using the extra man well. Their PK was not much better, sitting back in front of their net and giving the Hitmen clean shooting lanes. The Hitmen may be bottom of the league, but you give any team those kinds of looks and more often than not you will be fishing the puck out of your own net. Jensen needed to be better and make a few more clutch stops. When his team gained momentum he would give up a goal he could have battled harder to get set for. Jensen needed to come across more square to the shooter and force the Hitmen to really make that perfect shot. He was not to blame for the goals for the most part, but a clutch stop here and there could have turned the tide in the game. It’s a part of his game consistently needed for him to make that next step up the ladder. Brandon Glover was solid, but really was not what I would call challenged to really gut out his saves. The G’s had more chances than they could convert and needed to bear down much better in this one.
Gallagher was all over the ice gutting it out every shift and weaving around towers of Hitmen. Henry had his nose in there the whole time. Jordan Martinook laid the body well and was hustling on the forecheck. He looks to be capable of becoming a Machacek-like player if he continues to improve. David Musil was pretty solid tonight and Neil Manning was hustling. Craig Cunningham seems to think he’s only a set-up guy now and isn’t taking the shots he was taking earlier in the season. With players like Gally and Henry ready to pounce at the side of the net he needs to just shoot the puck trying for a rebound if nothing else. Brendan Rowinski may have had two points tonight, but I hated his game. He’s a very soft floaty player and is very easily stripped of the puck at all ends of the ice. The boys had a bit of bad puck luck tonight, but also lacked finish around the net.
Game 2 of 6 at home down, with two regulation losses, no 500th win for Hay and team morale rapidly slipping. The Giants need one of their goalies to cobble out a win and the G-Men’s big guns have start filling the net again. Usually a tilt versus the Chilliwack Bruins would be a gift, but this season they have proved a handful for the G’s and the local boys really need gut out a win with all hands on deck. The puck drops at 7pm on Saturday at the Coliseum.
Three Stars:
1. Justin Kirsch
2. David Musil
3. Trevor Cheek
Dondo’s Doghouse: Despite getting two points Rowinski is sitting in my doghouse, his lack of finish on his checks, soft play along the boards and general floating will hurt the team more than help them in the long run. His hustle back on the back check was suspect as well. Jensen can also take a seat on the bench in the doghouse for now. He had an opportunity to get back into his former groove and he squandered his chances, allowing goals on too few shots.