dondo
10-27-2012, 02:31 AM
That's more like it. With that kind of effort, committment to team play, supporting your teammates, physically, emotionally and creatively the team could climb the standings with a bunch of consecutive wins. Fingers crossed. Sounds like the boys had fun tonight and maybe that will also carry-over and be a motivating factor in future games.
Giants Trump Royals
Vancouver 4 Victoria 1
I wasn’t in my seat for this one, unfortunately, but I listened to the majority and I liked a lot of what I heard. Marek Tvrdon had a breakout game, notching a hat trick and four points, in on every goal the Giants got in this one. The Giants seemed to be drinking the Don Hay Kool-Aid tonight and were very tenacious in their own end. Holding the Royals to zero shots on net in the first is indicative of how hard they worked in their defensive zone and how little room they gave the Victoria squad to make plays. The Vancouver boys had very few lapses in their own end of the ice, but were fishing the puck out the net after one of them. If nothing else it has to be a signal to them that they cannot afford to make any mistakes this season, as they have frequently been the cause of rippling twine a short time later. Payton Lee was between the pipes and not busy, turning away 13 of 14. The only goal he gave up was a bang-bang play. A very similar play the next shift could have changed the game’s dynamic and threatened to give the Royals the big Mo, but Lee made his best stop of the night to keep his team in the lead. Clutch saves have been severely lacking this young season, so getting one is a big positive. The game got chippy late and the Royals became undisciplined in the third. Tvrdon potted one late using a man-advantage chance and the game was in hand.
Dalton Sward opened the scoring late in the first just as a Giants PP had expired. Called an even strength marker, the goal could be attributed to better PP execution coming a few seconds late to put points up in the special team column. Jackson Houck worked hard to get the puck to Sward, with Tvrdon getting the second helper. After 5 straight losses this was exactly the game the Giants needed, not just the win, but a dominant well-executed win. After their soft, disinterested play on Wednesday, Legends night at the Coliseum was the tonic they needed. Early in the second they did what they needed to do in the Brandon game, which was increase their lead and begin to pull away. It was nice to see Tvrdon show up and light it up tonight as his naysayers had been gathering stones the past few weeks. He may not play a quintessential Hay game, but if he continues to produce along these lines he will be valuable to the team for awhile and could be a linchpin to get them off the schnide and to some winning ways. Tvrdon notched his first goal of this game at 1:16 of the second. He added another about 6 minutes later, taking a feed from Scott Cooke and going to the net. It was Cooke’s first point of the season. The Royals scored just past the mid-way point of the third. The Giants were scrambling more than they had all game at that point and were at risk to let the game begin to slip when Lee made a brilliant momentum saving shot and Tvrdon added a PP marker to get the boys back on track. Without that save the boys might have had a crisis of confidence. They didn’t and earned their third win of the season. Something to build on for sure, but the boys need to keep that commitment going.
Team Notes: Thomas Foster was back in the line-up, but left the game after what appeared to be a shoulder injury. I’m wondering if he re-aggravated that shoulder he hurt a few games back. Carter Popoff was also back in the line-up. Kale Kessy made his Giants debut wearing #22. He was effective and by all accounts demolished a huge Royal D-man in an early fight. I heard his name quite a bit and in mainly positive tones. Vetterl was a scratch. Reid Zalitach the 16 yr old D-man was back in the line-up. The Giants have led in games very rarely this season and have usually pulled out the win when they had a lead of any length.
Fisticuffs: Wes Vannieuwenhuizen v Tim Traber – coming just after the Giants third goal. I also heard of a bout between Kale Kessy and Keegan Kanzig, but I don’t see it on the WHL stats sheet. The boys on the broadcast were talking about how Kessy pounded Kanzig – did I imagine hearing this? Jesse Zgraggen v Trevor Cheek.
Zebra Cage: Jeff Ingram and Brett Iverson – seemed like they let a bunch go, but they called a ton of coincidentals and seemed to be unwilling to tolerate any physical play after the whistle. I’d love to hear what others think. The broadcast boys seemed to think it was balanced.
The Giants out shot the Royals by a wide-margin. 34-14. The Royals were held to 0 shots after one, 5 shots after two and managed to break the double digit mark in the third when they got some room to move and managed 9 shots on Lee. The G’s went 1 for 6 on the PP, but were perfect on the PK, which was reported as intense and unyielding. Only four kills, but two of them came early before any goals had been scored. With their special teams struggling badly, residing at the bottom of the standings, this is good news heading into the meat of the season and before their first real road trip. The G’s have 5 games away from the Coliseum before their next home tilt on November 9th. Almost a full sixty tonight, but the mini-sag in the third should be a wake-up call. I am hoping the Giants really learned something in this game, made a real step and are going to be willing to put in this kind of effort in the majority of their games on the road. Maybe time away will help forge some of that chemistry that has been lacking.
Three Stars
1. Marek Tvrdon
2. Jackson Houck
3. Dalton Sward
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to … Houck. I know you would think Tvrdon, but the hardhat goes to players with the complete package and who are willing to pay the price and Tvrdon is just not that kind of player. If I am wrong for those that saw the game, then feel free to correct me. Houck had a couple of assists, was very strong along the boards and making plays happen. I will give a honourable mention to Tvrdon for his offensive output though. I sincerely hope he’s shed the monkey and is willing to do what he can to maintain that impetus.
Giants Trump Royals
Vancouver 4 Victoria 1
I wasn’t in my seat for this one, unfortunately, but I listened to the majority and I liked a lot of what I heard. Marek Tvrdon had a breakout game, notching a hat trick and four points, in on every goal the Giants got in this one. The Giants seemed to be drinking the Don Hay Kool-Aid tonight and were very tenacious in their own end. Holding the Royals to zero shots on net in the first is indicative of how hard they worked in their defensive zone and how little room they gave the Victoria squad to make plays. The Vancouver boys had very few lapses in their own end of the ice, but were fishing the puck out the net after one of them. If nothing else it has to be a signal to them that they cannot afford to make any mistakes this season, as they have frequently been the cause of rippling twine a short time later. Payton Lee was between the pipes and not busy, turning away 13 of 14. The only goal he gave up was a bang-bang play. A very similar play the next shift could have changed the game’s dynamic and threatened to give the Royals the big Mo, but Lee made his best stop of the night to keep his team in the lead. Clutch saves have been severely lacking this young season, so getting one is a big positive. The game got chippy late and the Royals became undisciplined in the third. Tvrdon potted one late using a man-advantage chance and the game was in hand.
Dalton Sward opened the scoring late in the first just as a Giants PP had expired. Called an even strength marker, the goal could be attributed to better PP execution coming a few seconds late to put points up in the special team column. Jackson Houck worked hard to get the puck to Sward, with Tvrdon getting the second helper. After 5 straight losses this was exactly the game the Giants needed, not just the win, but a dominant well-executed win. After their soft, disinterested play on Wednesday, Legends night at the Coliseum was the tonic they needed. Early in the second they did what they needed to do in the Brandon game, which was increase their lead and begin to pull away. It was nice to see Tvrdon show up and light it up tonight as his naysayers had been gathering stones the past few weeks. He may not play a quintessential Hay game, but if he continues to produce along these lines he will be valuable to the team for awhile and could be a linchpin to get them off the schnide and to some winning ways. Tvrdon notched his first goal of this game at 1:16 of the second. He added another about 6 minutes later, taking a feed from Scott Cooke and going to the net. It was Cooke’s first point of the season. The Royals scored just past the mid-way point of the third. The Giants were scrambling more than they had all game at that point and were at risk to let the game begin to slip when Lee made a brilliant momentum saving shot and Tvrdon added a PP marker to get the boys back on track. Without that save the boys might have had a crisis of confidence. They didn’t and earned their third win of the season. Something to build on for sure, but the boys need to keep that commitment going.
Team Notes: Thomas Foster was back in the line-up, but left the game after what appeared to be a shoulder injury. I’m wondering if he re-aggravated that shoulder he hurt a few games back. Carter Popoff was also back in the line-up. Kale Kessy made his Giants debut wearing #22. He was effective and by all accounts demolished a huge Royal D-man in an early fight. I heard his name quite a bit and in mainly positive tones. Vetterl was a scratch. Reid Zalitach the 16 yr old D-man was back in the line-up. The Giants have led in games very rarely this season and have usually pulled out the win when they had a lead of any length.
Fisticuffs: Wes Vannieuwenhuizen v Tim Traber – coming just after the Giants third goal. I also heard of a bout between Kale Kessy and Keegan Kanzig, but I don’t see it on the WHL stats sheet. The boys on the broadcast were talking about how Kessy pounded Kanzig – did I imagine hearing this? Jesse Zgraggen v Trevor Cheek.
Zebra Cage: Jeff Ingram and Brett Iverson – seemed like they let a bunch go, but they called a ton of coincidentals and seemed to be unwilling to tolerate any physical play after the whistle. I’d love to hear what others think. The broadcast boys seemed to think it was balanced.
The Giants out shot the Royals by a wide-margin. 34-14. The Royals were held to 0 shots after one, 5 shots after two and managed to break the double digit mark in the third when they got some room to move and managed 9 shots on Lee. The G’s went 1 for 6 on the PP, but were perfect on the PK, which was reported as intense and unyielding. Only four kills, but two of them came early before any goals had been scored. With their special teams struggling badly, residing at the bottom of the standings, this is good news heading into the meat of the season and before their first real road trip. The G’s have 5 games away from the Coliseum before their next home tilt on November 9th. Almost a full sixty tonight, but the mini-sag in the third should be a wake-up call. I am hoping the Giants really learned something in this game, made a real step and are going to be willing to put in this kind of effort in the majority of their games on the road. Maybe time away will help forge some of that chemistry that has been lacking.
Three Stars
1. Marek Tvrdon
2. Jackson Houck
3. Dalton Sward
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to … Houck. I know you would think Tvrdon, but the hardhat goes to players with the complete package and who are willing to pay the price and Tvrdon is just not that kind of player. If I am wrong for those that saw the game, then feel free to correct me. Houck had a couple of assists, was very strong along the boards and making plays happen. I will give a honourable mention to Tvrdon for his offensive output though. I sincerely hope he’s shed the monkey and is willing to do what he can to maintain that impetus.