Early preview of 2006-07 season

[N.W. Bruin]

Basically the team will return the largest core of players at least at camp since the second year Giants had twenty-three of the twenty-five from the first year team retuned. Though six of those didn't last a month into the season with a couple cuts in training camp and early trades.

Goaltending will be questionable to a extent if Slade isn't back but Tommy Tartaglione and Tsyon Sexsmith should battle it out for number one. If Slade returns, Tommy will likely be dealt as he wouldn't want to be a eighteen year old backup.

On defence there are some holes (Albers and Fistric) and question marks. Do we get Festerling back as a overage even though he is NHL signed? Do we want to go with Chad Scharff on defence (risky business) or is he worth a 20 year old spot? What is Flatters situation? The good news is Franson likely wouldn't stick in the NHL and he can't be sent to the minors so he should be back as well as a healthy Mikkelson and hopefully a stronger Blum (lets hope he avoids following in Logan's direction). Incoming new defencemen will be Regner (Alberta Midget top defenceman) and maybe Molle and another defenceman.

Up front there is the holes left by Brule who was only here the last third of the season and likely will not return but stick as a underage with Columbus as well as Mitch Bartley and Brett Parker (who joined the team late in the season). Giants were in first place in the conference without Brule, Parker and Mikkelson.

Repik, Kraus, Lamb (O/A) and Machachek are coming off 20 goal seasons and should all improve their stats excluding Lamb who just as long as he has as good a season will be fine. They need some other guys to step up with some scoring. Reese will be the oldest of their first round bantam choices and had better produce. Watt needs to improve greatly. Bliznak would be back for another season and hopefully double his goal total since he likely will be counted on more. Bouma and Wright likely will be two new rookies up front and hopefully Bouma does as well as he did in his games as a 15 year old callup. It is scary because there is the chance he could pull a Drazenovic move and not score at all as a sixteen year old. Lucic likely will produce more. Bertram though it sounds like he may show finally could very well be the third new forward. He will not replace Brule but maybe Bartley's scoring. Hunt will be in the mix and he wouldn't be required to score.

As for trades to bring in a top end guy (like Setoguchi from the Blades or maybe even McArdle from the Warriors - remember we could have had either of those instead of Bertram in the bantam draft) it will cost quite a bit. Likely a youngster like Bouma and Machachek for either of them.

That said the regular season division title likely is safe. Key is no injuries and things work out. The team that may have been the biggest threat to the Giants, the Kootenay Ice have moved to the Central division.

Kelowna: Loses half their team and will be way younger.

Chilliwack: Expansion team.

Kamloops: Will be somewhat better but still lacking scoring.

Prince George: Likely the biggest challenge to the Giants though that is if they get their top end guys back as overagers.

Defending the regular season conference title is another matter as Everett returns a excellent core of players (assuming Mueller doesn't stick in the NHL maybe even with Brule in Columbus) and very well could challenge for top spot in the conference.

Playoff conference championship is possible as Everett needs something (heart or grit or whatever they were lacking in the playoffs - and it wasn't Irving as he wouldn't have added to the two goals they scored in the conference final). But other teams may pick up a couple top prospects and land on top whose to say. Maybe Kelowna or Seattle or Portland.

[Beaner]

Great post NWBruin, but its too early for me to talk about all this. Still digesting the year. :) :thumb:

Sticking now.

[Knuckles Muldoon]

Pretty early to start considering all this, but why not?
Forwards. I'll assume Bertram is coming. He should be good for 75-80 points. But who do you play with him? What does the Giants #1 line look like next season? Something like Kraus/Bertram/Lucic? Who knows. Lucic and Machacek will be heavily-relied on players next season. Lamb will be a solid second-liner. Repik will jump his numbers up somewhat and will be expected to be top scorer and top PP guy. Watt will be better, and hopefully can score more. Bliznak will be better and will also need to challenge the 20 goal mark. Personally, I think Reese is trade-bait. Gotta think a team like Portalnd would like to have him. I don't think Hay is very comfortable with JR's intensity level, as noted by sitting him during the MemCup. Czibere should be a solid third-line center, but I'm concerned about his offensive upside. Hunt is a keeper for another year. Based on the cameos we saw, I'm looking forward to seeing Bouma more than Wright. I liked Lance's grit and work ethic. I didn't get much of an impression from Wright's games. The general consensus is that Rutherford is gone. He seems too small and had an ineffective season between all the injuries and suspensions.
On defense, Franson, Mikkelson, Festerling (I believe Burke will let him stay another year) and Blum are a solid four. Flatters might make a fifth and Regner and Molle will round out the group.
The goalie situation is dicey. If Slade is back, neither Tartaglione or Sexsmith are going to be happy settling for backup. Sexsmith has made it known he wants to be a starter somewhere. If he comes back, I think I would keep Slade as a 20 yo.
Those are the players we know about. I think Bonner will have carte-blanche to trade to win it all. I expect several big trades to insure that the team has every chance to win their way back in. I don't think merely hosting the tournament is a goal, there will be a push to win out again, and I believe they will pull no punches in trying to accomplish that.
After last season, I was unsure what kind of a team 2005/06 would bring. I have considerably higher expectations and fewer concerns about the 2006/07 team. They'll be good, but will they be good enough? I think the main challengers in the West will be Everett, Prince George, Seattle and Spokane. Lots of good players (Dubinsky/Lammers/Wheat/Keller/Cracknell/MacDonald/Mahovsky etc) will be leaving the league, so I expect a lot of shifting within the divisions with some different teams stepping up and a few others (Kelowna) expected to take a fall. And a lot of losing in Chilliwack.

[playon]

Reese trade-bait he sucks that bad?

[N.W. Bruin]

Reese trade-bait he sucks that bad?

Kraus's commitment level was questioned as a 17 year old by the coach and fans. This season Tim came back and improved his overall game. Jason has to do the same. The idea of the oldest first round bantam choice in the lineup being Wright is scary (Fistric graduates, Brule moves up as a underage, Reese and Sexsmith traded?).

[Beaner]

Ok now that I have had a night to get over the lose, may as well pipe in with my 2 cents.

Forwards:

We lose Brule, Bartley and Parker. But for the most part we get most of the core back and it leaves some room up front for some new players to grab the limelight. Brule and Parker gave us much needed depth for the playoff run, but we were still a top team in the Dub, without them in the lineup.

If Bertram comes he should be able to generate enough points to at least get as many points as Bartley did in his years here. So personally I think we are going to be fine up front. I have a feeling Bertram will be with the Giants for next year.

Defense:

Losing Albers will hurt but Mikkelson should be able to fill that hole. I think the big question here is will Festerling be back? If Festerling comes back he will fill Fistrics role, Blum should continue to progress, thus leaving our top 4 as Blum, Festerling, Franson and Mikkelson. Add in Molle, Regner and Flatters for the 5-7 spots with Flatters playing a role much like Scharff did this year splitting time between 4th line checker and #6 D-man.

If Festerling does in fact make the AHL, I expect that the first move we will see Bonner make is to acguire a solid 2-3 Dman.

Goaltender:

The biggest question for the Giants. Giants are deep at goal, as stated by other posters, this is what I think you will see the Giants move for next year to plug whatever "hole" Bonner and Hay think they have for next year. Maybe they move Sexsmith for a scorer or a solid 4th Dman. Hard to say it will depened on what they think is the biggest hole. Even if Slade does not return, I cant see the Giants keeping Orth, Sexsmith and Tartaglione. 1 goalie if not 2 will be moved IMHO to boost the lineup, depending on wether Slade is back. Personally I think Slade will be playing somewhere else next year.

[rinkrat]

Isn't Festerling a 19 year old next season,therefore not eligible for the AHL?

[Beaner]

Isn't Festerling a 19 year old next season,therefore not eligible for the AHL?

Festerling was born Mar. 3rd 1986. Thus a 20 and AHL eligible, he also has a signed contract with Aneheim.

[Beaner]

For those who dont know, here are the ages of all the current Giants for next season. Including the call-ups we had this season, Bertram and Players listed on the Giants prospect section of the Website.

16 year olds:
Wright, James
Bouma, Lance
Deck, Nathan

17 year olds
Sexsmith, Tyson
Czibere, Mitchell
Molle, Ryan
Turris, Kyle
Wear, Matt
Blum, John
Regner, Brent
Orth, Scott
Nunn, Garry

18 Year olds
Reese, Jason
Dulle, Kenton
Bolzon, Mike
Tartaglione, Tommy
Lucic, Milan
Machacek, Spencer
Repik, Michal

19 Year Olds
Brule, Gilbert
Bertram, Daniel
Watt, J. D.
Kraus, Tim
Rutherford, David
Franson, Cody
Hunt, Garet
Bliznak, Mario
Flatters, John
Mikkelson, Brendan

20 Year Olds
Fistric, Mark
Scharff, Chad
Festerling, Brett
Slade, Dustin
Lamb, Kyle

[Gilbert_Brule_Fan]

Goaltending: If Slade stays, Tommy goes. I think Tommy is better than Sexsmith (IMO) but I don't think Mr.Hay thinks the same way. If slade goes, Tommy and Tyson fight for #1. I hope Slade stays because he was such a factor all season and playoffs long but if he goes, I don't know how far we can get even with a MC berth with Tommy and Tyson both would be rookie starting goalies.

D: I really hope Festerling stays in Vancouver, because he would be too bad too lose. IMO he's the only D-Man (except maybe Franson) who is vulnerable to leave the G-Men for an NHL team. IF HE STAYS: The starting 5 (yes I do know there are 6) D-Men would be Festerling, Franson, Blum, Mikkelson and Flatters. Who the other would be? Probably Molle or Regner as Deck is only 16 and has not yet played in a WHL game IIRC. IF HE GOES: We'd have a young D, with Molle, Regner or Deck having to sit out. We'd have: Franson, Blum, Mikkelson, Flatters and two of the 3 rookie D-Men.

O: ON RW, (If the roster doesn't change) we'd have Watt, Machacek, Dulle, Lamb (Hes 20 dependign on which 20 year old goes) Bolzon (Who will be 18 and is a RW/LW, and Nunn a 17 year old C/RW. If Lamb leaves we'd have one of the youngest RW's in the league, because it'd be Watt, Spencer, Kenton and then Bolzon or Nunn. NOt youngest, but maybe inexperienced in the WHL is the word.

LW: Guarenteed is: Czibere (C/LW), Hunt, Repik, Lucic, Bolzone (RW/LW) and then maybe add RYan Toporowski (havnt heard his name yet) into the mix. Then you have Scharff a 20 year old who may or may not stay. IF Scharff goes we'd have: Czibere, Hunt, Repik and Lucic as starting 4 most likely. So thats why I think Scharff needs to go, we'd have 3 sophmore LW and then a 3rd year LW. If Scharff stays, Czibere would go to C but there are so many Centres on our team I dont think thats necessary. Scharff if he stays would probably shift over to his old position Defence, which would probably depend on whether Festerling goes or not.

C: You have 6 or 7 capable Centres, who do u play? With Bouma, Reese, Rutherford, Kraus, Bliznak, Wright and Czibere. Czibere will probably play LW next year so take him out of the picture. I think Kraus, Reese and Bliznak are shoe ins. But then you have Rutherford ( a 19 year old) and then two sixteen year olds Bouma and Wright. I think Rutherford needs to be traded or sent back to the BCHL because his presence isn't really needed. so now, lets say Czibere is a LW, Rutherford gone, so you have Kraus, Reese and Bliznak as shoe-ins. And maybe have Bouma and Wright on some sort of game rotation for the first little while but then after the Christmas break see who's playing better and have that person play permanently.

[N.W. Bruin]

LW: Guarenteed is: Czibere (C/LW), Hunt, Repik, Lucic, Bolzone (RW/LW) and then maybe add RYan Toporowski (havnt heard his name yet) into the mix. Then you have Scharff a 20 year old who may or may not stay. IF Scharff goes we'd have: Czibere, Hunt, Repik and Lucic as starting 4 most likely. So thats why I think Scharff needs to go, we'd have 3 sophmore LW and then a 3rd year LW. If Scharff stays, Czibere would go to C but there are so many Centres on our team I dont think thats necessary. Scharff if he stays would probably shift over to his old position Defence, which would probably depend on whether Festerling goes or not..

Not 100% sure but usually after the bantam draft one wouldn't find any 18 year old prospects on the PPL unless they were already in the WHL like Dulle. After the previous bantam draft the Giants' PPL included only the roster players and guys who were going to be 15, 16 and 17 plus one 18 year old goalie named Esposito. He wasn't around later at the last training camp so he was cut.

[dondo]

Kraus's commitment level was questioned as a 17 year old by the coach and fans. This season Tim came back and improved his overall game. Jason has to do the same. The idea of the oldest first round bantam choice in the lineup being Wright is scary (Fistric graduates, Brule moves up as a underage, Reese and Sexsmith traded?).

you know other than the playoff game in PG in which Kraus returned I was fairly disappointed in his playoff performance, and he vanished in the Memorial Cup run. I think Reese is the same. I have always said that Reese is a there one game, gone the next kind of player and I would rather give those minutes to a player that's in every game than a sometimes player who shows up when he wants to show.

I see us dealing Reese, Rutherford, and one of our goalies before the start of the season - I still have to mull over what the other aspects of the team will be -

[rinkrat]

For those who dont know, here are the ages of all the current Giants for next season. Including the call-ups we had this season, Bertram and Players listed on the Giants prospect section of the Website.

18 Year olds
Reese, Jason
Dulle, Kenton
Bolzon, Mike
Tartaglione, Tommy
Lucic, Milan
Machacek, Spencer
Repik, Michal

Michal Repik is not eligible this year,he is a hockey age 17.(Not trying to nitpick,Beaner)

[chiefgongshow]

I somehow think Carey Price will be on the block this upcoming season. Tri City has all the looks of a terrible team, losing their top 6 scorers, Stephenson more than likely, and losing up to 3 more players to Chilliwack. Will the Giants go after him and load up to win the Memorial Cup?

[Kassian]

I somehow think Carey Price will be on the block this upcoming season. Tri City has all the looks of a terrible team, losing their top 6 scorers, Stephenson more than likely, and losing up to 3 more players to Chilliwack. Will the Giants go after him and load up to win the Memorial Cup?

I don't see it happening unless Slade doesn't return. That being said, my guess is he does return.

[Beaner]

Michal Repik is not eligible this year,he is a hockey age 17.(Not trying to nitpick,Beaner)

Tehe

Michal Repik, DOB: Dec 31st 1988.

Thus for the '06-07 season he is considered an 18 year old. I was just listing the "WHL Age" for next year, not NHL Draft age.

[Beaner]

I have a feeling Bolzon may have been released from the 50 PPL

I have a feeling you are right Bruin, but he is still listed as an "in the system" guy on the Giants site so I kept him on "my version" of the 50PPL.

Using the Giants website as an information source is not the most reliable way of doing things though. :laugh:

[rinkrat]

Tehe

Michal Repik, DOB: Dec 31st 1988.

Thus for the '06-07 season he is considered an 18 year old. I was just listing the "WHL Age" for next year, not NHL Draft age.
This "age" thing just confuses the heck out of me! :spineyes:

[N.W. Bruin]

This "age" thing just confuses the heck out of me! :spineyes:

Take the current year at the end of the season - 2006
Less the player's year of birth
- Fistric - 1986 = 20 overage next season
- Repik - 1988 = 18 next season
- Brule - 1987 = 19 next season

Like in the 2004-05 season the key is 2005 and so on. Always subtract the player's birth year from the second part of the season to find out what he would be considered next season or use the first part of the current season less the birth year to find out what the player's age is considered in the current season.

Because the NHL draft cuts off at September 15 birthdays some guys who are in Repik's boat having a late birthday after that date (Sept 16-Dec 31) have only one season of junior hockey to play after getting drafted while the rest of the players born in the same year as them but before or on Sept 15 will be drafted a year earlier but have two years of junior left. (In both cases ignoring the overage season).

Key thing is what is the player's age on December 31 of each calendar year!!!!!!!! That is considered the age for junior hockey. For all intensive purposes ignore the month and date born.

[Beaner]

Ron Toigo was on the radio this morning and I only caught the Tail end of it, but they were talking about Slade coming back and Ron said that he felt Dustin would be drafted this year and or signed and returned to Junior.

Mainly he would be back next year because that way he can get the most playing time, as opposed to going to the AHL where he would most likely not see that much ice time.

Ron didnt seem to think that there would be a tonne of moves made for next years MC run, the team looks good, Don has all the boys on the same page and a lot of the younger guys should improve for next year.

Personally, I still think we have a log-jam in net, especially if Dustin comes back.

---------------

Ron also said that Mikkelson was back skating, and in fact practiced with the team during the MC. He should be all good to go for next year. Ron figures that Franson and Mikkelson may both make Team Canada for next years WJHC.

[rinkrat]

Its too bad MOJO doesn't archive their radio shows.Oh well,sounds like they are changing their format very soon anyways.

[brulehockey09]

Anyone have any info on Dan Bertram's status for next season?

[Beaner]

Anyone have any info on Dan Bertram's status for next season?

Bertram has supposedly contacted the Giants about next year, according to the media.

He is still on the Giants 50PPL, but has not signed a WHL contract yet.

Lots of rumor and speculation on wether he will be here or not.

[Kassian]

Anyone have any info on Dan Bertram's status for next season?

Last I heard, Bertram said he would play wherever the Blackhawks want him to play next season. So hopefully he'll end up here.

[dondo]

it strikes me that Bertram might not be the kind of chemistry guy we'd need next season. He sounds like a bit of a whiner to me - but maybe that's because I don't know that much about him. just my two cents.

[Beaner]

it strikes me that Bertram might not be the kind of chemistry guy we'd need next season. He sounds like a bit of a whiner to me - but maybe that's because I don't know that much about him. just my two cents.

I think a lot of people share that opinion, myself included, however most of us have never talked to the young man or even met him.


He decided to go the College route because he flet it was best for him. If he now decides with the help of the Blackhawks that coming to the Giants is best for his career, then I am willing to give him a chance and see what happens.