dondo
12-28-2010, 03:03 AM
Blazers Burn Giants
Vancouver 1 Kamloops 4
The Giants continue to suffer the trial of trying to elevate their offensive game with a less than offensively skilled crew that they require to generate some forward momentum. They absolutely need secondary scoring, but after scoring two goals in three games and getting embarrassed in several of their games before Christmas and taking their most lopsided loss and giving up their first shutout loss, they have not been playing smart enough or hard enough to find that component. They have recently acquired a couple of poor floaty players who were supposed to give them some scoring touch, but have brought instead a horrific work ethic and very poor effort. This is just one the elements that has the team mired in its current funk, killed any burgeoning confidence and has them actively backsliding. Tonight’s game should have been a gift as the Blazers aren’t terribly skill-laden themselves, but the G’s work ethic was beyond sub-par, their goaltending not even average and their luck, bad. The Giants were unable to maintain puck possession and wasted any good effort with lazy play, sloppy passing and simple carelessness. The Blazers are a team they can beat if they play their game, but they didn’t and they didn’t.
The Blazers opened the scoring as Austin Madaisky fished one through traffic from the point. Traffic was one thing the Giants rarely if ever had tonight in front of Jeff Bosch, who had a pretty easy night between the pipes. In the second Dylan Willick slipped the puck through Mark Segal’s five-hole, off of a good feed by 15-year-old Matt Needham who was given too much room to make the pay as he came away from the boards unmolested. Nathan Burns got a nice marker off of some good work and great passing by Matt MacKay, who for my money was the best Giant player shift in and shift out. Thomas Frazee cut in down the slot and beat Segal, but not the post. Tragically, Zach Hodder, coming back to try to clear the puck tipped it back into his own net. The defensive phenom who hasn’t seen game time in over a year had some nice shifts, but that was one gaffe I am sure he would want back. Chase Schaber scored a great forehand to backhand deke past Segal coming in on a semi-breakaway, putting the game away in the third and crushing the little momentum the Giants were beginning to claw back. With three minutes left the Giants stopped playing and gave the game to the Blazers and were lucky not allow another goal against.
Rookie Watch: Bellerive playing in the under-17 tourney in Winnipeg. Sward had some good shifts. Hart looked pretty solid at times, but was a –2. Hodder was even with a good assist and looked to be capable of being a gamer once he gets back into game shape. He’s a biggish mobile defenseman who has some nice upside. Cain Franson still away on family business.
Fight Night: One fight that came when the Giants had a good scoring chance. James Henry and Chase Schaber dropped ‘em early in the first, while the score was still at zeros, with Schaber getting the upperhand early and feeding Henry some fists in a very brief bout.
Zebra Cage: * sigh *. Oh how I wish the WHL had capable officials. Ryan Benbow suffers badly from small man syndrome, making petty stupid calls all night. Reagan Vetter was no better, missing a couple of high-sticks and crosschecks to the head, but calling incidental contact as interference. Simply crap. Sadly the linesmen were just as incompetent in this one failing to recognize when to waive an icing, that a hand pass is not played off of a stick even when the player is laying on the ice, understand what off-side means and making other equally poor judgement calls throughout the game. Were they the reason for the loss? Other than sucking the energy out of the building early with petty and cheesy calls the PP was not a factor in the game.
The Giants out shot the Blazers 29-28, but were out-chanced by the Blazers badly. Neither team managed a PP marker. The G’s were 0 for 3, while the Blazers went 0 for 5. The Giants squandered their meagre chances with poor, slow passing and rampant predictability. Craig Cunningham was battling a bit, as was Gally, but watching Cunner’s face coming off the ice you could see the frustration with how the team was playing clearly etched. Brendan Rowinksi and Mark Reners, mutual mayors of floater-town, were both each a deserved –3 as they sloped their way through the game, getting easily stripped of the puck and waving their sticks instead of skating hard or paying the price to get into position.
The G’s have another shot at the Blazers Tuesday night in Kamloops, but if they bring the same kind of effort as they did on Monday they might as well not make the trip. There are so many holes right now, due to injuries and lack of effort that the Giants need a few games where they can regain some confidence and get themselves back to mainly winning. The systems they are playing have become staid and predictable and the fact that they weren’t even relying on them as well added extra grief in tonight’s tilt. Being soft on the puck, soft on the back check and squandering their scoring chances doesn’t help. The Giants need to work their butts off to get chances, as they lack a fair amount of pure scoring talent. When they don’t work, they lose. They need to realize this at its most base level and make it a personal mantra from which they derive their drive once again. The team has a tough road ahead and its up to them to want it or Bonner will be forced to implode the team within two weeks, before the trade deadline.
Three Stars
1. Matt Frazee
2. Nathan Burns
3. Austin Madaisky
Dondo’s Doghouse: Rowinksi and Reners will remain until they begin playing like Giants players need to play. Undersized lazy players are not necessary, required or welcome on my kind of hockey team.
Vancouver 1 Kamloops 4
The Giants continue to suffer the trial of trying to elevate their offensive game with a less than offensively skilled crew that they require to generate some forward momentum. They absolutely need secondary scoring, but after scoring two goals in three games and getting embarrassed in several of their games before Christmas and taking their most lopsided loss and giving up their first shutout loss, they have not been playing smart enough or hard enough to find that component. They have recently acquired a couple of poor floaty players who were supposed to give them some scoring touch, but have brought instead a horrific work ethic and very poor effort. This is just one the elements that has the team mired in its current funk, killed any burgeoning confidence and has them actively backsliding. Tonight’s game should have been a gift as the Blazers aren’t terribly skill-laden themselves, but the G’s work ethic was beyond sub-par, their goaltending not even average and their luck, bad. The Giants were unable to maintain puck possession and wasted any good effort with lazy play, sloppy passing and simple carelessness. The Blazers are a team they can beat if they play their game, but they didn’t and they didn’t.
The Blazers opened the scoring as Austin Madaisky fished one through traffic from the point. Traffic was one thing the Giants rarely if ever had tonight in front of Jeff Bosch, who had a pretty easy night between the pipes. In the second Dylan Willick slipped the puck through Mark Segal’s five-hole, off of a good feed by 15-year-old Matt Needham who was given too much room to make the pay as he came away from the boards unmolested. Nathan Burns got a nice marker off of some good work and great passing by Matt MacKay, who for my money was the best Giant player shift in and shift out. Thomas Frazee cut in down the slot and beat Segal, but not the post. Tragically, Zach Hodder, coming back to try to clear the puck tipped it back into his own net. The defensive phenom who hasn’t seen game time in over a year had some nice shifts, but that was one gaffe I am sure he would want back. Chase Schaber scored a great forehand to backhand deke past Segal coming in on a semi-breakaway, putting the game away in the third and crushing the little momentum the Giants were beginning to claw back. With three minutes left the Giants stopped playing and gave the game to the Blazers and were lucky not allow another goal against.
Rookie Watch: Bellerive playing in the under-17 tourney in Winnipeg. Sward had some good shifts. Hart looked pretty solid at times, but was a –2. Hodder was even with a good assist and looked to be capable of being a gamer once he gets back into game shape. He’s a biggish mobile defenseman who has some nice upside. Cain Franson still away on family business.
Fight Night: One fight that came when the Giants had a good scoring chance. James Henry and Chase Schaber dropped ‘em early in the first, while the score was still at zeros, with Schaber getting the upperhand early and feeding Henry some fists in a very brief bout.
Zebra Cage: * sigh *. Oh how I wish the WHL had capable officials. Ryan Benbow suffers badly from small man syndrome, making petty stupid calls all night. Reagan Vetter was no better, missing a couple of high-sticks and crosschecks to the head, but calling incidental contact as interference. Simply crap. Sadly the linesmen were just as incompetent in this one failing to recognize when to waive an icing, that a hand pass is not played off of a stick even when the player is laying on the ice, understand what off-side means and making other equally poor judgement calls throughout the game. Were they the reason for the loss? Other than sucking the energy out of the building early with petty and cheesy calls the PP was not a factor in the game.
The Giants out shot the Blazers 29-28, but were out-chanced by the Blazers badly. Neither team managed a PP marker. The G’s were 0 for 3, while the Blazers went 0 for 5. The Giants squandered their meagre chances with poor, slow passing and rampant predictability. Craig Cunningham was battling a bit, as was Gally, but watching Cunner’s face coming off the ice you could see the frustration with how the team was playing clearly etched. Brendan Rowinksi and Mark Reners, mutual mayors of floater-town, were both each a deserved –3 as they sloped their way through the game, getting easily stripped of the puck and waving their sticks instead of skating hard or paying the price to get into position.
The G’s have another shot at the Blazers Tuesday night in Kamloops, but if they bring the same kind of effort as they did on Monday they might as well not make the trip. There are so many holes right now, due to injuries and lack of effort that the Giants need a few games where they can regain some confidence and get themselves back to mainly winning. The systems they are playing have become staid and predictable and the fact that they weren’t even relying on them as well added extra grief in tonight’s tilt. Being soft on the puck, soft on the back check and squandering their scoring chances doesn’t help. The Giants need to work their butts off to get chances, as they lack a fair amount of pure scoring talent. When they don’t work, they lose. They need to realize this at its most base level and make it a personal mantra from which they derive their drive once again. The team has a tough road ahead and its up to them to want it or Bonner will be forced to implode the team within two weeks, before the trade deadline.
Three Stars
1. Matt Frazee
2. Nathan Burns
3. Austin Madaisky
Dondo’s Doghouse: Rowinksi and Reners will remain until they begin playing like Giants players need to play. Undersized lazy players are not necessary, required or welcome on my kind of hockey team.