dondo
09-24-2011, 01:32 AM
Giants Flush Royals
Giants 5 Victoria 2
Not the most auspicious of opening nights with regard to buzz in the crowd or excitement in the stands, but some of the play of the young Giants players brought some excitement where you want it most. On the ice. The opening ceremony was spare and mostly lame, the new video and music selected to open the game were really not good and failed to pump up the crowd. Granted that the hockey fans in this town are feeling pretty jaded and wounded right now and the very mediocre 10th season by the Giants last year did not help amp up the expectant energy.
The puck was an erratic pinball early on, jumping off of sticks and refusing to settle down like a good puck should. The Giants brought pressure early, but often found their scoring chances either thwarted by the Royals wall as they sat back in their defensive shell, or by the misbehaving biscuit. The Royals took many early penalties, but the G-Men just could not make them pay as it seemed their timing was off and they could not maintain consistent pressure with the puck. 16 yr old Anthony Ast finally cracked Braden Gamble at 18:22 of the opening frame, coming in hard off the wing and burying a great Cain Franson pass from behind the net. Nathan Burns got the other helper. The Giants had a goal disallowed in the second when one of their players was pushed into the Royals crease and (according to our illustrious refs) failed to try to get out. What would have been Ast’s second goal of the game was waived off due to ref’s decision to lose their mind, in my estimation. A couple of minutes later Marek Tvrdon tipped one over Gamble to get the Giants their 2-0 lead. Kiefer McNaughton and James Henry assisted on the play. Off the next face-off Jordan Martinook dropped the mitts with Jesse Zgraggen and never got set before getting his proverbial clocked cleaned; it wasn’t even close. Franson increased the G’s lead to 3, ripping a beauty short-side top-shelf on Gamble off the rush late in the middle frame. Brendan Jensen and David Musil got the other points.
Steven Hodges scored for Victoria early in the third, as the Giants backed off and sat back a bit trying to protect their lead. An ensuing penalty not long after threatened to draw the visitors even closer, but Martinook found the twine short-handed, beating Gamble high short-side taking advantage of give-away by the Royals in their own end of the ice. Robin Soudek was left all alone at the side of the net a nit later and made no mistake snapping an errant puck past Jensen, who had little chance on the play, but that was as close the visiting squad would get on this night. Nathan Burns salted it away with a nice empty net tally late in the game, finding the middle of the open cage and then needing to jump over a sliding Royal player to avoid going down. Things got chippier after that as tempers flared and there were a few late scrums in the dying seconds and after the final buzzer. Tyler Stahl who had been head-hunting all game found himself back in the brouhaha with Vannieuwenhuizen. Kiefer McNaughton dropped the gloves with Kade Pilton for an epic toe-to-toe, with six seconds left in the game.
Rookie Watch: Almost too many rookie types of players to mention. Ast (16) was the best young player on the ice, always around the puck and not afraid to charge the crease. Logan Harland played a solid energetic game, along with line-mates Scott Cooke and Austin Vetterl. Harland (16) and Cooke and Vettrl (17) look to be making strides this season. Dalton Sward (17) played an intense game, laying the body hard when he could and driving to the net with or without the puck. It was nice to see him get the empty netter as a reward for all of his work throughout the game. Brett Kulak (17) was very solid on the back-end, rubbing out players in his own end of the ice with great consistency.
Fight Night: Martinook vs Zgraggen: credit Martinook for dropping the mitts, but he was ill-prepared, never got good footing and took a couple of early punches as he was rag-dolled. McNaughton vs Pilton: big D-man Pilton hung in there toe-to-toe with McNaughton, trading blow for blow while keeping their feet in an extended bout. The only unfortunate thing about the tilt for me was that it was at the other end of the ice.
Zebra Cage: Kirk and P. Smith – better than usual when you get these two – major gaffe on the goal which was waived off though.
The Giants out-shot the Royals 33-28, slipping a bit in the third after leading the shot totals handily in the first and second. The Giants went 0 for 6 on the PP, but managed a SH tally. The Royals were 0 for 3. The Giants had some timing issues and at times failed to convincingly break into the Royals zone on the man-advantage, but most of those problems might solve themselves with familiarity.
I enjoyed the energy of the team as a whole. There were no passengers and even my perennial whipping boy Lamoureux was hustling and kinda hitting and really challenging the slot area. One of the best outings from him I have seen, but to be honest I personally would still take any of our 17 year olds playing tonight over him in the long run – maybe he’ll change my mind this season. Brendan Jensen was very solid between the pipes and seems have worked hard in the off-season and taken what new goalie coach, Paul Fricker, has taught and applied it to his work-out regime. Marek Tvrdon was fun to watch. Dangerous whenever he had the puck, he can stickhandle in a phone booth and make passes as well as take some good shots. He clanged a nice give and go shot off the post when the passing opened up the net and was very unlucky not have gotten that gimme. I would still love to see him shoot a lot more though. It’s sad we were robbed of his skill and talent last season when he was injured for the duration. I am crossing my fingers he is more durable this time around.
This was part one of a home at home between these two squads and the Giants will be heading across the water tomorrow to take on the Royals in their inaugural home game in Victoria. Shaw is showing the game on their broadcast. I expect some of the animosity and intensity from tonight’s tilt will carry over. I expected the Royals to be a bit better, but they feel like the Bruins of a few years back instead of a competitive entity. I foresee a few major shake-ups over the next few months as they acquire a few more skilled guys for some of their bruisers. Puck drops at 7:05 in Victoria.
Three Stars
1) Anthony Ast
2) Jordan Martinook
3) Robin Soudek
Dondos Hardhat: I give it to Sward tonight. I liked his work ethic at both ends of the ice and when he got ice he was noticeable. Honourable mention to Tyler Hart playing a very solid defensive game and taking some smart offensive forays.
Giants 5 Victoria 2
Not the most auspicious of opening nights with regard to buzz in the crowd or excitement in the stands, but some of the play of the young Giants players brought some excitement where you want it most. On the ice. The opening ceremony was spare and mostly lame, the new video and music selected to open the game were really not good and failed to pump up the crowd. Granted that the hockey fans in this town are feeling pretty jaded and wounded right now and the very mediocre 10th season by the Giants last year did not help amp up the expectant energy.
The puck was an erratic pinball early on, jumping off of sticks and refusing to settle down like a good puck should. The Giants brought pressure early, but often found their scoring chances either thwarted by the Royals wall as they sat back in their defensive shell, or by the misbehaving biscuit. The Royals took many early penalties, but the G-Men just could not make them pay as it seemed their timing was off and they could not maintain consistent pressure with the puck. 16 yr old Anthony Ast finally cracked Braden Gamble at 18:22 of the opening frame, coming in hard off the wing and burying a great Cain Franson pass from behind the net. Nathan Burns got the other helper. The Giants had a goal disallowed in the second when one of their players was pushed into the Royals crease and (according to our illustrious refs) failed to try to get out. What would have been Ast’s second goal of the game was waived off due to ref’s decision to lose their mind, in my estimation. A couple of minutes later Marek Tvrdon tipped one over Gamble to get the Giants their 2-0 lead. Kiefer McNaughton and James Henry assisted on the play. Off the next face-off Jordan Martinook dropped the mitts with Jesse Zgraggen and never got set before getting his proverbial clocked cleaned; it wasn’t even close. Franson increased the G’s lead to 3, ripping a beauty short-side top-shelf on Gamble off the rush late in the middle frame. Brendan Jensen and David Musil got the other points.
Steven Hodges scored for Victoria early in the third, as the Giants backed off and sat back a bit trying to protect their lead. An ensuing penalty not long after threatened to draw the visitors even closer, but Martinook found the twine short-handed, beating Gamble high short-side taking advantage of give-away by the Royals in their own end of the ice. Robin Soudek was left all alone at the side of the net a nit later and made no mistake snapping an errant puck past Jensen, who had little chance on the play, but that was as close the visiting squad would get on this night. Nathan Burns salted it away with a nice empty net tally late in the game, finding the middle of the open cage and then needing to jump over a sliding Royal player to avoid going down. Things got chippier after that as tempers flared and there were a few late scrums in the dying seconds and after the final buzzer. Tyler Stahl who had been head-hunting all game found himself back in the brouhaha with Vannieuwenhuizen. Kiefer McNaughton dropped the gloves with Kade Pilton for an epic toe-to-toe, with six seconds left in the game.
Rookie Watch: Almost too many rookie types of players to mention. Ast (16) was the best young player on the ice, always around the puck and not afraid to charge the crease. Logan Harland played a solid energetic game, along with line-mates Scott Cooke and Austin Vetterl. Harland (16) and Cooke and Vettrl (17) look to be making strides this season. Dalton Sward (17) played an intense game, laying the body hard when he could and driving to the net with or without the puck. It was nice to see him get the empty netter as a reward for all of his work throughout the game. Brett Kulak (17) was very solid on the back-end, rubbing out players in his own end of the ice with great consistency.
Fight Night: Martinook vs Zgraggen: credit Martinook for dropping the mitts, but he was ill-prepared, never got good footing and took a couple of early punches as he was rag-dolled. McNaughton vs Pilton: big D-man Pilton hung in there toe-to-toe with McNaughton, trading blow for blow while keeping their feet in an extended bout. The only unfortunate thing about the tilt for me was that it was at the other end of the ice.
Zebra Cage: Kirk and P. Smith – better than usual when you get these two – major gaffe on the goal which was waived off though.
The Giants out-shot the Royals 33-28, slipping a bit in the third after leading the shot totals handily in the first and second. The Giants went 0 for 6 on the PP, but managed a SH tally. The Royals were 0 for 3. The Giants had some timing issues and at times failed to convincingly break into the Royals zone on the man-advantage, but most of those problems might solve themselves with familiarity.
I enjoyed the energy of the team as a whole. There were no passengers and even my perennial whipping boy Lamoureux was hustling and kinda hitting and really challenging the slot area. One of the best outings from him I have seen, but to be honest I personally would still take any of our 17 year olds playing tonight over him in the long run – maybe he’ll change my mind this season. Brendan Jensen was very solid between the pipes and seems have worked hard in the off-season and taken what new goalie coach, Paul Fricker, has taught and applied it to his work-out regime. Marek Tvrdon was fun to watch. Dangerous whenever he had the puck, he can stickhandle in a phone booth and make passes as well as take some good shots. He clanged a nice give and go shot off the post when the passing opened up the net and was very unlucky not have gotten that gimme. I would still love to see him shoot a lot more though. It’s sad we were robbed of his skill and talent last season when he was injured for the duration. I am crossing my fingers he is more durable this time around.
This was part one of a home at home between these two squads and the Giants will be heading across the water tomorrow to take on the Royals in their inaugural home game in Victoria. Shaw is showing the game on their broadcast. I expect some of the animosity and intensity from tonight’s tilt will carry over. I expected the Royals to be a bit better, but they feel like the Bruins of a few years back instead of a competitive entity. I foresee a few major shake-ups over the next few months as they acquire a few more skilled guys for some of their bruisers. Puck drops at 7:05 in Victoria.
Three Stars
1) Anthony Ast
2) Jordan Martinook
3) Robin Soudek
Dondos Hardhat: I give it to Sward tonight. I liked his work ethic at both ends of the ice and when he got ice he was noticeable. Honourable mention to Tyler Hart playing a very solid defensive game and taking some smart offensive forays.