dondo
12-10-2011, 04:50 AM
Giants Weather Winterhawks
Vancouver 5 Portland 3 EN
A pane of glass was broken in the warm-up by a Winterhawk shot and it took over 15 minutes for the crew to install an extremely dirty pane of the glass they seemed have dragged from the sub, sub, basement. The crew were not very adept tonight, slow and installed it the hard way. As a person who does this kind of work I found it embarrassing and was wondering how long it would take them if it were have broken during a game as that amount of time is simply unacceptable. Time for a few quick installation drills and a system that is clean and efficient, cause tonight it was a joke.
It was a CHL tradition annual Teddy Bear Toss Night and the bears flew about 3 mins into the game as Brett Kulak did his best Jonny Blum impersonation, sneaking in from the point and burying the puck from the slot. There were a lot of bears thrown by the 12K plus fans. The game was also on Sportsnet and I am hoping that the officials get torn a new one by the powers that be as they were simply awful in every respect. Martinook notched a hat-trick, with a little help from an empty-net and Adam Morrison stole the game. Not really touted as the kind of goalie that can steal a game, he did a damn fine impersonation of one, turning aside 46 shots as the Winterhawks pressured hard in the Giants zone. The Portland squad also had one the most complete defensive corps I have seen from an opponent all season. The Giants had to earn every one of their goals and frequently had to battle through traffic, a fair amount of which was the questionable variety (penalty-wise), to get their goals. The home team managed to find twine on two PPs and would admit they played far too much time in their own end of the ice. They were, however, quick at clearing the front of the net and clearing shooting lanes to give their goalie the best chance to see the shot. Portland brought wave after wave of pressure, but thanks to Morrison and some production at the other end of the ice, he was able to earn the win against a very offensively minded and gifted Winterhawks squad. Gallagher got the other Giants goal with a nice toe-drag, deke through the slot, picking the top corner and burying the puck up under in the mesh.
The Giants opened the scoring at 2:54 of the first period. Cain Franson pressured the puck hard on the fore-check chasing down a loose puck and making a beauty pass to Brett Kulak pinching down in the slot. Luke Fenske got the other helper. The caused an early hail of charity teddy bears to launch themselves from the stands. Jordan Martinook padded that lead on the Giants first PP just over 3 minutes later, muscling the puck in at the side of the net with a quick move from along the back-boards. James Henry and Neil Manning were in on the goal. Brendan Gallagher scored a couple of minutes after that, taking a feed from Henry and David Musil, cutting across the slot, avoiding stick-checks and ripping the puck top corner leaving it stuck in the mesh. Portland would get one back before the end of the first. The ‘hawks scored on a PP of their own early in the second, closing the gap to 1 goal, but Vancouver would reply on another when Martinook scored his second of the night. Manning, who had a very good night on the defensive side of the puck, got his second point on the goal. Portland fished through a PP marker in the third, closing back to within one goal. With time ticking down the Giants were able to salt the game away. Martinook got his hat-trick marker off of a nice neutral ice feed from Gallagher and Henry, taking his time and putting it into the empty net.
Rookie Watch: Houck (16) Liked his game, he played some good shifts and was effective playing with Franson and Vetterl. Ast (16) still a small guy with a big heart and laid the body well and had some good chances. Sward (17) Not as impactful as I would have hoped, but good body checks and some decent chances, he was wearing the full bird-cage tonight as he had a broken nose that was recently re-set. Bellerive (17) was close to really making things happen as coach Hanlon likes his game and gave him a few chances to contribute, playing with Martinook and Ast. Orban (17) had a good fight and won handily, contributed well on the back-end. Kulak (17) great goal, very quietly playing shut-down hockey. He’s got the vision and the smarts to really be a huge contributor in the future (even more than he is now). He is currently ranked 12th over-all for WHL skaters by Central Scouting for the upcoming draft. Vetterl (17) had some good shifts. Bews (17) had a glorious chance on the doorstep but could not get the pass from his skate to his stick.
Fight Night: only one on the docket: Orban v Leier, hardly a heavy-weight bout, but entertaining. Leier mostly ducked his head and although Orban missed a few, he connected with a couple of good rights and got the take-down.
Zebra Cage: Trevor Hanson and Steve Papp: this game was very nearly completely perverted by these two clowns. All they were missing were the red noses and giant floppy feet. Hugely bad soft calls, major misses on a lot of other calls most of which of the dangerous variety. These two, Hanson especially as he made most of the calls, couldn’t find their own asses with a mirror and a map. They not did not do their jobs. They deliberately affected the game by calling invisible calls after ignoring two or three more serious infractions seconds before. I was personally apoplectic watching and very saddened by how much power these under-skilled and frankly inept officials had calling this game. High-sticks and cross-checks from behind on the same shift no calls, lots of hooks, not called. Completely inconsistent, entirely lop-sided for no reason. The teams played very similarly and were taking the same infractions, but that was not reflected in how the game was called. Not in the least and the sheer number of dangerous plays blithely ignored by these two useless tits was prodigious.
The Giants were out-shot by the Winterhawks 49-31. The home squad went 2 for 4 on the PP (starting out 2 for 2), while the Portland squad went 2 for 7. The Giants finally got an opportunity with a 5 on 3 late and they really squandered their chances, by not taking the shot. The G’s may have an effective PP, but they seem to believe that they need that perfect pass when playing 5 on 3. I’d prefer to see traffic and quick shots, shooting for the rebound. Morrison was very good, making that first stop and seeing pucks through traffic. He was excellent down low and kept his rebounds close and manageable. The G’s allowed a few too many shots on their goalie and at times allowed the Winterhawks to force them to chase, but they were solid clearing the puck from the front of their own net. I have to say that this was one of the best defensive games I have watched Manning play. No-one can argue his contributions on the offensive side, but he has weaknesses on the defensive side of the puck, but that said: I saw him making smart passes and not going for those low-percentage ill-advised passes up the slot, like Walker did.
The Giants were actually pretty careful making smart passes out of their zone in this game, but often had a tough time getting the puck out of their zone as the Winterhawks were excellent at holding the puck in the offensive zone and very quick to loose pucks. Eric Walker was guilty of the only real bad give-away in the game, which eventually lead to a goal as it forced the Giants to scramble. Martinook had a nice power-forward game, blocking shots, driving hard to the net and pressing hard in the offensive zone. The G’s top line had a decent night as well. Gallagher scored a beauty, but his whole line was very solid when they didn’t have the puck as well. Cain Franson looked really good out there, esp. in the first period and was creating chances. Matt Bellerive was unlucky not to get some points as he was on the doorstep and pressing in the Portland end frequently.
The G’s sat back a bit with the lead in the second I felt, ceasing to bring the really effective forecheck they had in the first period. The numerous TV time-outs also didn’t help the teams maintain the kind of momentum they will usually have playing WHL hockey. I would have preferred to see them press as they did throughout the first. It was a fast game as well. The boys on both sides were skating hard and there was not a lot of room on the ice as both squads were checking close for the most part. Very few odd-man rushes as the two teams were strong on the back-check.
The only aspect of the game I didn’t enjoy were the fools in the orange stripes and they got damn close to ruining this tilt with their incompetence, from my seat at least. I was very pleased with how hard the Giants battled in this one (all of the lines) and how they did not give up on the puck or the play. Without that this extremely skilled Winterhawk squad can dominate. The Portland squad were not given much room to move and make plays and that’s how they need to be played. The G’s got a nice win against a team slightly above them in the standings in the West and continue to do very well at home. I expect their recent road trip out East solidified some chemistry and gave them some serious confidence coming back home. They can compete with any team in the league, but it requires everybody on board and some solid goaltending, which they are getting.
The Giants will be without Gallagher starting tomorrow night and will get Wes Vannieuwenhuizen back as he finished his dumb three game suspension. Dumb from a league point of view, not player point of view. They take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes tomorrow at the Coliseum for their final home game before Christmas. The puck drops at 7pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Adam Morrison
2. Jordan Martinook
3. Brad Ross
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Martinook. He played an excellent power-forward game and was unlucky not to get a couple of more tallies. He forechecked aggressively, was first to the puck frequently, scored the hat-trick, but mostly looked dangerous at both ends of the ice.
Vancouver 5 Portland 3 EN
A pane of glass was broken in the warm-up by a Winterhawk shot and it took over 15 minutes for the crew to install an extremely dirty pane of the glass they seemed have dragged from the sub, sub, basement. The crew were not very adept tonight, slow and installed it the hard way. As a person who does this kind of work I found it embarrassing and was wondering how long it would take them if it were have broken during a game as that amount of time is simply unacceptable. Time for a few quick installation drills and a system that is clean and efficient, cause tonight it was a joke.
It was a CHL tradition annual Teddy Bear Toss Night and the bears flew about 3 mins into the game as Brett Kulak did his best Jonny Blum impersonation, sneaking in from the point and burying the puck from the slot. There were a lot of bears thrown by the 12K plus fans. The game was also on Sportsnet and I am hoping that the officials get torn a new one by the powers that be as they were simply awful in every respect. Martinook notched a hat-trick, with a little help from an empty-net and Adam Morrison stole the game. Not really touted as the kind of goalie that can steal a game, he did a damn fine impersonation of one, turning aside 46 shots as the Winterhawks pressured hard in the Giants zone. The Portland squad also had one the most complete defensive corps I have seen from an opponent all season. The Giants had to earn every one of their goals and frequently had to battle through traffic, a fair amount of which was the questionable variety (penalty-wise), to get their goals. The home team managed to find twine on two PPs and would admit they played far too much time in their own end of the ice. They were, however, quick at clearing the front of the net and clearing shooting lanes to give their goalie the best chance to see the shot. Portland brought wave after wave of pressure, but thanks to Morrison and some production at the other end of the ice, he was able to earn the win against a very offensively minded and gifted Winterhawks squad. Gallagher got the other Giants goal with a nice toe-drag, deke through the slot, picking the top corner and burying the puck up under in the mesh.
The Giants opened the scoring at 2:54 of the first period. Cain Franson pressured the puck hard on the fore-check chasing down a loose puck and making a beauty pass to Brett Kulak pinching down in the slot. Luke Fenske got the other helper. The caused an early hail of charity teddy bears to launch themselves from the stands. Jordan Martinook padded that lead on the Giants first PP just over 3 minutes later, muscling the puck in at the side of the net with a quick move from along the back-boards. James Henry and Neil Manning were in on the goal. Brendan Gallagher scored a couple of minutes after that, taking a feed from Henry and David Musil, cutting across the slot, avoiding stick-checks and ripping the puck top corner leaving it stuck in the mesh. Portland would get one back before the end of the first. The ‘hawks scored on a PP of their own early in the second, closing the gap to 1 goal, but Vancouver would reply on another when Martinook scored his second of the night. Manning, who had a very good night on the defensive side of the puck, got his second point on the goal. Portland fished through a PP marker in the third, closing back to within one goal. With time ticking down the Giants were able to salt the game away. Martinook got his hat-trick marker off of a nice neutral ice feed from Gallagher and Henry, taking his time and putting it into the empty net.
Rookie Watch: Houck (16) Liked his game, he played some good shifts and was effective playing with Franson and Vetterl. Ast (16) still a small guy with a big heart and laid the body well and had some good chances. Sward (17) Not as impactful as I would have hoped, but good body checks and some decent chances, he was wearing the full bird-cage tonight as he had a broken nose that was recently re-set. Bellerive (17) was close to really making things happen as coach Hanlon likes his game and gave him a few chances to contribute, playing with Martinook and Ast. Orban (17) had a good fight and won handily, contributed well on the back-end. Kulak (17) great goal, very quietly playing shut-down hockey. He’s got the vision and the smarts to really be a huge contributor in the future (even more than he is now). He is currently ranked 12th over-all for WHL skaters by Central Scouting for the upcoming draft. Vetterl (17) had some good shifts. Bews (17) had a glorious chance on the doorstep but could not get the pass from his skate to his stick.
Fight Night: only one on the docket: Orban v Leier, hardly a heavy-weight bout, but entertaining. Leier mostly ducked his head and although Orban missed a few, he connected with a couple of good rights and got the take-down.
Zebra Cage: Trevor Hanson and Steve Papp: this game was very nearly completely perverted by these two clowns. All they were missing were the red noses and giant floppy feet. Hugely bad soft calls, major misses on a lot of other calls most of which of the dangerous variety. These two, Hanson especially as he made most of the calls, couldn’t find their own asses with a mirror and a map. They not did not do their jobs. They deliberately affected the game by calling invisible calls after ignoring two or three more serious infractions seconds before. I was personally apoplectic watching and very saddened by how much power these under-skilled and frankly inept officials had calling this game. High-sticks and cross-checks from behind on the same shift no calls, lots of hooks, not called. Completely inconsistent, entirely lop-sided for no reason. The teams played very similarly and were taking the same infractions, but that was not reflected in how the game was called. Not in the least and the sheer number of dangerous plays blithely ignored by these two useless tits was prodigious.
The Giants were out-shot by the Winterhawks 49-31. The home squad went 2 for 4 on the PP (starting out 2 for 2), while the Portland squad went 2 for 7. The Giants finally got an opportunity with a 5 on 3 late and they really squandered their chances, by not taking the shot. The G’s may have an effective PP, but they seem to believe that they need that perfect pass when playing 5 on 3. I’d prefer to see traffic and quick shots, shooting for the rebound. Morrison was very good, making that first stop and seeing pucks through traffic. He was excellent down low and kept his rebounds close and manageable. The G’s allowed a few too many shots on their goalie and at times allowed the Winterhawks to force them to chase, but they were solid clearing the puck from the front of their own net. I have to say that this was one of the best defensive games I have watched Manning play. No-one can argue his contributions on the offensive side, but he has weaknesses on the defensive side of the puck, but that said: I saw him making smart passes and not going for those low-percentage ill-advised passes up the slot, like Walker did.
The Giants were actually pretty careful making smart passes out of their zone in this game, but often had a tough time getting the puck out of their zone as the Winterhawks were excellent at holding the puck in the offensive zone and very quick to loose pucks. Eric Walker was guilty of the only real bad give-away in the game, which eventually lead to a goal as it forced the Giants to scramble. Martinook had a nice power-forward game, blocking shots, driving hard to the net and pressing hard in the offensive zone. The G’s top line had a decent night as well. Gallagher scored a beauty, but his whole line was very solid when they didn’t have the puck as well. Cain Franson looked really good out there, esp. in the first period and was creating chances. Matt Bellerive was unlucky not to get some points as he was on the doorstep and pressing in the Portland end frequently.
The G’s sat back a bit with the lead in the second I felt, ceasing to bring the really effective forecheck they had in the first period. The numerous TV time-outs also didn’t help the teams maintain the kind of momentum they will usually have playing WHL hockey. I would have preferred to see them press as they did throughout the first. It was a fast game as well. The boys on both sides were skating hard and there was not a lot of room on the ice as both squads were checking close for the most part. Very few odd-man rushes as the two teams were strong on the back-check.
The only aspect of the game I didn’t enjoy were the fools in the orange stripes and they got damn close to ruining this tilt with their incompetence, from my seat at least. I was very pleased with how hard the Giants battled in this one (all of the lines) and how they did not give up on the puck or the play. Without that this extremely skilled Winterhawk squad can dominate. The Portland squad were not given much room to move and make plays and that’s how they need to be played. The G’s got a nice win against a team slightly above them in the standings in the West and continue to do very well at home. I expect their recent road trip out East solidified some chemistry and gave them some serious confidence coming back home. They can compete with any team in the league, but it requires everybody on board and some solid goaltending, which they are getting.
The Giants will be without Gallagher starting tomorrow night and will get Wes Vannieuwenhuizen back as he finished his dumb three game suspension. Dumb from a league point of view, not player point of view. They take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes tomorrow at the Coliseum for their final home game before Christmas. The puck drops at 7pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Adam Morrison
2. Jordan Martinook
3. Brad Ross
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Martinook. He played an excellent power-forward game and was unlucky not to get a couple of more tallies. He forechecked aggressively, was first to the puck frequently, scored the hat-trick, but mostly looked dangerous at both ends of the ice.