dondo
01-22-2012, 03:28 AM
Rockets Retro Giants
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 4 OT/SO
The Giants had a three goal lead they let slip and then lost the game in OT. Whistle can’t seem to win a game where he doesn’t get a shut-out, despite playing well and turning away 38 of 41 shots, some of them of the great variety. Tvrdon assisted on every Giants goal and was very good handling the puck tonight, but unfortunately the support from other players was lacking at times and Tvrdon had no one to get the puck to. The G’s caused their own problems, coughing up the puck badly, got caught scrambling in their own end of the ice and were sloppy late in the second allowing the Rockets life in the final minute of the second. The G’s had control of the puck in their zone, failed to make the smart move and keep the puck safe, turned it over, failed to get it out of their end and with 30 some odd seconds left in the middle frame allowed a really bad goal against. Team bad, not goalie bad. The Rockets added two more in the third, one of which was a horrible turnover by Tyler Vanscourt who is rapidly becoming my whipping boy despite getting a PP marker tonight. Mainly cause he backchecks half-assedly frequently coughing up the biscuit and is so bloody stupid with the puck when he does get a chance to move it. The Rockets dominated OT and then won in a shootout, beating Whistle twice while Adam Brown didn’t allow a goal. A really bad loss, poor letdown and frankly inexcusable. Good to get a point, but it should have been two.
Cain Franson opened the scoring in the first on the PP just over five minutes in. Riley Kieser and Marek Tvrdon with the helpers. Tyler Vanscourt scored another PP goal about the same about of time into the second period. The Giants were 2 for 2 on the PP at that point. Tvrdon and Neil Manning got the assists. Later in the middle frame Alex Kuvaev finished off a three way passing play as the Giants got themselves a 3 on 1 rush. The puck went from Jordan Martinook, to Tvrdon and then across to Kuvaev who scored his second goal since joining the Vancouver squad. 37 seconds left in the second the G’s badly coughed up the puck and Kelowna found twine off of a rebound. Another bad give-away and failure to clear their own zone lead to an earlyish third period tally by the home team. Let allowed the home team back into the game off of a goal that never should have been had they made the smart play instead of playing soft and sloppy. A mid-period PP chance had the Rockets solve Whistle and gain momentum. Whistle made some clutch stops in the Rockets PP chance, but with little time left the Rockets tied the game with the man advantage. OT solved nothing with the home squad getting 3 shots to the G’s 0 in the extra frame. The shootout was no contest as the Kelwona shooters ventilated Whistle.
Rookie Watch: Kulak (17) has ha better nights on the back-end, but played a solid game regardless. Bellerive (17) had some decent shifts. Kieser (18) had an assist and played with Houck and Burns and that line once again looked dangerous. Still don’t know why this guy was mired in the SJHL instead of playing for the struggling Broncos. He’s been quite the find and at 18 he has nowhere to go but up with his great attitude and work ethic. Ast (16) played a regular shift and in progressing and creating chances. Vetterl (17) a few good grinding shifts. Houck (16) Looking good playing second line minutes and matches well with Burns and Kieser. Never shy of grinding it out in the corners. Looking forward to seeing him mature and progress as he’s got a great base to work from. Orban (17) depth D-Man minutes and a plus tonight.
Fight Night: One early one - Taylor Makin v Tyrell Goulbourne
Zebra Cage: Colby Smith Matt Thurston .. I know the Rockets fans wanted a few extra calls against the Giants in this one. PPs were even, no out of nowhere calls that I could recall, but both squads did get away with a few and late in the third and into OT the whistles had been locked away in the their pockets.
The Rockets out shot the Giants 42-32 (including shootout winning shot, which should not be arbitrarily added to the shot totals as it’s a completely different animal). The G’s had control of the game, but then proceeded to give it away. Whistle tried his damnedest to keep his team in there, getting a piece of most of the shots and scrambling in his crease to get to out of reach pucks. The Giants allowed far too many good shots on Whistle and were crap in their own zone when the Rockets pushed back. The G’s were not playing smart hockey after using their first two PP chances to get a nice lead. I find it odd and a bit disconcerting that one of the things this franchise has been known for over the years is being able to lock down a lead and cruise to a finish, as defense is teachable and more than often about effort not necessarily skill set. The Rockets went 1 for 4 on the PP, while the G’s went 2 for 4 and were at one point 2 for 2. I found this to be a disappointing loss. I have to say that Whistle had some luck, but was really digging in there and making his saves. With Gallagher out of the line-up the Giants are badly lacking a clutch player who can take his team put them on his back and grind out a win by sheer determination. Martinook should be that guy. Tvrdon is trying, but he’s not quite rugged enough or as fearless as someone like Gallagher is. It’s time for a few boys to step it up and the Giants to learn how to shut down teams, not by sitting back in that awful and frustrating 1, 2, 2 strategy, but by continuing to press and pound and make life living hell for the other guys in their own zone. There was not enough of that at all and hasn’t been for some time.
Giants finish off their three in three series tomorrow where they have a good chance taking 5 of 6 pts from this weekend. They face the Seattle Thunderbirds, another sub-.500 struggling squad. They will need to play smart and wily and not get drawn into the T-Birds big game. If they battle for the front of the net they will draw penalties and then use their mobility to get the win. If they sit back they will be pounded in their own end of the ice. Puck tomorrow drops at 5pm at the Coliseum, as it usually does on Sundays.
Three Stars
1. Marek Tvrdon
2. Mitchell Chapman
3. Colton Sissons
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to .. Tvrdon, if not for hardhattedness for his pure skill and the ability to make those around him better. Honourable mention for me goes to Whistle. Best outing in terms of SV% and he had to battle damn hard to maintain equilibrium.. it’s a big shame his team didn’t care enough to get him the win.
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 4 OT/SO
The Giants had a three goal lead they let slip and then lost the game in OT. Whistle can’t seem to win a game where he doesn’t get a shut-out, despite playing well and turning away 38 of 41 shots, some of them of the great variety. Tvrdon assisted on every Giants goal and was very good handling the puck tonight, but unfortunately the support from other players was lacking at times and Tvrdon had no one to get the puck to. The G’s caused their own problems, coughing up the puck badly, got caught scrambling in their own end of the ice and were sloppy late in the second allowing the Rockets life in the final minute of the second. The G’s had control of the puck in their zone, failed to make the smart move and keep the puck safe, turned it over, failed to get it out of their end and with 30 some odd seconds left in the middle frame allowed a really bad goal against. Team bad, not goalie bad. The Rockets added two more in the third, one of which was a horrible turnover by Tyler Vanscourt who is rapidly becoming my whipping boy despite getting a PP marker tonight. Mainly cause he backchecks half-assedly frequently coughing up the biscuit and is so bloody stupid with the puck when he does get a chance to move it. The Rockets dominated OT and then won in a shootout, beating Whistle twice while Adam Brown didn’t allow a goal. A really bad loss, poor letdown and frankly inexcusable. Good to get a point, but it should have been two.
Cain Franson opened the scoring in the first on the PP just over five minutes in. Riley Kieser and Marek Tvrdon with the helpers. Tyler Vanscourt scored another PP goal about the same about of time into the second period. The Giants were 2 for 2 on the PP at that point. Tvrdon and Neil Manning got the assists. Later in the middle frame Alex Kuvaev finished off a three way passing play as the Giants got themselves a 3 on 1 rush. The puck went from Jordan Martinook, to Tvrdon and then across to Kuvaev who scored his second goal since joining the Vancouver squad. 37 seconds left in the second the G’s badly coughed up the puck and Kelowna found twine off of a rebound. Another bad give-away and failure to clear their own zone lead to an earlyish third period tally by the home team. Let allowed the home team back into the game off of a goal that never should have been had they made the smart play instead of playing soft and sloppy. A mid-period PP chance had the Rockets solve Whistle and gain momentum. Whistle made some clutch stops in the Rockets PP chance, but with little time left the Rockets tied the game with the man advantage. OT solved nothing with the home squad getting 3 shots to the G’s 0 in the extra frame. The shootout was no contest as the Kelwona shooters ventilated Whistle.
Rookie Watch: Kulak (17) has ha better nights on the back-end, but played a solid game regardless. Bellerive (17) had some decent shifts. Kieser (18) had an assist and played with Houck and Burns and that line once again looked dangerous. Still don’t know why this guy was mired in the SJHL instead of playing for the struggling Broncos. He’s been quite the find and at 18 he has nowhere to go but up with his great attitude and work ethic. Ast (16) played a regular shift and in progressing and creating chances. Vetterl (17) a few good grinding shifts. Houck (16) Looking good playing second line minutes and matches well with Burns and Kieser. Never shy of grinding it out in the corners. Looking forward to seeing him mature and progress as he’s got a great base to work from. Orban (17) depth D-Man minutes and a plus tonight.
Fight Night: One early one - Taylor Makin v Tyrell Goulbourne
Zebra Cage: Colby Smith Matt Thurston .. I know the Rockets fans wanted a few extra calls against the Giants in this one. PPs were even, no out of nowhere calls that I could recall, but both squads did get away with a few and late in the third and into OT the whistles had been locked away in the their pockets.
The Rockets out shot the Giants 42-32 (including shootout winning shot, which should not be arbitrarily added to the shot totals as it’s a completely different animal). The G’s had control of the game, but then proceeded to give it away. Whistle tried his damnedest to keep his team in there, getting a piece of most of the shots and scrambling in his crease to get to out of reach pucks. The Giants allowed far too many good shots on Whistle and were crap in their own zone when the Rockets pushed back. The G’s were not playing smart hockey after using their first two PP chances to get a nice lead. I find it odd and a bit disconcerting that one of the things this franchise has been known for over the years is being able to lock down a lead and cruise to a finish, as defense is teachable and more than often about effort not necessarily skill set. The Rockets went 1 for 4 on the PP, while the G’s went 2 for 4 and were at one point 2 for 2. I found this to be a disappointing loss. I have to say that Whistle had some luck, but was really digging in there and making his saves. With Gallagher out of the line-up the Giants are badly lacking a clutch player who can take his team put them on his back and grind out a win by sheer determination. Martinook should be that guy. Tvrdon is trying, but he’s not quite rugged enough or as fearless as someone like Gallagher is. It’s time for a few boys to step it up and the Giants to learn how to shut down teams, not by sitting back in that awful and frustrating 1, 2, 2 strategy, but by continuing to press and pound and make life living hell for the other guys in their own zone. There was not enough of that at all and hasn’t been for some time.
Giants finish off their three in three series tomorrow where they have a good chance taking 5 of 6 pts from this weekend. They face the Seattle Thunderbirds, another sub-.500 struggling squad. They will need to play smart and wily and not get drawn into the T-Birds big game. If they battle for the front of the net they will draw penalties and then use their mobility to get the win. If they sit back they will be pounded in their own end of the ice. Puck tomorrow drops at 5pm at the Coliseum, as it usually does on Sundays.
Three Stars
1. Marek Tvrdon
2. Mitchell Chapman
3. Colton Sissons
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to .. Tvrdon, if not for hardhattedness for his pure skill and the ability to make those around him better. Honourable mention for me goes to Whistle. Best outing in terms of SV% and he had to battle damn hard to maintain equilibrium.. it’s a big shame his team didn’t care enough to get him the win.