dondo
01-05-2013, 02:07 AM
who the hell is Chinkovsky? ;)
Giants Nip Rebels
Vancouver 5 Rebels 4 OT/SO
The G’s started out their road trip fairly well. New players added to the line-up contributed to the whole and although the Vancouver boys paid for their “lulls” and errors they managed to win their 4th game in the shootout. The Giants are still one of the only teams who do not have numbers in the last two columns of the game stats, as every one of their games that has gone past regulation has been a win. Bonner was busy trading a late round pick (8th) for the rights to 18 yr old goalie Jared Rathjen and acquiring a 16 yr old free-agent that the team thinks has tremendous upside. The Giants started their tough Central Division road swing in Red Deer and play 5 games in 6 nights before heading back home.
Red Deer opened the scoring midway through the first period. The Giants responded less than five minutes later when a Brett Kulak shot found it’s way through traffic to tickle the twine. The goal came right off of a won face-off in the Rebels end of the ice. Trevor Cheek and Anthony Ast had the helpers. Cheek gave the G’s the lead early in the second on the PP. Kulak and Tyler Morrison combined to get the puck to Cheek. Cain Franson added another PP marker later in the period, assisted by newest Giant Luca Leone and Mason Geertson. The Giants then had two minutes where they lost focus and their two goal lead. The Rebels scored with less than two minutes left and then added a crushing PP marker coming with less than a second left in the middle frame. Officially it was a goal at 19:59 of the second, but the reality was that the scoreboard said .09 of a second when the puck bulged twine. The Rebels took the lead just over four minutes into the third, but Jackson Houck tied it back up about midway through the final stanza. OT solved nothing and the teams went to a shootout. 3 of 4 Giants got goals in the shootout, with Kulak scoring the final tally for the victory. The Giants showed a lot of heart, though at times uneven, in this game and took advantage of a Rebel team that sleepwalked through most of the contest. The boys made a some rookie errors and let a lead slip they should not have, but they stuck to the game plan and forced OT after losing their advantage. The Giants are a perfect 4 for 4 when going to a shootout. This season most teams haven’t let them get that far, but the ones that have done have been disappointed.
Team Notes: U17 players still not back from their tourney, but they should all be in the line-up on Saturday against the Edmonton Oil Kings and barring that definitely versus the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday afternoon. Bonner signed 16 yr old Luca Leone, currently playing for the Coquitlam Express, to a free agent deal. The 6’ 190lb forward has some growing still to do and is being projected as a being a major part of the Giants future despite putting up average numbers for the Express. Before joining the Express Luca attended a private high school where he played two seasons at Shattuck St-Marys, a school previously attended by the likes of Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews. It is a school for kids who want to play hockey and by the sounds of it all Luca wants to do is play hockey and that suits me just fine. He had an assist in tonight’s tilt playing on the PP.
Trades: The Giants traded a 2013 8th round pick for the rights to Jared Rathjen an 18 yr old goalie sent down by the Victoria Royals. It seems the writing is on the wall for Tyler Fuhr. Bonner was saying that they did not want to go with two rookies between the pipes and acquired Rathjen for some stability and a bit of veteran presence. Since being sent down he has posted a 2.99 GAA and a .913 SV% for his AJHL squad.
Fisticuffs: Scott Cooke v. Tyson Ness. Late in the second a decent bout. Ness is not one of their heavy-weights, but is a scoring threat.
Zebra Cage: Derek Zalaski and Jon Stephenson. A couple of wrong calls in this one and no penalties were called in the third period at all.
The Giants barely out shot the Rebels 32-31. They found some production on the PP scoring twice on 4 chances, while allowing 1 for 3. The boys had their moments, but still showed how far they still have to go. Wins are going to be hard to come by on this roadsie so any way they can gut one out is welcome.
Brett Kulak had a very solid game, but was still a defensive liability with a -1. It’s good to see him getting those shots through from the point and not being afraid to shoot. I would love to see a bit more of the Kulak I enjoyed last season though, where he hit more and made safer smarter plays. It feels as if he might be working back toward being that kind of player and that can only help the team. Trevor Cheek was all over the ice tonight and effective most every shift. He was +2 on night, had a goal and an assist and seemed to take great delight in the win, being first off the bench to congratulate Fuhr. His positive influence has been a welcome addition this season and he goes out and plays hard every night. It’s very rare I see him take a shift off. Sadly that’s exactly what teams in the hunt are looking for in an overage player and he could be dealt before the trade deadline passes. If not his veteran leadership will be a great example to his teammates. Rob Trzonkowski (pronounced Chinkovsky?) used his size and had some good shifts. The player acquired for Kale Kessy seems to be fitting in well already.
A good interview with Bonner in the intermission tonight. He talked about how he has been through this building portion during years 1 and 2 and how he feels comfortable he knows what to do. He is taking a page from that re-build and allowing young players to develop, make mistakes and look at their development as players not necessarily stats or wins and as people, while shedding the team of older players. He said that young players bring energy and enthusiasm and the coaches are eager to be able to mold the kids into the type of team they want them to be. He hopes to build through the draft and acquire some talent to forge the team around. The franchise has it’s sights set on the 2016 Memorial Cup here and are hoping to make it happen and be a top competitive team by the time it rolls around.
Next Up: No rest for the Giants as they head up to take on the Oil Kings Saturday night and then back down to Calgary for an afternoon tilt versus the Hitmen. Both of those teams are vying for top spot in the Eastern Conference let alone their Division and will prove tough challenges. I hope the boys maintain the battle though and don’t slump into either arena.
Three Stars
1. Dominik Volek
2. Brett Kulak
3. Joel Hamilton
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Trevor Cheek. A goal and an assist, a plus player and for effort every shift.
Giants Nip Rebels
Vancouver 5 Rebels 4 OT/SO
The G’s started out their road trip fairly well. New players added to the line-up contributed to the whole and although the Vancouver boys paid for their “lulls” and errors they managed to win their 4th game in the shootout. The Giants are still one of the only teams who do not have numbers in the last two columns of the game stats, as every one of their games that has gone past regulation has been a win. Bonner was busy trading a late round pick (8th) for the rights to 18 yr old goalie Jared Rathjen and acquiring a 16 yr old free-agent that the team thinks has tremendous upside. The Giants started their tough Central Division road swing in Red Deer and play 5 games in 6 nights before heading back home.
Red Deer opened the scoring midway through the first period. The Giants responded less than five minutes later when a Brett Kulak shot found it’s way through traffic to tickle the twine. The goal came right off of a won face-off in the Rebels end of the ice. Trevor Cheek and Anthony Ast had the helpers. Cheek gave the G’s the lead early in the second on the PP. Kulak and Tyler Morrison combined to get the puck to Cheek. Cain Franson added another PP marker later in the period, assisted by newest Giant Luca Leone and Mason Geertson. The Giants then had two minutes where they lost focus and their two goal lead. The Rebels scored with less than two minutes left and then added a crushing PP marker coming with less than a second left in the middle frame. Officially it was a goal at 19:59 of the second, but the reality was that the scoreboard said .09 of a second when the puck bulged twine. The Rebels took the lead just over four minutes into the third, but Jackson Houck tied it back up about midway through the final stanza. OT solved nothing and the teams went to a shootout. 3 of 4 Giants got goals in the shootout, with Kulak scoring the final tally for the victory. The Giants showed a lot of heart, though at times uneven, in this game and took advantage of a Rebel team that sleepwalked through most of the contest. The boys made a some rookie errors and let a lead slip they should not have, but they stuck to the game plan and forced OT after losing their advantage. The Giants are a perfect 4 for 4 when going to a shootout. This season most teams haven’t let them get that far, but the ones that have done have been disappointed.
Team Notes: U17 players still not back from their tourney, but they should all be in the line-up on Saturday against the Edmonton Oil Kings and barring that definitely versus the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday afternoon. Bonner signed 16 yr old Luca Leone, currently playing for the Coquitlam Express, to a free agent deal. The 6’ 190lb forward has some growing still to do and is being projected as a being a major part of the Giants future despite putting up average numbers for the Express. Before joining the Express Luca attended a private high school where he played two seasons at Shattuck St-Marys, a school previously attended by the likes of Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews. It is a school for kids who want to play hockey and by the sounds of it all Luca wants to do is play hockey and that suits me just fine. He had an assist in tonight’s tilt playing on the PP.
Trades: The Giants traded a 2013 8th round pick for the rights to Jared Rathjen an 18 yr old goalie sent down by the Victoria Royals. It seems the writing is on the wall for Tyler Fuhr. Bonner was saying that they did not want to go with two rookies between the pipes and acquired Rathjen for some stability and a bit of veteran presence. Since being sent down he has posted a 2.99 GAA and a .913 SV% for his AJHL squad.
Fisticuffs: Scott Cooke v. Tyson Ness. Late in the second a decent bout. Ness is not one of their heavy-weights, but is a scoring threat.
Zebra Cage: Derek Zalaski and Jon Stephenson. A couple of wrong calls in this one and no penalties were called in the third period at all.
The Giants barely out shot the Rebels 32-31. They found some production on the PP scoring twice on 4 chances, while allowing 1 for 3. The boys had their moments, but still showed how far they still have to go. Wins are going to be hard to come by on this roadsie so any way they can gut one out is welcome.
Brett Kulak had a very solid game, but was still a defensive liability with a -1. It’s good to see him getting those shots through from the point and not being afraid to shoot. I would love to see a bit more of the Kulak I enjoyed last season though, where he hit more and made safer smarter plays. It feels as if he might be working back toward being that kind of player and that can only help the team. Trevor Cheek was all over the ice tonight and effective most every shift. He was +2 on night, had a goal and an assist and seemed to take great delight in the win, being first off the bench to congratulate Fuhr. His positive influence has been a welcome addition this season and he goes out and plays hard every night. It’s very rare I see him take a shift off. Sadly that’s exactly what teams in the hunt are looking for in an overage player and he could be dealt before the trade deadline passes. If not his veteran leadership will be a great example to his teammates. Rob Trzonkowski (pronounced Chinkovsky?) used his size and had some good shifts. The player acquired for Kale Kessy seems to be fitting in well already.
A good interview with Bonner in the intermission tonight. He talked about how he has been through this building portion during years 1 and 2 and how he feels comfortable he knows what to do. He is taking a page from that re-build and allowing young players to develop, make mistakes and look at their development as players not necessarily stats or wins and as people, while shedding the team of older players. He said that young players bring energy and enthusiasm and the coaches are eager to be able to mold the kids into the type of team they want them to be. He hopes to build through the draft and acquire some talent to forge the team around. The franchise has it’s sights set on the 2016 Memorial Cup here and are hoping to make it happen and be a top competitive team by the time it rolls around.
Next Up: No rest for the Giants as they head up to take on the Oil Kings Saturday night and then back down to Calgary for an afternoon tilt versus the Hitmen. Both of those teams are vying for top spot in the Eastern Conference let alone their Division and will prove tough challenges. I hope the boys maintain the battle though and don’t slump into either arena.
Three Stars
1. Dominik Volek
2. Brett Kulak
3. Joel Hamilton
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Trevor Cheek. A goal and an assist, a plus player and for effort every shift.