Wheat Kings bring WHL’s top powerplay to Vancouver

[Hunt24]

Two of the WHL’s highest scoring teams set for clash

Tonight at the Pacific Coliseum fans may be treated to a wild west shootout as the Vancouver Giants (12-0-1-0) take on the Brandon Wheat Kings (8-4-0-1). The Giants are the top scoring team in the WHL and their eastern opponents are only two goals behind.

The Giants are averaging 4.2 goals per game while the Wheat Kings are narrowly behind at 4.1. The key component for Brandon is their powerplay which is producing at a 30 per cent clip so far this season.

Vancouver finds ways to get each of their four lines involved in the game and on the score sheet. Ten Giants forwards have scored at least twice this season, but nobody has scored more than eight (J.D. Watt). The balanced attack has made it difficult for other teams to get their best defenders on a key line or player this season.

The Wheat Kings have a dynamic top line consisting of Mark Derlago, Codey Burki and import Juraj Simek. Those three have combined for 59 points so far this season. Of their 31 total goals, 20 have come with the man advantage.

After spending Saturday night at home fighting a flu bug, Tim Kraus will be back in the lineup for the Vancouver Giants. However, Brett Festerling will not be playing tonight as he is away attending a funeral.

As the Giants continue to rotate their two goalies, Tyson Sexsmith (6-0-0, 1.46) will get the call for the Vancouver Giants, while Florida Panthers’ prospect Tyler Plante (7-3-0-1, 3.10) will be between the pipes for Brandon.

Key Players

Brandon
Mark Derlago (13 GP, 11G, 10A), forward, undrafted, 20.
Codey Burki (13 GP, 11G, 9A), forward, 2nd Rd Colorado 2006, 19.
Juraj Simek (11 GP, 9G, 9A), forward, 6th Rd Vancouver 2006, 19.
Andrew Clark (13 GP, 5G, 12A), forward, 2007 draft eligible, 18.
Tyler Plante (7-3-0-1, 3.10), goalie, 2nd Rd Florida 2006, 19.

Vancouver:
Cody Franson (13GP, 3G, 16A), defense, 3rd Nashville 2005, 19.
Tim Kraus (12GP, 6G, 9A), forward, undrafted, 19.
J.D. Watt (12GP, 8G, 5A), forward, 4th Rd Calgary 2005, 19.
Michael Repik (13GP, 6G, 7A), forward, 2007 draft eligible, 18.

Our Prediction: Brandon Wheat Kings 3 Vancouver Giants 5

P.S. Look for the site on Friday. :groovy:

[Carebear]

YAY!...finally.
I check EVERYDAY..and am disappointed everyday!

As for the game tonight..it will be a case of Giants on the radio and Canucks on the tv. Ahhh good old multi-tasking.

[old_time_hockey]

The Giants have 2 more goals for than the Wheaties.

But check out the GA stat. 44GA for Brandon to Vancouvers 18GA.

Brandon can light it up, but has a hard time defending.

I just pray that Rehman or Savage isn't the ref tonight.

[Gilbert_Brule_Fan]

YAY!...finally.
I check EVERYDAY..and am disappointed everyday!

As for the game tonight..it will be a case of Giants on the radio and Canucks on the tv. Ahhh good old multi-tasking.

great to hear the site will be up firday Hunt24!!


Giants will kick Brandon butts tonight, and I think Sexsmith will get his 3rd shutout of the year!

[WHEATMAN]

Giants will kick Brandon butts tonight, and I think Sexsmith will get his 3rd shutout of the year!

Cocky arn't we? ;) I wouldnt write the Wheaties off just yet. Our Offence and Goaltending match pretty evenly with the Giants having somwhat better defence. This game will be alot closer then people think and could be a high scorer or a 1-1 game depending on if the goalies show up. My prediction is 6-4 Brandon

[Jimmy]

Very impressed with the Wheat Kings tonight.
Would have had the Giants in tough if it weren't too lazy plays by Plante

[Kassian]

Our Offence and Goaltending match pretty evenly with the Giants having somwhat better defence.

I'd say the Giants have a lot more than "somewhat" of a better defense than Brandon.

[dondo]

yeah but its too bad a lot them didn't show up vs the Wheaties, not the most stellar game our D played by any stretch and the inability to clear the puck just frustrated me. Not to take anything away from the Wheat Kings who played a hard-nosed tight checking game and put us off of our game.

[Kassian]

yeah but its too bad a lot them didn't show up vs the Wheaties, not the most stellar game our D played by any stretch and the inability to clear the puck just frustrated me. Not to take anything away from the Wheat Kings who played a hard-nosed tight checking game and put us off of our game.

The Giants defense certainly had an off night last night. But in general they are much better than Brandon's defense, IMO.

[dondo]

oh agreed Kassian -- on paper they are a much better blue-line squad than Brandon (no arguments here), but they didn't show their best last night even though I think we have the deepest, strongest defense in the dub, including the young up and comers.

[Carebear]

You have 11 hours till my disappointment sets in.

[GF71]

You have 11 hours till my disappointment sets in.

The Beta is up for those who need to see it. Hopefully before game time. :bounce:

[Gilbert_Brule_Fan]

The Beta is up for those who need to see it. Hopefully before game time. :bounce:
i see the same screen ive seen for two weeks...

[old_time_hockey]

You mean the "This website is coming soon" screen?

Me too

[Hunt24]

Like GF71 said, the Beta version is there, you just need to add /joomla to the end of the URL. It's only beta though so I don't want a ton of traffic headed that way. That also means the forum isn't up yet, and won't be until Monday. Now that the architecture is built, I'm uploading old content (which is about as much fun as the average root canal) and testing the forum software.

So please be patient. It's coming.

[dondo]

LIAR -- lol j/k H24

looking forward to seeing this

very clean looking

[Hunt24]

Tonights game preview is up. Unfortunately I'm going to keep the site in Beta mode until Monday. Like I said though, it IS there. You just have to add that little tag to the end.

[Gilbert_Brule_Fan]

For the bus trips section, you may want to put 2006-2007 season instead of the 2005-2006 season you have on there now.

[Carebear]

I can't believe Hunt isn't up in the players section yet!

I'm suuuppper excited about the bus trips. You can count me in for them! (As long as I can afford it) :groovy: