dondo
03-30-2011, 01:51 AM
Americans Stone Giants
Vancouver 0 Tri-City 4
Wow that was the most boring playoff game I have ever had the misfortune to witness. The Ams have a nasty habit of sucking any and all energy and emotion out of a game and tonight was no different. Their defense is surgical and their offense opportunistic. The G’s did not bring anything close to the kind of intensity and commitment they have to have in what should have been a must-win game. Brendan Gallagher had one really nice shift in third and great chance in the first, off of his pure will, that was the kind and level of hockey the whole team needed to play in a game like this. Unfortunately that was the only time Gally brought that level and the other boys didn’t even get a sniff at that stratosphere. The Giants did not bring enough in this game. Full-stop. Owsley was solid, but was never forced to be great. The G’s brought tight checking for most of the game, but ended up sitting back, taking some penalties that were pretty soft and failed miserably on their PK as the Ams went 50% on their PP chances, using really sharp passing to get the home squad scrambling in their own end of the ice.
Neither team were able to find the net in the first period as the Americans out shot the home town boys 9-6. The only goal in the second was a PP marker for the Kennewick team. Adam Hughesman broke the seal with a very nice goal up high, close in on Mark Segal. The Giants gave up their only even strength goal 4 on 4, off of yet another weak set of make-up calls by the refs tonight who were simply awful across the board. Hughesman got his second PP goal just before the mid-way mark of the third. Justin Feser turned some very quick clean passing into a goal in the last two minutes. An excellent cross-crease pass opened everything up catching the Giants flatfooted. They were caught flatfooted frequently in this one.
Rookie Watch: Nathan Smith was in. Neilsen, Bellerive, Cooke, Franson all sat. Needed Cooke’s sandpaper game in this one big time, lots of chippy plays by the Ams with few calls being made. Hart still out. Sward still out. Hodder was even.
Fight Night: pffft fights? – lots of late roughs, and cheap shots behind the play, but there wasn’t enough emotion in this one to warrant a fight.
Zebra Cage: (don't read if you get offended by bad reffing rants as no punches are being pulled) It doesn’t get much worse than this. Colby Smith and Jeff Ingram crapped the bed and should never be allowed to call playoff game, as they simply do not know how. Early on they were calling everything, evening up calls that warranted one penalty and sucking out the emotion beginning to build. They missed a few clear high sticks. They called soft as melted butter crap, while letting bigger stuff go by the wayside. Any time the game actually got some energy and momentum - cheap, stupid and precious calls were made to kill the energy on the ice and in the arena. For the majority of calls the fans around me and I were at a loss as to what they were calling. Add-in some really poor linesmen outings and it was pretty damn sad on the officiating side. In a lot of ways the officiating can’t be held to blame for the Giants losing this one, but a few timely calls and some consistency could have given the fans and the teams a better game and the players a more predictable pattern to adhere to.
The Americans out shot the Giants 24-22 and that number is pretty generous on the Giants side. I think they got about 5 bonus shots given to them as they sure as hell didn’t have that many scoring chances in the whole game. The Ams went 3 for 6 with the man and sometimes two man advantage. The Giants were 0 for 4, looking alright for the most part, but being kept to the outside and not getting traffic going to the net. They could not get a point shot through to save their lives and were very poor corralling the puck. The Giants struggled mightily maintaining or even getting puck possession. As has been usual lately, they brought minimal fore-check and coughed up the puck with great regularity. They lost most of the battles along the boards for the puck and had a tough time clearing their zone. The Ams cruised most of the game and then stepped it up in the third. They were first to loose pucks and disarmed the Giants offensive rushes by pushing the home team to the outside and easily chipping the puck off of their sticks. The Giants were hassled massively when they had the puck and swarmed when they were trying to stick-handle or make a pass in the American’s end of the ice. The Tri-City squads’ checking was stifling and relentless.
The boys have one game left tomorrow to try to push this series past four games. I don’t like their chances after what I watched tonight, as they brought pre-season effort to the rink. The Giants looked lost for the most part and at a loss as to how to push their game up to a playoff level. The G’s were pretty solid checking in the game and kept the Ams at bay for most of the game, but when they were outmatched they were out-hustled and out-worked by the emotionless Americans. Game 4 tomorrow night (Wed Mar 30) at the Coliseum as the Giants try to force a Game 5 in Kennewick. The puck drops at 7pm.
Three Stars
1. Adam Hughesman
2. Drew Owsley
3. Brendan Gallagher
Dondo’s Hardhat: Gally – but that said he does not deserve a star in this one, it should have been an American team sweep.
Vancouver 0 Tri-City 4
Wow that was the most boring playoff game I have ever had the misfortune to witness. The Ams have a nasty habit of sucking any and all energy and emotion out of a game and tonight was no different. Their defense is surgical and their offense opportunistic. The G’s did not bring anything close to the kind of intensity and commitment they have to have in what should have been a must-win game. Brendan Gallagher had one really nice shift in third and great chance in the first, off of his pure will, that was the kind and level of hockey the whole team needed to play in a game like this. Unfortunately that was the only time Gally brought that level and the other boys didn’t even get a sniff at that stratosphere. The Giants did not bring enough in this game. Full-stop. Owsley was solid, but was never forced to be great. The G’s brought tight checking for most of the game, but ended up sitting back, taking some penalties that were pretty soft and failed miserably on their PK as the Ams went 50% on their PP chances, using really sharp passing to get the home squad scrambling in their own end of the ice.
Neither team were able to find the net in the first period as the Americans out shot the home town boys 9-6. The only goal in the second was a PP marker for the Kennewick team. Adam Hughesman broke the seal with a very nice goal up high, close in on Mark Segal. The Giants gave up their only even strength goal 4 on 4, off of yet another weak set of make-up calls by the refs tonight who were simply awful across the board. Hughesman got his second PP goal just before the mid-way mark of the third. Justin Feser turned some very quick clean passing into a goal in the last two minutes. An excellent cross-crease pass opened everything up catching the Giants flatfooted. They were caught flatfooted frequently in this one.
Rookie Watch: Nathan Smith was in. Neilsen, Bellerive, Cooke, Franson all sat. Needed Cooke’s sandpaper game in this one big time, lots of chippy plays by the Ams with few calls being made. Hart still out. Sward still out. Hodder was even.
Fight Night: pffft fights? – lots of late roughs, and cheap shots behind the play, but there wasn’t enough emotion in this one to warrant a fight.
Zebra Cage: (don't read if you get offended by bad reffing rants as no punches are being pulled) It doesn’t get much worse than this. Colby Smith and Jeff Ingram crapped the bed and should never be allowed to call playoff game, as they simply do not know how. Early on they were calling everything, evening up calls that warranted one penalty and sucking out the emotion beginning to build. They missed a few clear high sticks. They called soft as melted butter crap, while letting bigger stuff go by the wayside. Any time the game actually got some energy and momentum - cheap, stupid and precious calls were made to kill the energy on the ice and in the arena. For the majority of calls the fans around me and I were at a loss as to what they were calling. Add-in some really poor linesmen outings and it was pretty damn sad on the officiating side. In a lot of ways the officiating can’t be held to blame for the Giants losing this one, but a few timely calls and some consistency could have given the fans and the teams a better game and the players a more predictable pattern to adhere to.
The Americans out shot the Giants 24-22 and that number is pretty generous on the Giants side. I think they got about 5 bonus shots given to them as they sure as hell didn’t have that many scoring chances in the whole game. The Ams went 3 for 6 with the man and sometimes two man advantage. The Giants were 0 for 4, looking alright for the most part, but being kept to the outside and not getting traffic going to the net. They could not get a point shot through to save their lives and were very poor corralling the puck. The Giants struggled mightily maintaining or even getting puck possession. As has been usual lately, they brought minimal fore-check and coughed up the puck with great regularity. They lost most of the battles along the boards for the puck and had a tough time clearing their zone. The Ams cruised most of the game and then stepped it up in the third. They were first to loose pucks and disarmed the Giants offensive rushes by pushing the home team to the outside and easily chipping the puck off of their sticks. The Giants were hassled massively when they had the puck and swarmed when they were trying to stick-handle or make a pass in the American’s end of the ice. The Tri-City squads’ checking was stifling and relentless.
The boys have one game left tomorrow to try to push this series past four games. I don’t like their chances after what I watched tonight, as they brought pre-season effort to the rink. The Giants looked lost for the most part and at a loss as to how to push their game up to a playoff level. The G’s were pretty solid checking in the game and kept the Ams at bay for most of the game, but when they were outmatched they were out-hustled and out-worked by the emotionless Americans. Game 4 tomorrow night (Wed Mar 30) at the Coliseum as the Giants try to force a Game 5 in Kennewick. The puck drops at 7pm.
Three Stars
1. Adam Hughesman
2. Drew Owsley
3. Brendan Gallagher
Dondo’s Hardhat: Gally – but that said he does not deserve a star in this one, it should have been an American team sweep.