dondo
11-03-2014, 12:14 AM
The boys competed for a while, but in the end the Rockets superior skill and ability to respond prevailed. I really miss the old gritty greasy Dub though. Being able to count the hits on one hand makes me sad.
Rockets Stunt Giants
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 5
Kelowna had an answer to the Giants tonight. The G-Men were sporting a young team who had some positional issues and were simply being beat by better players. The Giants did not get enough shots on the Rockets third string goalie in this game and did not have traffic in front of the Rockets net when they had their minimal PP chances. The Rockets pressured the Giants point men and did not allow any easy lanes to the net, unlike the Gs who gave up too many odd-man rushes and lost touch with their assignments. Cody Porter got the nod after a brilliant shutout in Kent last night, but he did not get much help from his team who hung him out to dry too many times.
The Rockets opened the scoring on a PP that was a soft as melted butter call. The zebras and especially the linesmen sucked hard tonight. The goal came with under 10 seconds to play in the first period and was seriously a goal, which should never have happened. Lost of focus and missed assignments led to the late tally. The Giants found the board at 13:41 of the second with a PP marker of their own, after sleep-walking through the first half of the period. Joel Hamilton ripped a low hard shot past the Rockets netminder. The shot came off of some good work by Carter Popoff in the corner and a nice pass from Jackson Houck in the slot. Kelowna responded a couple of minutes later, an irritating trend which would continue for the rest of the game.
Clayton Kirichenko scored his first goal of the season pinching into the face-off circle. Houck did some good hard work getting the puck to Alec Baer who made a nice pass to Kirichenko. It took a bit over four minutes for the Rockets to respond. Vancouver tied it back up less than a minute later, when Matt Bellerive drove the net, took the shot low and hard and then grabbed his rebound and backhanded it past Michael Herringer. Arvin Atwal and Mason Geertsen had the helpers. The Rockets got back the lead just over a minute later. A soft one trickled past Porter into the open crease. Dmitry Osipov clearing the puck from the goal-line had the puck knocked off his stick and into the net, before he could get it out completely. I’m not sure how two assists were awarded to Kelowna on that play. The Giants could not find twine in the latter half of the period and took the loss.
Team Notes: Houck was back in the line-up after sitting with undisclosed injuries for the Seattle game. Sward is still out, but back skating, as is Jacob Stukel. Kirichenko gets his first goal as a Giant. Brendan Semchuk played his third game with the Gs and played some significant minutes tonight. He was burned a couple of times, but looked okay. Rookie errors are to be expected.
Fight Night: none and another game that could have used more emotion.
Zebra Cage: Sean Raphael and Mike Campbell. Inconsistency thy name is WHL reffing. Both of them let a lot go in the first, before calling a seriously soft one on Osipov. They put the whistles away despite multiple trips and hooks by the Rockets down the stretch. Frequently got in the way of the play and seemed content to watch players being chopped down without raising their arm. The linesmen Cody Wanner (here-to-fore known as Wanker) and Nathan Van Oosten called so many close and frequently wrong offsides that it became laughable and they were often slow with their calls and dropping the puck. Basically one of those all-around useless officials night.
The Giants were out shot 31-19 and went 1 for 2 on the PP. The Rockets went 1 for 3. The Giants looked out-matched a lot tonight as the Rockets boasted some serious skill that could seemingly score at will. The boys lacked puck support on their breakouts and dumped the puck in far more than I like. Their chase part of that equation was lacking. Porter really didn’t have a whole lot of chances on the Rockets goals. Face-offs continue to be an issue and the boys could take the body more. They weren’t soft as such, but they could have really upset the Rockets team more by bringing a more physical game. The Giants competed well at points, but then got standing and watching more than I like. I still have yet to see the Giants put together a complete 60 minute effort this season as they always have periods or parts of multiple periods they decide to take off. Finding a full game focus would help this team grow and rebound when necessary.
Listening to Ward after the game, I find it interesting that he is critical when they win and magnanimous when they lose. He was talking about giving some of the guys who don’t get a lot of minutes more minutes with players out of the line-up might make it tougher for the team now, but will pay dividends down the road. I like that perspective and feel he has a pretty good handle on his team’s strengths and weaknesses. I only hope he is also willing to reward players who work above and beyond and to let go of players who are performing below expectation. I wasn’t too impressed to see the third and fourth lines out against the Rockets scoring lines though. They did not bring enough back-check or enough physical play to make a difference.
The boys have the week to practice, heal and get some rest before taking on the Silvertips at the Coliseum on Friday Nov 7th. Puck drops at 7:30pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Rourke Chartier
2. Nick Merkley
3. Jackson Houck
Dondo’s Hardhat: I’m giving it to Mason Geertsen. The only plus in the game at +2 and laid the body well in this one, also came back hard on the back-check to thwart a few chances. And an assist.
Rockets Stunt Giants
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 5
Kelowna had an answer to the Giants tonight. The G-Men were sporting a young team who had some positional issues and were simply being beat by better players. The Giants did not get enough shots on the Rockets third string goalie in this game and did not have traffic in front of the Rockets net when they had their minimal PP chances. The Rockets pressured the Giants point men and did not allow any easy lanes to the net, unlike the Gs who gave up too many odd-man rushes and lost touch with their assignments. Cody Porter got the nod after a brilliant shutout in Kent last night, but he did not get much help from his team who hung him out to dry too many times.
The Rockets opened the scoring on a PP that was a soft as melted butter call. The zebras and especially the linesmen sucked hard tonight. The goal came with under 10 seconds to play in the first period and was seriously a goal, which should never have happened. Lost of focus and missed assignments led to the late tally. The Giants found the board at 13:41 of the second with a PP marker of their own, after sleep-walking through the first half of the period. Joel Hamilton ripped a low hard shot past the Rockets netminder. The shot came off of some good work by Carter Popoff in the corner and a nice pass from Jackson Houck in the slot. Kelowna responded a couple of minutes later, an irritating trend which would continue for the rest of the game.
Clayton Kirichenko scored his first goal of the season pinching into the face-off circle. Houck did some good hard work getting the puck to Alec Baer who made a nice pass to Kirichenko. It took a bit over four minutes for the Rockets to respond. Vancouver tied it back up less than a minute later, when Matt Bellerive drove the net, took the shot low and hard and then grabbed his rebound and backhanded it past Michael Herringer. Arvin Atwal and Mason Geertsen had the helpers. The Rockets got back the lead just over a minute later. A soft one trickled past Porter into the open crease. Dmitry Osipov clearing the puck from the goal-line had the puck knocked off his stick and into the net, before he could get it out completely. I’m not sure how two assists were awarded to Kelowna on that play. The Giants could not find twine in the latter half of the period and took the loss.
Team Notes: Houck was back in the line-up after sitting with undisclosed injuries for the Seattle game. Sward is still out, but back skating, as is Jacob Stukel. Kirichenko gets his first goal as a Giant. Brendan Semchuk played his third game with the Gs and played some significant minutes tonight. He was burned a couple of times, but looked okay. Rookie errors are to be expected.
Fight Night: none and another game that could have used more emotion.
Zebra Cage: Sean Raphael and Mike Campbell. Inconsistency thy name is WHL reffing. Both of them let a lot go in the first, before calling a seriously soft one on Osipov. They put the whistles away despite multiple trips and hooks by the Rockets down the stretch. Frequently got in the way of the play and seemed content to watch players being chopped down without raising their arm. The linesmen Cody Wanner (here-to-fore known as Wanker) and Nathan Van Oosten called so many close and frequently wrong offsides that it became laughable and they were often slow with their calls and dropping the puck. Basically one of those all-around useless officials night.
The Giants were out shot 31-19 and went 1 for 2 on the PP. The Rockets went 1 for 3. The Giants looked out-matched a lot tonight as the Rockets boasted some serious skill that could seemingly score at will. The boys lacked puck support on their breakouts and dumped the puck in far more than I like. Their chase part of that equation was lacking. Porter really didn’t have a whole lot of chances on the Rockets goals. Face-offs continue to be an issue and the boys could take the body more. They weren’t soft as such, but they could have really upset the Rockets team more by bringing a more physical game. The Giants competed well at points, but then got standing and watching more than I like. I still have yet to see the Giants put together a complete 60 minute effort this season as they always have periods or parts of multiple periods they decide to take off. Finding a full game focus would help this team grow and rebound when necessary.
Listening to Ward after the game, I find it interesting that he is critical when they win and magnanimous when they lose. He was talking about giving some of the guys who don’t get a lot of minutes more minutes with players out of the line-up might make it tougher for the team now, but will pay dividends down the road. I like that perspective and feel he has a pretty good handle on his team’s strengths and weaknesses. I only hope he is also willing to reward players who work above and beyond and to let go of players who are performing below expectation. I wasn’t too impressed to see the third and fourth lines out against the Rockets scoring lines though. They did not bring enough back-check or enough physical play to make a difference.
The boys have the week to practice, heal and get some rest before taking on the Silvertips at the Coliseum on Friday Nov 7th. Puck drops at 7:30pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Rourke Chartier
2. Nick Merkley
3. Jackson Houck
Dondo’s Hardhat: I’m giving it to Mason Geertsen. The only plus in the game at +2 and laid the body well in this one, also came back hard on the back-check to thwart a few chances. And an assist.