dondo
11-21-2011, 12:04 AM
Ice Freeze Giants
Vancouver 1 Kootenay 4
Hay decided not to play 16 yr old rookie back-up Jackson Whistle in Everett (a team the Giants should beat handily) and instead threw him to the wolves against the Ice. Its not that Whistle was poor, but not starting him for well over a month and then putting him up against one of the best teams in the league seems not only unfair, but counter-productive. It was a pretty evenly played game, despite the final score and the Giants put on the pressure early, but were frequently turned aside by Nathan Lieuwen who had a very strong game between the pipes. The Ice are a big mobile team and the Giants had a few floaters and some passengers in this one, most notably Marek Tvrdon who opted to not finish his check multiple times and floated, not unlike the euro he is, through the majority of the game. I also did not like Neil Manning’s defensive game in the least. Too many bad give-aways and some very soft play with the puck. The Ice scored on their only PP chance in the game, but it was the third goal against coming in the third period that killed the Giants battle. Before that the G’s had held the Ice shot-less for the last five minutes of the second and almost the first ten minutes of the third. That goal was a heart-breaker coming off of an Ice player cutting through the slot and picking the top corner. Kootenay added one more late in the third to hammer the final nail. Jordan Martinook got the only goal for the G’s, tying the game at ones in the second. They battled a bit, but visibly sagged for a few minutes after the Ice’s third goal.
The Ice opened the scoring in the first with Max Reinhart getting a puck past Whistle. The puck beat him short-side and it appeared as if it might have been tipped by his own defender who stuck his stick into the shooting lane. Whistle bounced back and made a few tough stops to keep his team in the mix. Martinook got that one back very early in the second, coming hard down the wing picking top corner short-side from the right face-off dot. James Henry and Brendan Gallagher got the assists on the play. Kootenay stuffed home a goal off the rebound on their only PP of the game. The Giants did not do a very good job closing out the front of the net as the Kootenay player out-muscled three Giants to get the loose puck. After that goal the Giants closed it up and protected their end of the ice better, keeping the Ice off of the shot clock for a majority of the remainder of the second and a fair amount of the third. A defensive breakdown and getting caught chasing would be the G’s downfall as they allowed a player free-passage through the slot. Sam Reinhart found twine with a nice top-shelf number, shooting back against the flow. The Ice added one more a few minutes later as the G’s pressed back and seemed to be making ground, but Lieuwen would not let them get one past him The G-Men continued to press getting a few late PP chances, but were shut-down the rest of the way.
Rookie Watch: Kulak (17) some smart pinches and some nice defensive plays. Bellerive (17) played a fair amount of minutes, a lot of them clutch with a double shifting Gallagher. Sward (17) was very solid playing with Bews (17) and Makin and as usual brought a great physical game and was unlucky not to get one past Lieuwen. Ast (16) was also getting some quality ice-time and looked dangerous at times, I like how he takes the body despite his diminutive size. Vetterl (17) had some good shifts, but needs to work on his face-offs, he wasn’t very good at the dot that I saw. Houck (16) took the body a few times with minimal minutes.
Fight Night: Taylor Makin was crosschecked from behind into the Ice goalie and got tagged for a goaltender interference and had to fight for his trouble. Makin v Dirk - Not a bad tilt, some early punches and then Dirk tied them up before Makin got the take down. Sward v Antilla - Less fight than wrestling match, but it came out of a response after Sward laid a huge excellent open-ice hit near the side boards. Nice to see that kind of clean body to body hit.
Zebra Cage: Steve Papp and Nick Swaine didn’t call a lot and for the most part called a balanced game. I did feel they let a bunch go on the Ice that they could have called, like some late cross-checks, running our guy into their own goalie etc. I also have a personal bone to pick with Papp who insisted on standing in front of me at my end of the ice blocking my view of the play. Needless to say I banged the glass and boards and harangued him a bit to get him to move. Outta my way Steve!
The Ice out-shot the Giants 32-28, went 1 for 1 on the PP to the Giants 0 for 3. The game got chippy at times, but was never allowed to get out of hand. I thought the Sward, Bews, Makin line were the most dangerous and the ones most consistently taking the body and finishing their checks. There’s some good chemistry there, but I’d personally love to see Bellerive as opposed to Bews on this line. I have a soft spot for Bellerive and expect he could really accelerate his progression playing on a more offensively oriented line. The Giants did a pretty good job checking the Ice, but when they had break-downs they ended up looking at the red light. The Ice played a patient game for the most part, were very good at cutting off passing/shooting lanes and smart with the puck. There’s a reason they are top of the Central as they play a complete team game.
The Giants acquired an 18 yr old D-man, bringing their total to 4 (18 year olds) on the roster. Eric Walker - a big, strong , physical defenseman was a Giants undrafted list player who played in the BCHL the past two seasons with the Trail Smoke-Eaters before heading to a full scholarship at the University of Northern Michigan this season. There he found himself a healthy scratch for the first 12 games. Deciding to follow his hockey dreams he left the NCAA program and joined the Giants. Walker, a BC boy, is 6’2” 200lbs and should add to the Giants intimidation factor on the back-end. Unfortunately this means that one of our other D-men will sit. I certainly hope it isn’t Kulak who has proved himself a very valuable asset so far and should be high up on the depth chart.
The Giants are about to embark on a six game road trip to the East, starting in Prince Albert on Friday, before heading to Saskatoon for a Saturday tilt. Stops in Moose Jaw, Brandon, Regina and Swift Current follow before they return to the Coliseum on December 9th for Teddy Bear Toss Night versus the Portland Winterhawks. The puck drops in Prince Albert on Friday at 5pm PST (7pm in PA).
Three Stars
1) Sam Reinhart
2) Brendan Gallagher
3) Max Reinhart
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to .. Dalton Sward I liked his complete game in this one and the fact that he one of the few players who consistently takes the body on this team.
Vancouver 1 Kootenay 4
Hay decided not to play 16 yr old rookie back-up Jackson Whistle in Everett (a team the Giants should beat handily) and instead threw him to the wolves against the Ice. Its not that Whistle was poor, but not starting him for well over a month and then putting him up against one of the best teams in the league seems not only unfair, but counter-productive. It was a pretty evenly played game, despite the final score and the Giants put on the pressure early, but were frequently turned aside by Nathan Lieuwen who had a very strong game between the pipes. The Ice are a big mobile team and the Giants had a few floaters and some passengers in this one, most notably Marek Tvrdon who opted to not finish his check multiple times and floated, not unlike the euro he is, through the majority of the game. I also did not like Neil Manning’s defensive game in the least. Too many bad give-aways and some very soft play with the puck. The Ice scored on their only PP chance in the game, but it was the third goal against coming in the third period that killed the Giants battle. Before that the G’s had held the Ice shot-less for the last five minutes of the second and almost the first ten minutes of the third. That goal was a heart-breaker coming off of an Ice player cutting through the slot and picking the top corner. Kootenay added one more late in the third to hammer the final nail. Jordan Martinook got the only goal for the G’s, tying the game at ones in the second. They battled a bit, but visibly sagged for a few minutes after the Ice’s third goal.
The Ice opened the scoring in the first with Max Reinhart getting a puck past Whistle. The puck beat him short-side and it appeared as if it might have been tipped by his own defender who stuck his stick into the shooting lane. Whistle bounced back and made a few tough stops to keep his team in the mix. Martinook got that one back very early in the second, coming hard down the wing picking top corner short-side from the right face-off dot. James Henry and Brendan Gallagher got the assists on the play. Kootenay stuffed home a goal off the rebound on their only PP of the game. The Giants did not do a very good job closing out the front of the net as the Kootenay player out-muscled three Giants to get the loose puck. After that goal the Giants closed it up and protected their end of the ice better, keeping the Ice off of the shot clock for a majority of the remainder of the second and a fair amount of the third. A defensive breakdown and getting caught chasing would be the G’s downfall as they allowed a player free-passage through the slot. Sam Reinhart found twine with a nice top-shelf number, shooting back against the flow. The Ice added one more a few minutes later as the G’s pressed back and seemed to be making ground, but Lieuwen would not let them get one past him The G-Men continued to press getting a few late PP chances, but were shut-down the rest of the way.
Rookie Watch: Kulak (17) some smart pinches and some nice defensive plays. Bellerive (17) played a fair amount of minutes, a lot of them clutch with a double shifting Gallagher. Sward (17) was very solid playing with Bews (17) and Makin and as usual brought a great physical game and was unlucky not to get one past Lieuwen. Ast (16) was also getting some quality ice-time and looked dangerous at times, I like how he takes the body despite his diminutive size. Vetterl (17) had some good shifts, but needs to work on his face-offs, he wasn’t very good at the dot that I saw. Houck (16) took the body a few times with minimal minutes.
Fight Night: Taylor Makin was crosschecked from behind into the Ice goalie and got tagged for a goaltender interference and had to fight for his trouble. Makin v Dirk - Not a bad tilt, some early punches and then Dirk tied them up before Makin got the take down. Sward v Antilla - Less fight than wrestling match, but it came out of a response after Sward laid a huge excellent open-ice hit near the side boards. Nice to see that kind of clean body to body hit.
Zebra Cage: Steve Papp and Nick Swaine didn’t call a lot and for the most part called a balanced game. I did feel they let a bunch go on the Ice that they could have called, like some late cross-checks, running our guy into their own goalie etc. I also have a personal bone to pick with Papp who insisted on standing in front of me at my end of the ice blocking my view of the play. Needless to say I banged the glass and boards and harangued him a bit to get him to move. Outta my way Steve!
The Ice out-shot the Giants 32-28, went 1 for 1 on the PP to the Giants 0 for 3. The game got chippy at times, but was never allowed to get out of hand. I thought the Sward, Bews, Makin line were the most dangerous and the ones most consistently taking the body and finishing their checks. There’s some good chemistry there, but I’d personally love to see Bellerive as opposed to Bews on this line. I have a soft spot for Bellerive and expect he could really accelerate his progression playing on a more offensively oriented line. The Giants did a pretty good job checking the Ice, but when they had break-downs they ended up looking at the red light. The Ice played a patient game for the most part, were very good at cutting off passing/shooting lanes and smart with the puck. There’s a reason they are top of the Central as they play a complete team game.
The Giants acquired an 18 yr old D-man, bringing their total to 4 (18 year olds) on the roster. Eric Walker - a big, strong , physical defenseman was a Giants undrafted list player who played in the BCHL the past two seasons with the Trail Smoke-Eaters before heading to a full scholarship at the University of Northern Michigan this season. There he found himself a healthy scratch for the first 12 games. Deciding to follow his hockey dreams he left the NCAA program and joined the Giants. Walker, a BC boy, is 6’2” 200lbs and should add to the Giants intimidation factor on the back-end. Unfortunately this means that one of our other D-men will sit. I certainly hope it isn’t Kulak who has proved himself a very valuable asset so far and should be high up on the depth chart.
The Giants are about to embark on a six game road trip to the East, starting in Prince Albert on Friday, before heading to Saskatoon for a Saturday tilt. Stops in Moose Jaw, Brandon, Regina and Swift Current follow before they return to the Coliseum on December 9th for Teddy Bear Toss Night versus the Portland Winterhawks. The puck drops in Prince Albert on Friday at 5pm PST (7pm in PA).
Three Stars
1) Sam Reinhart
2) Brendan Gallagher
3) Max Reinhart
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to .. Dalton Sward I liked his complete game in this one and the fact that he one of the few players who consistently takes the body on this team.