dondo
11-19-2011, 02:37 AM
Giants Gut Royals
Vancouver 11 (yes 11) Victoria 3
Where to start. At one point in the game the Giants had 10 goals and the Royals 10 shots. That in a nutshell was the tale of the game. Two Giants got hat-tricks. Dalton Sward garnered his first trick in the WHL and Neil Manning got the other (possibly his first as well), with all of Manning’s tallies coming on the PP. Only four Giants skaters did not get points in this one and surprisingly Jordan Martinook and James Henry were two of them. The Giants scored some good goals, some great gritty goals and as happens in this kind of game, goals the other guy wants back. Starter Keith Hamilton allowed four goals against, while rookie ‘tender, Jared Rathjen, in relief allowed 7. The home squad were all over the ice in this one and were as good defensively, cutting off lanes maintaining great position, as they were offensively. It was one of those games of course, but neither squad really looked as if they were coasting. I found it surprising that the Royals did not look that bad, but they left enough holes, and lost enough puck battles to give the Vancouver team a dominant victory. It’s odd how closely the Royals play the Giants when they are in Victoria, giving them gritty challenging tilts, but can’t for the life of them put together a decent effort in Vancouver. Adam Morrison was pulled after giving up his shut-out bid and Jackson Whistle got to play for most of the third period, giving up two goals on four shots, one of which was pretty weak.
The Giants opened the scoring in the latter half of the first when Dalton Sward drove the net and put home a rebound off of a Levi Bews shot. Cain Franson got the other helper. Manning scored an odd one off of a Brendan Gallagher shot having the puck kind of carom off his skate and onto his stick where he kind of fudged it into the open side. Marek Tvrdon had his first on a five point night, with the other assist. Very early in the second at the tail-end of a carry-over penalty, Sward, playing on the second PP unit put home a Cain Franson rebound with Brett Kulak getting the other assist. David Musil later set-up Tvrdon who patiently cut across the slot, waited for everyone to commit and snapped the puck over a sprawling Hamilton. That was it for the Victoria starter and he was replaced by Rathjen. About four minutes later, Manning scored his second PP marker sneaking in from the point to the face-off dot. Gallagher found his stick with a quick pass and Manning put it into the open side. Tvrdon got the other helper point. A few minutes later Tvrdon scored almost a carbon copy goal of his previous one. Taking the puck he cut across the slot, waiting for everybody to sprawl and once again patiently put the puck past the sprawl of Royals in the crease. This time Gallagher and Kulak got the assists. Manning got his hat-trick marker on the man-advantage from a similar spot as his first two. Jackson Houck and Matt Bellerive found the score-sheet with the helpers. Taylor Makin scored yet another PP goal, cutting to the net and muscling it in from the side. Anthony Ast and Musil got the other points. That was it for the second period as the Giants tickled the twine 6 times in the middle frame.
Coming out in the third the home squad continued to fill the net. Gallagher put home a Tvrdon rebound and Manning’s first even-strength point of the night. Just under two minutes later Franson took a Austin Vetterl feed, cut down the side in the offensive zone and ripped a wicked snapper top-shelf far-side. It was a sniper’s goal. Victoria finally hit the score-sheet at 7:52 of the third, scoring a nice rebound goal. With the shut-out bid gone and the score lopsided, Hay pulled Morrison in favour of Whistle, giving the 16 yr old rookie a chance to play. The Royals found twine again a few minutes later as a soft one got past Whistle. It was an unassisted tally and one of the few times the Giants got sloppy in their own end. Sward scored his hat-trick marker on yet another rush to the net goal. Battling through traffic he was the first to the loose puck in the slot, putting home a rebound off of a Luke Fenske shot. The Royals scored one more, cutting across the goal crease and lifting a back-hand over Whistle’s pad. Another solo marker for the visitors, which in a close game might have meant something but in this game only served to narrow the gap to 8 goals.
Rookie Watch: Kulak (17) two assists and some nice defensive work in his own zone. Sward (17) first WHL hat-trick, setting the tone physically and getting puck hungry goals. Bellerive (17) some notable shifts and one assist. Ast (16) more shifts late in the game, had his moments, one assist. Bews (17) some decent forays, one assist. Vetterl (17), also got extra minutes late, played some good minutes though, one assist. Houck (16) used his body, missed his assignment on one of the goals against, but had an assist and was a plus one. Fourth liners looked pretty solid for the most part in this one.
Fight Night: Kiefer McNaughton v. Tim Traber in the first, mutual consent, both players undoing their chin straps before tangling. First punch popped the lids off. Looked to be good at the start, but Traber got in a few quick shots and then caused McNaughton to lose his balance. Traber threw a moderately late punch to the back of the head as they both went to the ice.
Zebra Cage: Colby Smith and Matt Thurston, were simply crap tonight. Called invisible penalties on both sides, starting with a goaltender interference in which the goaltender was never touched, unless pucks count. Awful invented penalties, dive calls on players who had their feet tugged out from under them. The Giants feasted on special teams tonight, unfortunately for the Royals some of those calls were reaction calls and not good ones.
The Giants at one point had 8 goals and the Royals 7 shots. I don’t say this to rub salt into the Royals already tender wounds, but simply because this stat amazes me and is something I have never seen before. The Giants played a very efficient game and I would say that the Royals had no real scoring chances on their first 6 shots. The final tally for shots was Giants 46 Royals 17 - with 8 of the Royals shots coming in the third period. The Giants were a daunting 5 for 7 on their PP, while the Royals went 0 for 5. The home squad rarely broke down in their own end, were rarely seen scrambling and almost always had possession of the puck in this game. It was pretty crazy. The four Giants without a point in this game were McNaughton, Henry, Martinook (who was also a –1) and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen. Chucky was +2. Despite the lop-sided scoresheet, it wasn’t an awful game overall and there were decent hits and some emotion.
With three games in three nights I was hoping that Whistle would get the start tomorrow night, but according to Hay, even though Everett is a shadow of former Silvertip teams, Morrison will get the start with Whistle possibly getting the start versus one of the best teams in the league, The Kootenay Ice. I really have no clue where this logic comes into play or if Hay plans on playing Whistle at all this season. I’m not sure who he thinks is going to start next season, but if Whistle doesn’t get consistent and better starts he will lose all confidence and not be capable of even trying to step it up come next season, let alone be the starter. I have to say I hate this about Hay and he has made this mistake in the past to the team’s detriment. Now I know Hay knows what he’s doing as he just stepped up into third spot with the most WHL wins as a coach, but he still does have a couple of blind spots. I hope he reassesses his goalie strategy and gives Whistle a hope and a chance to get some confidence this season.
This was the first of three in three for the Giants and hopefully they haven’t shot their bolt, goal-wise, as they are going to need some of those over the next couple of days. The boys head down South to Everett for a game tomorrow night, before returning to the Coliseum to take on the Kootenay Ice on Sunday. The Royals face the Ice tomorrow night in Victoria, so hopefully they tire them out a bit. They are definitely going to be hungry to redeem themselves in front of their home crowd. The puck drops in Everett at 7:05pm.
Three Stars
1) Marek Tvrdon
2) Neil Manning
3) Dalton Sward
Dondo’s Hardhat: I considered giving it to the hockey gods for this one, but I have to say that the player that most exemplified wearing the hardhat in this one has to be Sward. He was physical and puck hungry, played every shift hard and back-checked just as tenaciously. I saw shades of Machacek and Lucic in him tonight and that’s high praise.
Vancouver 11 (yes 11) Victoria 3
Where to start. At one point in the game the Giants had 10 goals and the Royals 10 shots. That in a nutshell was the tale of the game. Two Giants got hat-tricks. Dalton Sward garnered his first trick in the WHL and Neil Manning got the other (possibly his first as well), with all of Manning’s tallies coming on the PP. Only four Giants skaters did not get points in this one and surprisingly Jordan Martinook and James Henry were two of them. The Giants scored some good goals, some great gritty goals and as happens in this kind of game, goals the other guy wants back. Starter Keith Hamilton allowed four goals against, while rookie ‘tender, Jared Rathjen, in relief allowed 7. The home squad were all over the ice in this one and were as good defensively, cutting off lanes maintaining great position, as they were offensively. It was one of those games of course, but neither squad really looked as if they were coasting. I found it surprising that the Royals did not look that bad, but they left enough holes, and lost enough puck battles to give the Vancouver team a dominant victory. It’s odd how closely the Royals play the Giants when they are in Victoria, giving them gritty challenging tilts, but can’t for the life of them put together a decent effort in Vancouver. Adam Morrison was pulled after giving up his shut-out bid and Jackson Whistle got to play for most of the third period, giving up two goals on four shots, one of which was pretty weak.
The Giants opened the scoring in the latter half of the first when Dalton Sward drove the net and put home a rebound off of a Levi Bews shot. Cain Franson got the other helper. Manning scored an odd one off of a Brendan Gallagher shot having the puck kind of carom off his skate and onto his stick where he kind of fudged it into the open side. Marek Tvrdon had his first on a five point night, with the other assist. Very early in the second at the tail-end of a carry-over penalty, Sward, playing on the second PP unit put home a Cain Franson rebound with Brett Kulak getting the other assist. David Musil later set-up Tvrdon who patiently cut across the slot, waited for everyone to commit and snapped the puck over a sprawling Hamilton. That was it for the Victoria starter and he was replaced by Rathjen. About four minutes later, Manning scored his second PP marker sneaking in from the point to the face-off dot. Gallagher found his stick with a quick pass and Manning put it into the open side. Tvrdon got the other helper point. A few minutes later Tvrdon scored almost a carbon copy goal of his previous one. Taking the puck he cut across the slot, waiting for everybody to sprawl and once again patiently put the puck past the sprawl of Royals in the crease. This time Gallagher and Kulak got the assists. Manning got his hat-trick marker on the man-advantage from a similar spot as his first two. Jackson Houck and Matt Bellerive found the score-sheet with the helpers. Taylor Makin scored yet another PP goal, cutting to the net and muscling it in from the side. Anthony Ast and Musil got the other points. That was it for the second period as the Giants tickled the twine 6 times in the middle frame.
Coming out in the third the home squad continued to fill the net. Gallagher put home a Tvrdon rebound and Manning’s first even-strength point of the night. Just under two minutes later Franson took a Austin Vetterl feed, cut down the side in the offensive zone and ripped a wicked snapper top-shelf far-side. It was a sniper’s goal. Victoria finally hit the score-sheet at 7:52 of the third, scoring a nice rebound goal. With the shut-out bid gone and the score lopsided, Hay pulled Morrison in favour of Whistle, giving the 16 yr old rookie a chance to play. The Royals found twine again a few minutes later as a soft one got past Whistle. It was an unassisted tally and one of the few times the Giants got sloppy in their own end. Sward scored his hat-trick marker on yet another rush to the net goal. Battling through traffic he was the first to the loose puck in the slot, putting home a rebound off of a Luke Fenske shot. The Royals scored one more, cutting across the goal crease and lifting a back-hand over Whistle’s pad. Another solo marker for the visitors, which in a close game might have meant something but in this game only served to narrow the gap to 8 goals.
Rookie Watch: Kulak (17) two assists and some nice defensive work in his own zone. Sward (17) first WHL hat-trick, setting the tone physically and getting puck hungry goals. Bellerive (17) some notable shifts and one assist. Ast (16) more shifts late in the game, had his moments, one assist. Bews (17) some decent forays, one assist. Vetterl (17), also got extra minutes late, played some good minutes though, one assist. Houck (16) used his body, missed his assignment on one of the goals against, but had an assist and was a plus one. Fourth liners looked pretty solid for the most part in this one.
Fight Night: Kiefer McNaughton v. Tim Traber in the first, mutual consent, both players undoing their chin straps before tangling. First punch popped the lids off. Looked to be good at the start, but Traber got in a few quick shots and then caused McNaughton to lose his balance. Traber threw a moderately late punch to the back of the head as they both went to the ice.
Zebra Cage: Colby Smith and Matt Thurston, were simply crap tonight. Called invisible penalties on both sides, starting with a goaltender interference in which the goaltender was never touched, unless pucks count. Awful invented penalties, dive calls on players who had their feet tugged out from under them. The Giants feasted on special teams tonight, unfortunately for the Royals some of those calls were reaction calls and not good ones.
The Giants at one point had 8 goals and the Royals 7 shots. I don’t say this to rub salt into the Royals already tender wounds, but simply because this stat amazes me and is something I have never seen before. The Giants played a very efficient game and I would say that the Royals had no real scoring chances on their first 6 shots. The final tally for shots was Giants 46 Royals 17 - with 8 of the Royals shots coming in the third period. The Giants were a daunting 5 for 7 on their PP, while the Royals went 0 for 5. The home squad rarely broke down in their own end, were rarely seen scrambling and almost always had possession of the puck in this game. It was pretty crazy. The four Giants without a point in this game were McNaughton, Henry, Martinook (who was also a –1) and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen. Chucky was +2. Despite the lop-sided scoresheet, it wasn’t an awful game overall and there were decent hits and some emotion.
With three games in three nights I was hoping that Whistle would get the start tomorrow night, but according to Hay, even though Everett is a shadow of former Silvertip teams, Morrison will get the start with Whistle possibly getting the start versus one of the best teams in the league, The Kootenay Ice. I really have no clue where this logic comes into play or if Hay plans on playing Whistle at all this season. I’m not sure who he thinks is going to start next season, but if Whistle doesn’t get consistent and better starts he will lose all confidence and not be capable of even trying to step it up come next season, let alone be the starter. I have to say I hate this about Hay and he has made this mistake in the past to the team’s detriment. Now I know Hay knows what he’s doing as he just stepped up into third spot with the most WHL wins as a coach, but he still does have a couple of blind spots. I hope he reassesses his goalie strategy and gives Whistle a hope and a chance to get some confidence this season.
This was the first of three in three for the Giants and hopefully they haven’t shot their bolt, goal-wise, as they are going to need some of those over the next couple of days. The boys head down South to Everett for a game tomorrow night, before returning to the Coliseum to take on the Kootenay Ice on Sunday. The Royals face the Ice tomorrow night in Victoria, so hopefully they tire them out a bit. They are definitely going to be hungry to redeem themselves in front of their home crowd. The puck drops in Everett at 7:05pm.
Three Stars
1) Marek Tvrdon
2) Neil Manning
3) Dalton Sward
Dondo’s Hardhat: I considered giving it to the hockey gods for this one, but I have to say that the player that most exemplified wearing the hardhat in this one has to be Sward. He was physical and puck hungry, played every shift hard and back-checked just as tenaciously. I saw shades of Machacek and Lucic in him tonight and that’s high praise.