dondo
01-30-2011, 02:03 PM
Rockets Fry Giants
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 7
The Giants decided they would hand the game to the Rockets on a silver platter with doilies and a rose. The simply awful and inconsistent zebras helped not one iota, but the boys have only themselves to blame, missing assignments, gifting the puck onto Rocket’s sticks and leaving their goalie high and dry. Some folks were saying that Mark Segal played a solid game and looked fundamentally sound, but giving up 7 goals against is in no way a solid outing. The only positive was how some of the Giants battled back when they were down, but as soon as they got close the other players wearing Giants sweaters decided to make inadvisable passes and downright stupid plays to cough the puck up and give the Rockets prime chances to build back up their lead, which they did.
The two teams played an even first, with neither team scoring and each getting comparable shot numbers. Brett Bulmer opened the scoring for the home team at 6:13 of the middle frame. Geordie Wudrick got his first of what would be a hat trick and a four point night, off of a bad turnover. Brendan Rowinski clawed back one of those goals late in the second, off of some great work by Spencer Bennett. Neil Manning got the other helper. The Rockets were gifted a 5 on 3, by some seriously suspect reffing at the end of the second, when Michael Burns was nudged into the Kelowna netminder by a Rocket player and Adam Brown flopped like a landed fish and then the resulting scrum saw the Giants get the only other penalty despite roughing and stick swinging on both sides. Mitch Callahan restored the Rockets 2 goal lead 31 seconds into the third on the two man advantage. Zach Franko added one more, when the Giants got sloppy yet again. Rowinski clawed one back once more as he, Brendan Gallagher and Bennett hooked up to bulge the twine. It was a short-lived lead as goals were not hard to come by for the Rockets on this night and two minutes later Shane McColgan put one past Segal. Greg Lamoureux, back in the line-up got that one back just over a minute later, giving the Giants a brief window of hope of a come-back, but Wudrick shut the door with two more unanswered to complete his hat and crush the Giants by finishing off a 5 goal period for the home squad.
Rookie Watch: Franson had a rough night and was –2. Sward was –3 on a line that did not take care of the puck well at all. Bellerive sat this one out and Hart was –1 on a night where that was an average stat.
Fight Night: Connor Redmond dropped the mitts with Jesse Astleys.
Zebra Cage: Trevor Hanson and Jon Stephenson lost all credibility with their inconsistent and downright poor calls. They let a ton go that should have been penalties on both sides of the puck and made some calls that were inconsistent with the rules and the way they had been calling the game, if you can call the travesty they put forth on the ice “calling the game”. Most of the calls did not impact the score sheet, but the way they called the game directly affected flow and player expectations. Its time the WHL get their officials on the same page as the inconsistencies across the league are becoming difficult to watch.
The Rockets out shot the Giants 35-27. They went 1 for 5 on the PP, while the Giants were 0 for 2. The Giants put themselves behind the eight ball by the end of the second and continued to put themselves into trouble. The top line were the only players to flirt with plusses and really the only positive about the team in this game. Rowinski had two goals as he and Bennett found some chemistry in Kelowna. Gallagher, Manning and Bennett were the only players who were on the plus side of the score sheet. The Rockets exposed the Giants inexperience on some of their other lines. Add in other factors and there was little chance for the Giants to survive this one unscathed.
The boys were very guilty of careless and sloppy puck handling and gave the Rockets chances they should not have been given. Losses like this either cut into a team’s confidence or galvanize a team to bounce back. Coming off of a five game winning streak I expect the boys will be ready to put forth a better effort in Alberta. Definitely not the most auspicious way to begin a six game road trip and their next tilt versus the Medicine Hat Tigers will be “no cakewalk”, but the Giants recent successes and solid play will return and this loss should be used as a something to measure how far they still need to go this season. It’s been an odd season, filled with injuries to major players, some inadvisable stop gap deals that have since been mostly rectified and a resurgence with new bodies and energy. It was never going to be a banner year for the Giants, but they have played themselves above expectations, battled inconsistent goaltending and are actually in a position to challenge for their 6th straight BC Division title, thanks to an inconsistent BC Division that seems to fluctuate weekly.
Three Stars
1. Geordie Wudrick
2. Mitch Callahan
3. Zach Franko
Dondo’s Doghouse: Franson did not have a good night (neither did Sward or Redmond), but the Giants were guilty of poor puck possession and leaving their net mostly undefended. Focus and smart puck play are buried in the doghouse and hopefully they can find their way out on the road.
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 7
The Giants decided they would hand the game to the Rockets on a silver platter with doilies and a rose. The simply awful and inconsistent zebras helped not one iota, but the boys have only themselves to blame, missing assignments, gifting the puck onto Rocket’s sticks and leaving their goalie high and dry. Some folks were saying that Mark Segal played a solid game and looked fundamentally sound, but giving up 7 goals against is in no way a solid outing. The only positive was how some of the Giants battled back when they were down, but as soon as they got close the other players wearing Giants sweaters decided to make inadvisable passes and downright stupid plays to cough the puck up and give the Rockets prime chances to build back up their lead, which they did.
The two teams played an even first, with neither team scoring and each getting comparable shot numbers. Brett Bulmer opened the scoring for the home team at 6:13 of the middle frame. Geordie Wudrick got his first of what would be a hat trick and a four point night, off of a bad turnover. Brendan Rowinski clawed back one of those goals late in the second, off of some great work by Spencer Bennett. Neil Manning got the other helper. The Rockets were gifted a 5 on 3, by some seriously suspect reffing at the end of the second, when Michael Burns was nudged into the Kelowna netminder by a Rocket player and Adam Brown flopped like a landed fish and then the resulting scrum saw the Giants get the only other penalty despite roughing and stick swinging on both sides. Mitch Callahan restored the Rockets 2 goal lead 31 seconds into the third on the two man advantage. Zach Franko added one more, when the Giants got sloppy yet again. Rowinski clawed one back once more as he, Brendan Gallagher and Bennett hooked up to bulge the twine. It was a short-lived lead as goals were not hard to come by for the Rockets on this night and two minutes later Shane McColgan put one past Segal. Greg Lamoureux, back in the line-up got that one back just over a minute later, giving the Giants a brief window of hope of a come-back, but Wudrick shut the door with two more unanswered to complete his hat and crush the Giants by finishing off a 5 goal period for the home squad.
Rookie Watch: Franson had a rough night and was –2. Sward was –3 on a line that did not take care of the puck well at all. Bellerive sat this one out and Hart was –1 on a night where that was an average stat.
Fight Night: Connor Redmond dropped the mitts with Jesse Astleys.
Zebra Cage: Trevor Hanson and Jon Stephenson lost all credibility with their inconsistent and downright poor calls. They let a ton go that should have been penalties on both sides of the puck and made some calls that were inconsistent with the rules and the way they had been calling the game, if you can call the travesty they put forth on the ice “calling the game”. Most of the calls did not impact the score sheet, but the way they called the game directly affected flow and player expectations. Its time the WHL get their officials on the same page as the inconsistencies across the league are becoming difficult to watch.
The Rockets out shot the Giants 35-27. They went 1 for 5 on the PP, while the Giants were 0 for 2. The Giants put themselves behind the eight ball by the end of the second and continued to put themselves into trouble. The top line were the only players to flirt with plusses and really the only positive about the team in this game. Rowinski had two goals as he and Bennett found some chemistry in Kelowna. Gallagher, Manning and Bennett were the only players who were on the plus side of the score sheet. The Rockets exposed the Giants inexperience on some of their other lines. Add in other factors and there was little chance for the Giants to survive this one unscathed.
The boys were very guilty of careless and sloppy puck handling and gave the Rockets chances they should not have been given. Losses like this either cut into a team’s confidence or galvanize a team to bounce back. Coming off of a five game winning streak I expect the boys will be ready to put forth a better effort in Alberta. Definitely not the most auspicious way to begin a six game road trip and their next tilt versus the Medicine Hat Tigers will be “no cakewalk”, but the Giants recent successes and solid play will return and this loss should be used as a something to measure how far they still need to go this season. It’s been an odd season, filled with injuries to major players, some inadvisable stop gap deals that have since been mostly rectified and a resurgence with new bodies and energy. It was never going to be a banner year for the Giants, but they have played themselves above expectations, battled inconsistent goaltending and are actually in a position to challenge for their 6th straight BC Division title, thanks to an inconsistent BC Division that seems to fluctuate weekly.
Three Stars
1. Geordie Wudrick
2. Mitch Callahan
3. Zach Franko
Dondo’s Doghouse: Franson did not have a good night (neither did Sward or Redmond), but the Giants were guilty of poor puck possession and leaving their net mostly undefended. Focus and smart puck play are buried in the doghouse and hopefully they can find their way out on the road.