dondo
03-03-2012, 02:43 AM
yes I hate Kirk, there's just so much to hate ;)
Tigers Maul Giants
Vancouver 4 Medicine Hat 6
It was a spirited tilt at the rink at Renfrew. Both teams were into it and gutted out a couple of hard periods. The Giants kind of vanished in the third though, allowing 3 unanswered goals against and squandering their PP chances. The Tigers played a very chippy game and really should have got much more tagged against them than they got. The refs sucked and were a large influence on this game, with invisible calls, doubling up on infractions for no reason, petty equalizing and more than a few make-up calls. The real problem was that the Giants were not able to take advantage of their PP, spending a good deal of time in their own end and were simply awful on the PK. The Tigers were a very undisciplined as a team, infraction-wise, and it should have been their downfall, but wasn’t. Tyler Bunz was good, but got rattled early and then proceeded to hack and slash his way through the game (literally) getting less minutes of penalties than he should have in my estimation and getting away with late cheap shots and hacks with no consequences. I’m still trying to figure out how having to skate behind the goalie in the crease, managing to avoid contact and not bumping him even though you are being pushed by a defending player constitutes goalie interference.
The real story of this game was two-fold though. Bunz was much better than Adam Morrison who did his team no favours in this one and The Giants special teams which disappeared for the G’s and were the reason the Tigers won, scoring 6 goals on a mere 20 shots and in the process tallying 3 man-advantage markers. The Tigers battled hard on and over the edge and were very solid in their own end of the ice. They were a threat at both ends and have some players that have unbelievable speed. Etem is a frightening player, with speed gears above most of the other players on the ice and the ability to make plays in his top gear. Shinkaruk is an up and coming young player with amazing skills and numbers. He had three assists tonight and now has 83pts in 60 games played for the season. He is a late birthday turning 17 this past October and as such will be eligible for the 2013 NHL draft.
The Giants opened the scoring 1:24 in. Driving hard and gutting it out around the net finally springing the puck loose to Marek Tvrdon scoring his 24th of the season. Brendan Gallagher and Riley Kieser got the gritty helpers. The Tigers replied on their PP a minute later, 11 seconds into their man-advantage. Jordan Martinook put the Giants back ahead a few minutes later deflecting a puck through Bunz standing on the edge of the blue-ice. He had Gallagher to thank for keeping his feet moving and fighting for the room to get the puck to the front of the net. Cain Franson gave the Giants a two goal bulge, finding a chink in Bunz’s armour. Jackson Houck got the lone helper. The Tigers clawed one back on another man-advantage before the end of the period. The goal was unassisted and came 14 seconds into their PP chance. The second was pretty tightly contested and the G’s wasted PP chances and were robbed of other chances due to official pettiness. The Tigers tied the game late. The G’s replied as Tvrdon scored his second, ripping a puck short-side. Man I wish he’d shoot more, he has such a great shot. The assists went to Martinook and Tyler Vanscourt, who was making up a for a very bad give-away that gave the Tigers the tying marker. The third was all Tigers, capitalising on a seriously weak PP call on the Giants at the tail-end of the second to go ahead early in the third and rolling from then on. It was the only period the Giants were held to single digits in shots and the Tigers made no mistake putting their limited chances home, scoring 3 goals on only 4 shots and pulling out to what proved an insurmountable lead.
Zebra Cage: Matt Kirk and Colby Smith. It doesn’t get much worse and it’s a shame that such an intensely contested tilt was tainted with ham-handed and petty officiating.
The Giants out shot the Tigers 39-20. The hometown boys went 0 for 8 with the man-advantage and allowed 3 for 7 against. I can’t fault the Giants effort as every line worked hard in the corners, but the Tigers made their chances count and Morrison was not good enough tonight whiffing on a few glove stops as the Tigers sniped corners with ease. Bunz made a few clutch stops, the best of which was robbing Gallagher on the doorstep with a golden opportunity by snatching a puck destined for the top shelf with a lightning quick glove. Morrison could have used one of the those.
The G’s after a decent winning streak have slipped a bit dropping two to teams below them in the standings and splitting a home at home versus the BC Division leading Blazers. This loss combined with a surge from the Spokane Chiefs has put them in a must win situation this weekend if they hope to challenge for home-ice in the playoffs. Their opening round opponent is pretty much a given and would be Spokane, but who claims the home ice advantage is still in question. The Giants have two games versus the Royals in Victoria on Saturday and Sunday and need to follow the Chiefs lead and beat the Victoria squad in both of those games. Coming down the stretch they have a tough tilt at home versus the Americans and another home at home series versus the Blazers, a third tilt versus the Royals and a home at home versus the Kelowna Rockets. Not the easiest road to travel and one they need to come out of with a solid winning percentage to have a chance at regaining home ice advantage in the first round.
Three Stars
1. Emerson Etem
2. Marek Tvrdon
3. Hunter Shinkaruk
Dondo’s Hardhat: No Giant worked harder or more tenaciously than Gally. Ending with a couple of hard battled assists and a +2 in an intense game, he was a leader and got close to potting a few of his own.
Tigers Maul Giants
Vancouver 4 Medicine Hat 6
It was a spirited tilt at the rink at Renfrew. Both teams were into it and gutted out a couple of hard periods. The Giants kind of vanished in the third though, allowing 3 unanswered goals against and squandering their PP chances. The Tigers played a very chippy game and really should have got much more tagged against them than they got. The refs sucked and were a large influence on this game, with invisible calls, doubling up on infractions for no reason, petty equalizing and more than a few make-up calls. The real problem was that the Giants were not able to take advantage of their PP, spending a good deal of time in their own end and were simply awful on the PK. The Tigers were a very undisciplined as a team, infraction-wise, and it should have been their downfall, but wasn’t. Tyler Bunz was good, but got rattled early and then proceeded to hack and slash his way through the game (literally) getting less minutes of penalties than he should have in my estimation and getting away with late cheap shots and hacks with no consequences. I’m still trying to figure out how having to skate behind the goalie in the crease, managing to avoid contact and not bumping him even though you are being pushed by a defending player constitutes goalie interference.
The real story of this game was two-fold though. Bunz was much better than Adam Morrison who did his team no favours in this one and The Giants special teams which disappeared for the G’s and were the reason the Tigers won, scoring 6 goals on a mere 20 shots and in the process tallying 3 man-advantage markers. The Tigers battled hard on and over the edge and were very solid in their own end of the ice. They were a threat at both ends and have some players that have unbelievable speed. Etem is a frightening player, with speed gears above most of the other players on the ice and the ability to make plays in his top gear. Shinkaruk is an up and coming young player with amazing skills and numbers. He had three assists tonight and now has 83pts in 60 games played for the season. He is a late birthday turning 17 this past October and as such will be eligible for the 2013 NHL draft.
The Giants opened the scoring 1:24 in. Driving hard and gutting it out around the net finally springing the puck loose to Marek Tvrdon scoring his 24th of the season. Brendan Gallagher and Riley Kieser got the gritty helpers. The Tigers replied on their PP a minute later, 11 seconds into their man-advantage. Jordan Martinook put the Giants back ahead a few minutes later deflecting a puck through Bunz standing on the edge of the blue-ice. He had Gallagher to thank for keeping his feet moving and fighting for the room to get the puck to the front of the net. Cain Franson gave the Giants a two goal bulge, finding a chink in Bunz’s armour. Jackson Houck got the lone helper. The Tigers clawed one back on another man-advantage before the end of the period. The goal was unassisted and came 14 seconds into their PP chance. The second was pretty tightly contested and the G’s wasted PP chances and were robbed of other chances due to official pettiness. The Tigers tied the game late. The G’s replied as Tvrdon scored his second, ripping a puck short-side. Man I wish he’d shoot more, he has such a great shot. The assists went to Martinook and Tyler Vanscourt, who was making up a for a very bad give-away that gave the Tigers the tying marker. The third was all Tigers, capitalising on a seriously weak PP call on the Giants at the tail-end of the second to go ahead early in the third and rolling from then on. It was the only period the Giants were held to single digits in shots and the Tigers made no mistake putting their limited chances home, scoring 3 goals on only 4 shots and pulling out to what proved an insurmountable lead.
Zebra Cage: Matt Kirk and Colby Smith. It doesn’t get much worse and it’s a shame that such an intensely contested tilt was tainted with ham-handed and petty officiating.
The Giants out shot the Tigers 39-20. The hometown boys went 0 for 8 with the man-advantage and allowed 3 for 7 against. I can’t fault the Giants effort as every line worked hard in the corners, but the Tigers made their chances count and Morrison was not good enough tonight whiffing on a few glove stops as the Tigers sniped corners with ease. Bunz made a few clutch stops, the best of which was robbing Gallagher on the doorstep with a golden opportunity by snatching a puck destined for the top shelf with a lightning quick glove. Morrison could have used one of the those.
The G’s after a decent winning streak have slipped a bit dropping two to teams below them in the standings and splitting a home at home versus the BC Division leading Blazers. This loss combined with a surge from the Spokane Chiefs has put them in a must win situation this weekend if they hope to challenge for home-ice in the playoffs. Their opening round opponent is pretty much a given and would be Spokane, but who claims the home ice advantage is still in question. The Giants have two games versus the Royals in Victoria on Saturday and Sunday and need to follow the Chiefs lead and beat the Victoria squad in both of those games. Coming down the stretch they have a tough tilt at home versus the Americans and another home at home series versus the Blazers, a third tilt versus the Royals and a home at home versus the Kelowna Rockets. Not the easiest road to travel and one they need to come out of with a solid winning percentage to have a chance at regaining home ice advantage in the first round.
Three Stars
1. Emerson Etem
2. Marek Tvrdon
3. Hunter Shinkaruk
Dondo’s Hardhat: No Giant worked harder or more tenaciously than Gally. Ending with a couple of hard battled assists and a +2 in an intense game, he was a leader and got close to potting a few of his own.