dondo
11-06-2013, 12:58 PM
Good effort, some poor puck luck and zebra interference. I am enjoying the effort the boys are putting into games these days. Eeventually the hockey gods will smile and give them a few breaks.
Oil Kings Soak Giants
Vancouver 0 Edmonton 3
Papp Happened. Jarry was both good and lucky and the Oil Kings were allowed to take massive liberties with no punishment. The Giants actually played one their best team games of the season. There was no shortage of work ethic and the work on the back-check was equally strong. Lee was solid for the most part, but would want one of those goals back. It was a good game, with the slight bobble of a single ref bent on being blithe, blind and precious. So many missed calls, poor judgements, quick whistles and dumb assessments. The Oil Kings were very good at clearing loose pucks, but when the Giants finally got chances right on the doorstep they rang pucks off the post or had quick whistles to thwart scoring chances and disallow scored goals.
The visitors opened the scoring 7:13 into the first. They added another one before the end of the opening period. The Giants played a harder second period and were getting the majority of chances, but puck luck was not their lady tonight. In fact she snubbed her little button nose at them and mocked their attempts at wooing her. Usually some good hard work can change the muse of puck luck's attitude, but not tonight. Tristan Jarry was very good between the pipes for the Oil Kings, but I think their defense was better and the muse of hockey fortunes were on his side. There was no scoring in the second. The Giants carried that momentum into the third and continued to press hard, hustle back on the back-check and limit odd-man chances. That would usually be a recipe for a W, but not tonight. Just as it felt as if the dam might burst and some pucks would find twine for the home squad, the Oil Kings bulged the twine with a quick turn-around slapper in the slot, off of a desperation pass from the side-boards with the player down. It picked the top corner, of course and was one of those shots where the goalie has no clue where it is going to go.
Team Notes: Anthony Ast was sidelined with an injury, possibly shoulder and could be out for an extended time and possible surgery. No official word on his status yet. A few points streaks were snapped in this one.
Rookie Watch: I am hoping to see more out of Ty Ronning, but I think he might need to put on at least a few more pounds. What I did see I liked, but he's easily knocked off the puck at this level. Considering his massive point totals playing in the POE league, he is capable of much more offensively. He is still 16 and undersized and could use some that unrelenting hunger his Dad possessed and more recently use a player like Brendan Gallagher as an example of what small, tenacious, fearless players can do in this league. There is no doubting Ronning's skill. It'll be fun when he gains a bit more confidence and learns he can compete at the Major Junior tier. Osipov and Eder were again okay, but neither really forces me to watch them. Eder laid the body on one shift though and was noticeable then.
Fight Night: Tim Traber v Griffin Reinhart. Talk about benefit of the doubt. Jarry flips his mask off, leaves his crease to cross-check Traber. Reinhart comes in and challenges Traber, throwing the first punch. The two just begin the fight when Henrik Sammuelsson steps in and grabs Traber from behind. Sammuelsson gets tossed from the game as third man in, but no other extra penalties are assessed. Also on the replay I did not see Jarry get touched, but I did see him pull off his own mask before lunging at Traber.
Zebra Cage: Steve Papp and he sucked hard. He completely misread the play described above as the Giants should have had at least a one and possibly a two-man advantage coming out of that play. He allowed late hits after the whistle, unprovoked punches, yet seemed happy as a clam to hand out unsportsmanlike penalties like they were candy for little or nothing and then call marginal plays when bigger ones were going on around him. Meanwhile the Oil Kings best weapon of choice a was a pick-play obstruction that at times got quite blatant. Basically Papp missed the whole point of him being on the ice. Sadly the league won't reprimand him for this abysmal example of selective blindness. I have found in the past that a single ref usually calls a better balanced game, but this one was all over the map, which is a shame as both teams had some great jump and energy for a sleepy Tuesday game. Thin-skinned and mostly useless is not how you want to see a game officiated.
The Giants out shot the Oil Kings 37-27, but they were not getting those quality second and third chances and when they did either Jarry or an Edmonton player was willing to sacrifice his body. They went 0 for 4 on the PP, while the visitors were 0 for 5. The only real disappointment I found in the Giants game was the lack of confidence to take the shot. Too many late and extra passes, instead of making Jarry make the stop and then swopping in for the rebound. Part of that was how well the Oil Kings checked in their own end of the ice and forcing the pass. That said: Jarry cheated for the pass a few times and could have been beaten short-side had the shot been taken.
I really liked the effort of the boys in this one. I came into the game fairly sleepy and unmotivated as a fan, but as the game rolled on my interest was piqued. The Giants were guilty of some sloppiness in the first period, but had good effort throughout. I particularly liked the work of Trent Lofthouse, playing with Franson and McEvoy. He showed some speed and effort, but unfortunately hands of stone when he had a nice open look. Considering we got him for an 8th from Victoria I expected an unskilled plumber with a bit of size, but he showed more in this game being given the opportunity.
I felt the Oil Kings were getting away with a lot in this game. I did not like the blatant obstruction that happened so frequently it seemed to be just part of their system and I did not like that they were allowed to get away with the number of cheap shots they were. I'm not sure if a few more PP chances would have made any difference, but it would have been nice to see that cheap stuff curtailed early and some of the softer calls let slide. Griffin Reinhart in particular was very guilty of out of the blue punches and late hits. The Giants did not back down that I remember though, but some of the players picked out of scrums were not the players who were really the problem and it felt very arbitrary.
One of the more contentious plays of the night came when Dalton Thrower was levelled behind the net with a blind-side hit, which upset Hay that there was no call. I cannot agree though. I would have applauded the hit if my player had thrown it and although Thrower had his head down, the Oil King player did not drive into him, merely stood him up keeping his shoulder and elbow down. I'm not sure what the league expects a player to do in that situation - let the player skate by? Players have to learn to keep their heads up. Thrower was leaning forward to get the puck, but in my mind and in what was once old-school hockey the hit in question was good. Should it have warranted at least 2 minutes? The way the rest of this game was called, yes. Will the player probably be suspended by the league? Most likely.
The Giants hope to get back on their winning horse, when PG comes to town on Saturday. The Giants beat the Cougars in two straight games at the CN Centre and hope to bring that kind of game to the Coliseum. The puck drops at 7pm PST on Saturday.
Three Stars
1. Tristan Jarry
2. Riley Kieser
3. Payton Lee
Dondo's Doghouse: very minor doghousing for Ronning who was -3 and not quite as effective as he should have been. I actually have no real standouts for the doghouse in this one. Not everyone was perfect, but the overall effort and commitment was good.
Dondo's Hardhat: goes to Lofthouse – I noticed him a lot and in a good way. I liked seeing him hustle at both ends of the ice and at least try to get to the front of the net. He was also willing to grind it out when necessary.
Oil Kings Soak Giants
Vancouver 0 Edmonton 3
Papp Happened. Jarry was both good and lucky and the Oil Kings were allowed to take massive liberties with no punishment. The Giants actually played one their best team games of the season. There was no shortage of work ethic and the work on the back-check was equally strong. Lee was solid for the most part, but would want one of those goals back. It was a good game, with the slight bobble of a single ref bent on being blithe, blind and precious. So many missed calls, poor judgements, quick whistles and dumb assessments. The Oil Kings were very good at clearing loose pucks, but when the Giants finally got chances right on the doorstep they rang pucks off the post or had quick whistles to thwart scoring chances and disallow scored goals.
The visitors opened the scoring 7:13 into the first. They added another one before the end of the opening period. The Giants played a harder second period and were getting the majority of chances, but puck luck was not their lady tonight. In fact she snubbed her little button nose at them and mocked their attempts at wooing her. Usually some good hard work can change the muse of puck luck's attitude, but not tonight. Tristan Jarry was very good between the pipes for the Oil Kings, but I think their defense was better and the muse of hockey fortunes were on his side. There was no scoring in the second. The Giants carried that momentum into the third and continued to press hard, hustle back on the back-check and limit odd-man chances. That would usually be a recipe for a W, but not tonight. Just as it felt as if the dam might burst and some pucks would find twine for the home squad, the Oil Kings bulged the twine with a quick turn-around slapper in the slot, off of a desperation pass from the side-boards with the player down. It picked the top corner, of course and was one of those shots where the goalie has no clue where it is going to go.
Team Notes: Anthony Ast was sidelined with an injury, possibly shoulder and could be out for an extended time and possible surgery. No official word on his status yet. A few points streaks were snapped in this one.
Rookie Watch: I am hoping to see more out of Ty Ronning, but I think he might need to put on at least a few more pounds. What I did see I liked, but he's easily knocked off the puck at this level. Considering his massive point totals playing in the POE league, he is capable of much more offensively. He is still 16 and undersized and could use some that unrelenting hunger his Dad possessed and more recently use a player like Brendan Gallagher as an example of what small, tenacious, fearless players can do in this league. There is no doubting Ronning's skill. It'll be fun when he gains a bit more confidence and learns he can compete at the Major Junior tier. Osipov and Eder were again okay, but neither really forces me to watch them. Eder laid the body on one shift though and was noticeable then.
Fight Night: Tim Traber v Griffin Reinhart. Talk about benefit of the doubt. Jarry flips his mask off, leaves his crease to cross-check Traber. Reinhart comes in and challenges Traber, throwing the first punch. The two just begin the fight when Henrik Sammuelsson steps in and grabs Traber from behind. Sammuelsson gets tossed from the game as third man in, but no other extra penalties are assessed. Also on the replay I did not see Jarry get touched, but I did see him pull off his own mask before lunging at Traber.
Zebra Cage: Steve Papp and he sucked hard. He completely misread the play described above as the Giants should have had at least a one and possibly a two-man advantage coming out of that play. He allowed late hits after the whistle, unprovoked punches, yet seemed happy as a clam to hand out unsportsmanlike penalties like they were candy for little or nothing and then call marginal plays when bigger ones were going on around him. Meanwhile the Oil Kings best weapon of choice a was a pick-play obstruction that at times got quite blatant. Basically Papp missed the whole point of him being on the ice. Sadly the league won't reprimand him for this abysmal example of selective blindness. I have found in the past that a single ref usually calls a better balanced game, but this one was all over the map, which is a shame as both teams had some great jump and energy for a sleepy Tuesday game. Thin-skinned and mostly useless is not how you want to see a game officiated.
The Giants out shot the Oil Kings 37-27, but they were not getting those quality second and third chances and when they did either Jarry or an Edmonton player was willing to sacrifice his body. They went 0 for 4 on the PP, while the visitors were 0 for 5. The only real disappointment I found in the Giants game was the lack of confidence to take the shot. Too many late and extra passes, instead of making Jarry make the stop and then swopping in for the rebound. Part of that was how well the Oil Kings checked in their own end of the ice and forcing the pass. That said: Jarry cheated for the pass a few times and could have been beaten short-side had the shot been taken.
I really liked the effort of the boys in this one. I came into the game fairly sleepy and unmotivated as a fan, but as the game rolled on my interest was piqued. The Giants were guilty of some sloppiness in the first period, but had good effort throughout. I particularly liked the work of Trent Lofthouse, playing with Franson and McEvoy. He showed some speed and effort, but unfortunately hands of stone when he had a nice open look. Considering we got him for an 8th from Victoria I expected an unskilled plumber with a bit of size, but he showed more in this game being given the opportunity.
I felt the Oil Kings were getting away with a lot in this game. I did not like the blatant obstruction that happened so frequently it seemed to be just part of their system and I did not like that they were allowed to get away with the number of cheap shots they were. I'm not sure if a few more PP chances would have made any difference, but it would have been nice to see that cheap stuff curtailed early and some of the softer calls let slide. Griffin Reinhart in particular was very guilty of out of the blue punches and late hits. The Giants did not back down that I remember though, but some of the players picked out of scrums were not the players who were really the problem and it felt very arbitrary.
One of the more contentious plays of the night came when Dalton Thrower was levelled behind the net with a blind-side hit, which upset Hay that there was no call. I cannot agree though. I would have applauded the hit if my player had thrown it and although Thrower had his head down, the Oil King player did not drive into him, merely stood him up keeping his shoulder and elbow down. I'm not sure what the league expects a player to do in that situation - let the player skate by? Players have to learn to keep their heads up. Thrower was leaning forward to get the puck, but in my mind and in what was once old-school hockey the hit in question was good. Should it have warranted at least 2 minutes? The way the rest of this game was called, yes. Will the player probably be suspended by the league? Most likely.
The Giants hope to get back on their winning horse, when PG comes to town on Saturday. The Giants beat the Cougars in two straight games at the CN Centre and hope to bring that kind of game to the Coliseum. The puck drops at 7pm PST on Saturday.
Three Stars
1. Tristan Jarry
2. Riley Kieser
3. Payton Lee
Dondo's Doghouse: very minor doghousing for Ronning who was -3 and not quite as effective as he should have been. I actually have no real standouts for the doghouse in this one. Not everyone was perfect, but the overall effort and commitment was good.
Dondo's Hardhat: goes to Lofthouse – I noticed him a lot and in a good way. I liked seeing him hustle at both ends of the ice and at least try to get to the front of the net. He was also willing to grind it out when necessary.