dondo
11-17-2013, 03:04 AM
I would have loved to see Lee hold on for a shutout, but it was not to be. A very odd, yet oddly entertaining game that had a bit of everything except fighting.
Giants Track Americans
Vancouver 5 Tri-City 2 EN x 2
What an odd game. Two periods of checking so close the players would have had more room in a phone booth to make plays and then a few PP chances and the game is broken wide open. It was a two-way hockey clinic as both teams limited shots and boxed out the opposing player with intense regularity. The Americans seemed to have a force field in a 15 foot radius around their net as their D shut down any attempts to break that barrier. The Giants were a bit more scrambly, but no less tenacious, in their own end of the ice. The Gs weathered an early 4 minute double minor. Payton Lee made an amazing save coming across the crease in the first to hold his team in there. There was no scoring until the third period and then the floodgates opened. The Giants opened the scoring on the PP and then notched another one on their next PP chance. Tri-City used a PP of their own to get close, pulled their goalie to get even closer and then were burned for two EN goals late in the game.
Carter Popoff broke the ice with a PP marker 1:37 into the third period, pounding the puck past Eric Comrie on the short side off of a sharp Brett Kulak pass. Comrie almost got across the crease to make the stop. Dalton Thrower had second assist. The goal came after the Giants killed a carry-over PP from the end of the second. Thrower found twine on the PP himself a couple of minutes later, off of another fine Kulak pass. Cain Franson had the other assist. Tri-City got one of those back on a PP of their own. A minor breakdown by the Giants in their end was all TC needed to find the far side of the net. The Giants battled back finally restoring that two goal lead when Popoff set-up Tyler Morrison for a goal.
The American’s coach pulled their goalie with 5 minutes to go and TC managed to get a goal after the Giants failed to get the puck all the way up the ice, a few times. A very nice move cutting through the slot lead to a soft pass which was chipped up and over Lee, by a quick stick. TC pulled their goalie again to try for the tying marker and they got closer than I would have liked, but Franson finally bumped his scoring slump with an empty netter. Blake Orban and Houck had the assists. TC pulled their goalie again and this time Popoff set up Houck with a nice chip pass in the American’s end of the ice.
Team Notes: Osipov and Eder were still scratches along with Dosanjh, Baer and Ast. Tyler Benson played his first regular season with the club, spending one of his five games allowed as an underage player. No suspensions from the end of the Tigers game so far, but they could be coming down the pipe. Only two fighting majors were assessed in the Tigers tilt with the rest of the line brawlers assessed roughing minors.
Rookie Watch: Benson did not look out of place on the ice. He played minutes with a variety of lines and looked dangerous a few times. I was impressed with his vision of the ice and awareness of players who might be sneaking up from behind the play. His game was solid and disciplined with a few exciting forays. A +1 on the night he played sensible yet intense hockey. I would not say he’s a speedster, but he looked mobile and motivated. Ronning was active early pressing hard to try to find a lane to the net and then kind of disappeared for a time. He needs to be stronger on the puck, as he was noticeably stripped a few times. Overall I still liked his game and if he starts to ripple some twine consistently I can see his confidence blossoming.
Fight Night: Not a lot of emotion in this surgical style of game, which probably should have been boring but had a contained intensity for the first two periods, which kept me watching.
Zebra Cage: Chris Crich and Mark Pearce. It was a very clean game for the first part so no real need for a lot of calls. Geertsen was undisciplined early taking two separate minors on the same play, but other than that most of the small stuff was let go. A couple of marginal calls in the third, but nothing major. The reffing was balanced and pretty solid for the most part. I didn’t like the goaltender interference penalty which lead to the Ams breaking Lee’s shutout bid as the Giant player tried to stop and then was pushed into Comrie, but that’s a minor quibble in an even night of officiating.
The Giants out shot the Ams 29-18. They used their PP well going 2 for 5, while holding the Tri-City boys to 1 for 4. The first period ended with just 6 shots apiece. By the end of second it was 14-12 for the Americans shot-wise. The Giants pounded 17 shots on Comrie in the third period and it really was the difference. The PP looked good and dangerous, when it could find the zone. Too many poor dump-ins and sloppy plays coming into the offensive zone for my liking, but when they got set-up the Giants managed the puck well and maintained possession.
The third line of Sward, Foster and Traber did an excellent job shutting down the Ams top players as they did to the Tigers the previous night. Foster’s game seems to be improving and I liked a few of his good forays, but he needs to be tougher on the puck at times. The PK was very good tonight, allowing one goal but working hard early on to keep the game close in the first giving the team a chance to move forward. Houck and Popoff had serious jump tonight and when they could finally break through the log-jam put up by the Ams they looked dangerous. Benson frequently played with them in this one and as said above did not look out of place. It makes sense that it took man-advantages to solve this one as both goalies were very solid 5 on 5 and the only time that either team were able to move was when there was one less player on the other side of the puck. Popoff had a very strong night in the face-off circle. He made sure the Giants had a fighting chance in most every drop of the puck he took.
On the D side I liked Kulak, Orban and Thrower with nods to the rest of the six D who did their job tonight. They need to remove the few puck bobbles to get full marks, but they did not make it easy for the other guys to score and that’s what we need to see. Geertsen was undisciplined early, but made up for it later in the game with some nice checks in his own end of the ice. Lee might have had the first goal had he kicked out his right pad a bit more, but he was ready and square to the shooter and seems to be taking care of the little things better since the new goalie coach came on board. I think Rathjen’s game has also improved.
The Giants next opponent is .. drum roll please .. The Tri-City Americans – surprise! The Giants have never fared well in the rink in Kennewick and they will need to be ready for what will be a very motivated Ams squad. Hay has said that the two goalies will split duties in back to back games Tuesday (Tri-City) and Wednesday (Spokane). It would be interesting to test Rathjen’s game in Kennewick, but the decision is ultimately Hay’s. The puck drops in Kennewick on Tuesday Nov 19th at 7:05pm PST and can be heard on one of the TEAM radio stations (1040 or 1410 on your AM dial)
Three Stars
1. Carter Popoff
2. Dalton Thrower
3. Mitch Topping
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to .. Carter Popoff – he was a monster in the face-off circle, had 1G and 2A and was a +3. What’s not to like? He was there every shift and ready to contribute however he could.
Giants Track Americans
Vancouver 5 Tri-City 2 EN x 2
What an odd game. Two periods of checking so close the players would have had more room in a phone booth to make plays and then a few PP chances and the game is broken wide open. It was a two-way hockey clinic as both teams limited shots and boxed out the opposing player with intense regularity. The Americans seemed to have a force field in a 15 foot radius around their net as their D shut down any attempts to break that barrier. The Giants were a bit more scrambly, but no less tenacious, in their own end of the ice. The Gs weathered an early 4 minute double minor. Payton Lee made an amazing save coming across the crease in the first to hold his team in there. There was no scoring until the third period and then the floodgates opened. The Giants opened the scoring on the PP and then notched another one on their next PP chance. Tri-City used a PP of their own to get close, pulled their goalie to get even closer and then were burned for two EN goals late in the game.
Carter Popoff broke the ice with a PP marker 1:37 into the third period, pounding the puck past Eric Comrie on the short side off of a sharp Brett Kulak pass. Comrie almost got across the crease to make the stop. Dalton Thrower had second assist. The goal came after the Giants killed a carry-over PP from the end of the second. Thrower found twine on the PP himself a couple of minutes later, off of another fine Kulak pass. Cain Franson had the other assist. Tri-City got one of those back on a PP of their own. A minor breakdown by the Giants in their end was all TC needed to find the far side of the net. The Giants battled back finally restoring that two goal lead when Popoff set-up Tyler Morrison for a goal.
The American’s coach pulled their goalie with 5 minutes to go and TC managed to get a goal after the Giants failed to get the puck all the way up the ice, a few times. A very nice move cutting through the slot lead to a soft pass which was chipped up and over Lee, by a quick stick. TC pulled their goalie again to try for the tying marker and they got closer than I would have liked, but Franson finally bumped his scoring slump with an empty netter. Blake Orban and Houck had the assists. TC pulled their goalie again and this time Popoff set up Houck with a nice chip pass in the American’s end of the ice.
Team Notes: Osipov and Eder were still scratches along with Dosanjh, Baer and Ast. Tyler Benson played his first regular season with the club, spending one of his five games allowed as an underage player. No suspensions from the end of the Tigers game so far, but they could be coming down the pipe. Only two fighting majors were assessed in the Tigers tilt with the rest of the line brawlers assessed roughing minors.
Rookie Watch: Benson did not look out of place on the ice. He played minutes with a variety of lines and looked dangerous a few times. I was impressed with his vision of the ice and awareness of players who might be sneaking up from behind the play. His game was solid and disciplined with a few exciting forays. A +1 on the night he played sensible yet intense hockey. I would not say he’s a speedster, but he looked mobile and motivated. Ronning was active early pressing hard to try to find a lane to the net and then kind of disappeared for a time. He needs to be stronger on the puck, as he was noticeably stripped a few times. Overall I still liked his game and if he starts to ripple some twine consistently I can see his confidence blossoming.
Fight Night: Not a lot of emotion in this surgical style of game, which probably should have been boring but had a contained intensity for the first two periods, which kept me watching.
Zebra Cage: Chris Crich and Mark Pearce. It was a very clean game for the first part so no real need for a lot of calls. Geertsen was undisciplined early taking two separate minors on the same play, but other than that most of the small stuff was let go. A couple of marginal calls in the third, but nothing major. The reffing was balanced and pretty solid for the most part. I didn’t like the goaltender interference penalty which lead to the Ams breaking Lee’s shutout bid as the Giant player tried to stop and then was pushed into Comrie, but that’s a minor quibble in an even night of officiating.
The Giants out shot the Ams 29-18. They used their PP well going 2 for 5, while holding the Tri-City boys to 1 for 4. The first period ended with just 6 shots apiece. By the end of second it was 14-12 for the Americans shot-wise. The Giants pounded 17 shots on Comrie in the third period and it really was the difference. The PP looked good and dangerous, when it could find the zone. Too many poor dump-ins and sloppy plays coming into the offensive zone for my liking, but when they got set-up the Giants managed the puck well and maintained possession.
The third line of Sward, Foster and Traber did an excellent job shutting down the Ams top players as they did to the Tigers the previous night. Foster’s game seems to be improving and I liked a few of his good forays, but he needs to be tougher on the puck at times. The PK was very good tonight, allowing one goal but working hard early on to keep the game close in the first giving the team a chance to move forward. Houck and Popoff had serious jump tonight and when they could finally break through the log-jam put up by the Ams they looked dangerous. Benson frequently played with them in this one and as said above did not look out of place. It makes sense that it took man-advantages to solve this one as both goalies were very solid 5 on 5 and the only time that either team were able to move was when there was one less player on the other side of the puck. Popoff had a very strong night in the face-off circle. He made sure the Giants had a fighting chance in most every drop of the puck he took.
On the D side I liked Kulak, Orban and Thrower with nods to the rest of the six D who did their job tonight. They need to remove the few puck bobbles to get full marks, but they did not make it easy for the other guys to score and that’s what we need to see. Geertsen was undisciplined early, but made up for it later in the game with some nice checks in his own end of the ice. Lee might have had the first goal had he kicked out his right pad a bit more, but he was ready and square to the shooter and seems to be taking care of the little things better since the new goalie coach came on board. I think Rathjen’s game has also improved.
The Giants next opponent is .. drum roll please .. The Tri-City Americans – surprise! The Giants have never fared well in the rink in Kennewick and they will need to be ready for what will be a very motivated Ams squad. Hay has said that the two goalies will split duties in back to back games Tuesday (Tri-City) and Wednesday (Spokane). It would be interesting to test Rathjen’s game in Kennewick, but the decision is ultimately Hay’s. The puck drops in Kennewick on Tuesday Nov 19th at 7:05pm PST and can be heard on one of the TEAM radio stations (1040 or 1410 on your AM dial)
Three Stars
1. Carter Popoff
2. Dalton Thrower
3. Mitch Topping
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to .. Carter Popoff – he was a monster in the face-off circle, had 1G and 2A and was a +3. What’s not to like? He was there every shift and ready to contribute however he could.