dondo
10-06-2012, 01:24 AM
Who is this team?
Giants Bounce Back
Vancouver 6 Medicine Hat 1
What a difference a day makes. Or a netminder at least. After being embarrassingly blown-out in Kelowna on Wednesday with nary an effort from anyone, the boys rebounded with a smart, hard game tonight. If I were a conspiracy theorist I might float the idea that the players aren’t interested in putting in much effort when Liston is between the pipes. Tyler Fuhr wasn’t busy, but was good when he had to be and made some clutch stops. It helps a lot when your team gives you a massive lead in the first and you get a bit of puck luck, but Fuhr was alert and aware and usually square to the play. It also helps when the team in front of you also plays a complete team game. Despite a softish second the Giants played the majority of the 60 minutes tonight at both ends of the ice. Patient back-check and aggressive forecheck kept the Tigers at bay for the majority of the game limiting their shots. Getting production from three lines didn’t hurt either. Riley Kieser and Tristan Sieben playing with Austin Vetterl, garnered the star selections, but for my money it was the Nathan Burns, Jackson Houck, Marek Tvrdon line who drove the bus in this one. Cain Franson contributed on the PP and playing with Trevor Cheek and Anthony Ast. Cheek also did double duty on the grind line swapping out with Scott Cooke playing with 16 yr olds, Taylor Vickerman and Thomas Foster.
Kieser opened the scoring going hard to the net and putting home a Vetterl rebound 48 seconds in. Other assist to Sieben. It was the first time this season the Giants opened the scoring and only the second time they led in a game in 6 tries. Brett Kulak potted one off of Franson a few minutes later. This got the fans right into it. Franson added a PP marker, slipping a screened shot past Marek Langhamer chasing him from the net 5:11 into the first. Dawson MacAuley didn’t fare much better. After playing well in the relief he gave up a late first period goal. Houck scored his first goal of the campaign, with assists going to Tvrdon and Burns. The Giants sagged a bit in the second giving up a late marker, tipped nicely in front of Fuhr. Sieben sent a message 4 minutes into the third potting another hard-working goal that the Tigers weren’t going to get a sniff tonight. A beautiful saucer pass by Tvrdon right onto Burns stick finished off the scoring for the boys. The G’s did not back down at any point in this game and gave as good as they got or better.
Team Notes: Dalton Sward still out with an injury and it’s a shame cause this was his kind of game, clean hard-nosed hockey. Taylor Vickerman and Thomas Foster looked pretty good playing tenacious fourth line shifts. They may not have been on the ice a huge amount, but I noticed them every time they were out there. Foster got rocked along the boards in the third and left the game with an upper-body injury (shoulder maybe?). Orban playing in the 3, 4 spot saw a bunch of ice time and played well with Kulak on the other wing.
Fisticuffs: Scott Cooke v. Tyler Lewington – a good lively bout, with mutually exchanged blows. The guys were separated when they were just getting into it in my opinion.
Zebra Cage: Sean Raphael, Nick Swaine: Not bad – a couple of softies, but balanced for the most part.
The Giants out shot the Tigers 34-21. They went 1 for 3 on the PP, while holding the Tigers to 0 for 3. They improved their special team stats tonight and hopefully that’s a trend they will continue. Tonight’s game was a good complete team game. It had cohesion and support. Their breakouts were smart and quick and the boys did a good job limiting the Tigers chances. I find it odd how this team can be such a disaster one night and then a well-oiled machine the next. They got some good puck luck tonight, but they also made that luck with their work ethic and effort. They won most of the puck battles, which was a refreshing change from some of the lack-lustre performances I have seen recently. It’s most definitely a good step in the right direction and hopefully one they will build upon. The real difference between the wins and the losses has been goaltending. Neither goalie has stellar numbers, but the players seem more integrated playing in front of Fuhr. Coincidence? I expect Fuhr to continue carrying the load until he has a poor performance and then maybe get a mulligan as Liston has used up his strikes and should be riding the pine for awhile.
Three Stars
1. Tristan Sieben
2. David Musil
3. Riley Kieser
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Jackson Houck. I really liked his game tonight. He was good at both ends and created chances. He also didn’t back down.
Giants Bounce Back
Vancouver 6 Medicine Hat 1
What a difference a day makes. Or a netminder at least. After being embarrassingly blown-out in Kelowna on Wednesday with nary an effort from anyone, the boys rebounded with a smart, hard game tonight. If I were a conspiracy theorist I might float the idea that the players aren’t interested in putting in much effort when Liston is between the pipes. Tyler Fuhr wasn’t busy, but was good when he had to be and made some clutch stops. It helps a lot when your team gives you a massive lead in the first and you get a bit of puck luck, but Fuhr was alert and aware and usually square to the play. It also helps when the team in front of you also plays a complete team game. Despite a softish second the Giants played the majority of the 60 minutes tonight at both ends of the ice. Patient back-check and aggressive forecheck kept the Tigers at bay for the majority of the game limiting their shots. Getting production from three lines didn’t hurt either. Riley Kieser and Tristan Sieben playing with Austin Vetterl, garnered the star selections, but for my money it was the Nathan Burns, Jackson Houck, Marek Tvrdon line who drove the bus in this one. Cain Franson contributed on the PP and playing with Trevor Cheek and Anthony Ast. Cheek also did double duty on the grind line swapping out with Scott Cooke playing with 16 yr olds, Taylor Vickerman and Thomas Foster.
Kieser opened the scoring going hard to the net and putting home a Vetterl rebound 48 seconds in. Other assist to Sieben. It was the first time this season the Giants opened the scoring and only the second time they led in a game in 6 tries. Brett Kulak potted one off of Franson a few minutes later. This got the fans right into it. Franson added a PP marker, slipping a screened shot past Marek Langhamer chasing him from the net 5:11 into the first. Dawson MacAuley didn’t fare much better. After playing well in the relief he gave up a late first period goal. Houck scored his first goal of the campaign, with assists going to Tvrdon and Burns. The Giants sagged a bit in the second giving up a late marker, tipped nicely in front of Fuhr. Sieben sent a message 4 minutes into the third potting another hard-working goal that the Tigers weren’t going to get a sniff tonight. A beautiful saucer pass by Tvrdon right onto Burns stick finished off the scoring for the boys. The G’s did not back down at any point in this game and gave as good as they got or better.
Team Notes: Dalton Sward still out with an injury and it’s a shame cause this was his kind of game, clean hard-nosed hockey. Taylor Vickerman and Thomas Foster looked pretty good playing tenacious fourth line shifts. They may not have been on the ice a huge amount, but I noticed them every time they were out there. Foster got rocked along the boards in the third and left the game with an upper-body injury (shoulder maybe?). Orban playing in the 3, 4 spot saw a bunch of ice time and played well with Kulak on the other wing.
Fisticuffs: Scott Cooke v. Tyler Lewington – a good lively bout, with mutually exchanged blows. The guys were separated when they were just getting into it in my opinion.
Zebra Cage: Sean Raphael, Nick Swaine: Not bad – a couple of softies, but balanced for the most part.
The Giants out shot the Tigers 34-21. They went 1 for 3 on the PP, while holding the Tigers to 0 for 3. They improved their special team stats tonight and hopefully that’s a trend they will continue. Tonight’s game was a good complete team game. It had cohesion and support. Their breakouts were smart and quick and the boys did a good job limiting the Tigers chances. I find it odd how this team can be such a disaster one night and then a well-oiled machine the next. They got some good puck luck tonight, but they also made that luck with their work ethic and effort. They won most of the puck battles, which was a refreshing change from some of the lack-lustre performances I have seen recently. It’s most definitely a good step in the right direction and hopefully one they will build upon. The real difference between the wins and the losses has been goaltending. Neither goalie has stellar numbers, but the players seem more integrated playing in front of Fuhr. Coincidence? I expect Fuhr to continue carrying the load until he has a poor performance and then maybe get a mulligan as Liston has used up his strikes and should be riding the pine for awhile.
Three Stars
1. Tristan Sieben
2. David Musil
3. Riley Kieser
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Jackson Houck. I really liked his game tonight. He was good at both ends and created chances. He also didn’t back down.