dondo
01-06-2013, 10:35 PM
Kulak stepped it up today
Hitmen Elude Giants
Vancouver 4 Calgary 5
The Giants opened the game well and were arguably the better team in the first period, despite minimal shots. The visitors opened the scoring early and took advantage of a Hitmen team expecting an easy win. Brett Kulak, the birthday boy, had one of his best games this season playing smart, hard and making an impact. Mason Geertson continued to bring an edgy game. Tyler Morrison has been a better player since the holiday break and bringing a smarter and more focused game to the arena. Tonight he had a couple of good assists. Riley Kieser brought a good game as well. Blake Orban had a disappointing game on the defensive side of the puck missing checks and allowing players on the doorstep to get to multiple rebounds. Depth players showed up in this one and got some good points with Kieser breaking his goal-less streak. Payton Lee had a very solid positional game, making the first and often second stops, but the Giants stood around in front of their net giving great chances to skilled players. Credit the boys for not giving up, coming from behind in the third and tying the game up before taking the loss. Great effort in a lot of ways, but it’s time for the boys to stop making simple mistakes and stop losing their assignments, which are two things no matter their inherent skill that they can all work on and achieve.
Kieser opened the scoring 1:34 into the game tipping a Tyler Morrison shot past Hitmen back-up goalie Mack Shields. Reid Zalitach had the other helper. The Hitmen responded close to the mid-way point of the period. The Giants went ahead again on a 5 on 3 PP, when Cain Franson got a piece of Kulak’s shot. Morrison had the other assist. Calgary tied it up early in the second on the PP. They added one more as the Hitmen responded in the second and began to bring the game back at the Giants. It felt as if they put the game out of reach when they scored a third unanswered goal in the third, but the Giants battled back. Using a PP early in the third, Kulak faked the shot and found Jackson Houck on the far-side of the net. Houck put it past Shields closing the gap to one goal. Kulak scored his birthday goal tying the game at 4’s a few minutes later. Travis McEvoy got the lone assist. The Hitmen however did not give up and were able to cash in another PP mid way through the third. The Giants battled to get that tying marker, but were unable to make it happen. A tough loss, as it was one of those games against a top team that the Giants could have pulled out, but you still have to focus on the positives. A full team game from everyone with no backing down, no surrender and teammate support.
Team Notes: Birthday boy Kulak gets a 1G and 2A for his present and earned every bit of it. U17 players return from tourney for their first Giants game of the new year. Lee looked good between the pipes, Zalitach was an effective +2 and Thomas Foster did alright.
Fisticuffs: Ron Trzonkowski v. Pavlo Padakin – Trzonkowski demolished Padakin with some big left hand shots. Mason Geertson v. Brendan Hurley – another good fight for Geertson who got in his shots in.
Zebra Cage: Tyler Adair and Colin Stefanyk – The Giants might actually have gotten the benefit of the doubt in this one. Not sure if the calls were consistent or the Hitmen undisciplined, but a double minor for high-sticking didn’t help them. In the end the Hitmen made their few PP chances count.
The Hitmen out shot the visitors 34-26. The home team went 2 for 3 on the PP, while the Giants were 2 for 7 (2 for 5 at one point in the game, though). Some great work by the boys this weekend and positive building steps, but now they have to clean up those parts of their game that are about focus and effort in their own end of the ice. Stopping players from coming off the boards and cutting to the net by not simply waving your stick at the puck, but by taking the body. Boxing out in front of the net and clearing bodies and pucks before the opposing team can get to them. These are simple defensive fundamentals that take only the desire to commit to them. Sure they won’t stop every player from getting around them, or might be deked by a great move from a skilled player, but they can limit those chances and give them no easy goals. That should be their mantra, no easy goals. Their opponent may still score, but they need to pay a price to do it. Lee did his part stopping the first shots, but the other guys cannot allow the other team to get to those loose pucks before they do and that is all about effort.
Next Up: A day off for the boys before they face Medicine Hat on Tuesday and then Lethbridge on Wednesday. Not a bad weekend of hockey for the team considering the opponents and even the 5-0 drubbing was good close game for two periods. The Giants have not gotten an easy win this season, have had to earn all of their Ws and that won’t change. The only gift they could possibly be considered to be given is that more often than not they face the back-up goalie from the opposition. I would love to see the boys take some of this confidence and team unity and get at least one win in the next two. Trade deadline is Thursday January 10th, so we still might see some moves before then but we have players who are playing as if they want to stay and that’s a good thing.
Three Stars
1. Brady Brassart
2. Brett Kulak
3. Zane Jones
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Brett Kulak. He played one of his best games this season not just the points (1G 2A), but he was warrior and showing flashes of the kind of game I liked from him last year. The past couple of games he has been hitting and hungry and playing smarter without the careless give-aways that have littered his game this season. This has been a learning season for him and I think he is beginning to learn his lessons well. If he can merge a better solid defensive game with the creativity he has shown he will be a force next season and possibly earlier. I can now see him as an important future cog of this team and more asset than liability – something I didn’t see a few months ago. I freely admit to not being a fan of his this season, but he is making steps and maybe I just need to be patient and give him time to work it all out.
Hitmen Elude Giants
Vancouver 4 Calgary 5
The Giants opened the game well and were arguably the better team in the first period, despite minimal shots. The visitors opened the scoring early and took advantage of a Hitmen team expecting an easy win. Brett Kulak, the birthday boy, had one of his best games this season playing smart, hard and making an impact. Mason Geertson continued to bring an edgy game. Tyler Morrison has been a better player since the holiday break and bringing a smarter and more focused game to the arena. Tonight he had a couple of good assists. Riley Kieser brought a good game as well. Blake Orban had a disappointing game on the defensive side of the puck missing checks and allowing players on the doorstep to get to multiple rebounds. Depth players showed up in this one and got some good points with Kieser breaking his goal-less streak. Payton Lee had a very solid positional game, making the first and often second stops, but the Giants stood around in front of their net giving great chances to skilled players. Credit the boys for not giving up, coming from behind in the third and tying the game up before taking the loss. Great effort in a lot of ways, but it’s time for the boys to stop making simple mistakes and stop losing their assignments, which are two things no matter their inherent skill that they can all work on and achieve.
Kieser opened the scoring 1:34 into the game tipping a Tyler Morrison shot past Hitmen back-up goalie Mack Shields. Reid Zalitach had the other helper. The Hitmen responded close to the mid-way point of the period. The Giants went ahead again on a 5 on 3 PP, when Cain Franson got a piece of Kulak’s shot. Morrison had the other assist. Calgary tied it up early in the second on the PP. They added one more as the Hitmen responded in the second and began to bring the game back at the Giants. It felt as if they put the game out of reach when they scored a third unanswered goal in the third, but the Giants battled back. Using a PP early in the third, Kulak faked the shot and found Jackson Houck on the far-side of the net. Houck put it past Shields closing the gap to one goal. Kulak scored his birthday goal tying the game at 4’s a few minutes later. Travis McEvoy got the lone assist. The Hitmen however did not give up and were able to cash in another PP mid way through the third. The Giants battled to get that tying marker, but were unable to make it happen. A tough loss, as it was one of those games against a top team that the Giants could have pulled out, but you still have to focus on the positives. A full team game from everyone with no backing down, no surrender and teammate support.
Team Notes: Birthday boy Kulak gets a 1G and 2A for his present and earned every bit of it. U17 players return from tourney for their first Giants game of the new year. Lee looked good between the pipes, Zalitach was an effective +2 and Thomas Foster did alright.
Fisticuffs: Ron Trzonkowski v. Pavlo Padakin – Trzonkowski demolished Padakin with some big left hand shots. Mason Geertson v. Brendan Hurley – another good fight for Geertson who got in his shots in.
Zebra Cage: Tyler Adair and Colin Stefanyk – The Giants might actually have gotten the benefit of the doubt in this one. Not sure if the calls were consistent or the Hitmen undisciplined, but a double minor for high-sticking didn’t help them. In the end the Hitmen made their few PP chances count.
The Hitmen out shot the visitors 34-26. The home team went 2 for 3 on the PP, while the Giants were 2 for 7 (2 for 5 at one point in the game, though). Some great work by the boys this weekend and positive building steps, but now they have to clean up those parts of their game that are about focus and effort in their own end of the ice. Stopping players from coming off the boards and cutting to the net by not simply waving your stick at the puck, but by taking the body. Boxing out in front of the net and clearing bodies and pucks before the opposing team can get to them. These are simple defensive fundamentals that take only the desire to commit to them. Sure they won’t stop every player from getting around them, or might be deked by a great move from a skilled player, but they can limit those chances and give them no easy goals. That should be their mantra, no easy goals. Their opponent may still score, but they need to pay a price to do it. Lee did his part stopping the first shots, but the other guys cannot allow the other team to get to those loose pucks before they do and that is all about effort.
Next Up: A day off for the boys before they face Medicine Hat on Tuesday and then Lethbridge on Wednesday. Not a bad weekend of hockey for the team considering the opponents and even the 5-0 drubbing was good close game for two periods. The Giants have not gotten an easy win this season, have had to earn all of their Ws and that won’t change. The only gift they could possibly be considered to be given is that more often than not they face the back-up goalie from the opposition. I would love to see the boys take some of this confidence and team unity and get at least one win in the next two. Trade deadline is Thursday January 10th, so we still might see some moves before then but we have players who are playing as if they want to stay and that’s a good thing.
Three Stars
1. Brady Brassart
2. Brett Kulak
3. Zane Jones
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Brett Kulak. He played one of his best games this season not just the points (1G 2A), but he was warrior and showing flashes of the kind of game I liked from him last year. The past couple of games he has been hitting and hungry and playing smarter without the careless give-aways that have littered his game this season. This has been a learning season for him and I think he is beginning to learn his lessons well. If he can merge a better solid defensive game with the creativity he has shown he will be a force next season and possibly earlier. I can now see him as an important future cog of this team and more asset than liability – something I didn’t see a few months ago. I freely admit to not being a fan of his this season, but he is making steps and maybe I just need to be patient and give him time to work it all out.