Kassian
02-20-2005, 05:03 PM
The Vancouver Giants got meaningful goals from top-end performers and Marek Schwarz made 23 consecutive saves in a 4-0 victory in Kamloops on Saturday. Smooth-skating blueliner Brett Festerling chipped in a goal and an assist, as did Adam Courchaine and Gilbert Brule, en route to the home-and-home sweep over the Blazers.
Festerling scored his first as a Giant and fourth of the season on a rebound at 18:09 of the first period, a goal that would turn out to be the game-winner. Matt Robinson, who hadn't put one in the net in the previous 14 games, lit the lamp at 7:14 of the middle frame and then Brule gave the G-Men some insurance with a back-breaking shorthanded breakaway goal at 19:37. Courchaine tallied one for good measure on a delayed penalty at 16:30 of the third period.
Giants' Head Coach Don Hay was among those honored in a pre-game ceremony by the Blazers, who were busy inducting a who's who that included Philadelphia Flyers' Coach Ken Hitchcock and New York Rangers chief Tom Renney, as builders of the storied franchise. The brief festivities were the only reason any Blazers' fans had to cheer once Vancouver took control of the contest after a conservative start.
“We knew they were going to come out with a lot of emotion after giving the six builders here their awards and they did,” Assistant Coach/Assistant GM Craig Bonner said. “The first couple shifts they were buzzing, but we knew if we could sustain that and continue to play a solid first period – our goal was to be tied or better after one – and we were up by one. For most of the weekend we played pretty solid hockey and didn't give them a lot of opportunities.”
Schwarz recorded his second Western Hockey League shutout by playing a strong positional game and making a few difficult saves look easy. The Giants sent 29 shots at Kamloops counterpart Devan Dubnyk, who was hung out to dry by his teammates on numerous occasions. Schwarz, however, got plenty of help from all of Vancouver 's forwards and defensemen.
“His positioning was good and I thought our ‘D' and forwards did a real good job collapsing down,” Bonner explained. “There weren't many second opportunities and credit everybody for that, but Schwarzie was real solid and he played with a lot of confidence.”
The puck wasn't in the Giants end of the rink too often and when it was the club's fleet defensive corps moved it out with authority. Bonner is in charge of the defensemen behind Vancouver 's bench and liked what he saw on Saturday from key players, Festerling, ex-Blazer Conlan Seder and super rookie Andrej Meszaros.
“As a group they were really solid tonight,” Bonner said proudly. “Three guys, I thought, that really stepped up were Festerling, Seder and Andrej – they were great tonight. That's as good as Festerling's played for us, Seder was outstanding. That's great to see that coming back into a rink he got traded from and for Andrej it was one of those nights he was a man amongst boys.”
Just eight points up on Kamloops entering the weekend, the Giants staved off their close rival with back-to-back convincing wins. 29-25-3-3 after the shutout and 6-2 trouncing on Friday, the G-Men are a solid third place in the BC Division.
Tri-City visits the Pacific Coliseum in a game televised on Sportsnet on Wednesday, before the Giants host Kelowna on Friday. Vancouver plays in Everett on Saturday to close out their February schedule.
Festerling scored his first as a Giant and fourth of the season on a rebound at 18:09 of the first period, a goal that would turn out to be the game-winner. Matt Robinson, who hadn't put one in the net in the previous 14 games, lit the lamp at 7:14 of the middle frame and then Brule gave the G-Men some insurance with a back-breaking shorthanded breakaway goal at 19:37. Courchaine tallied one for good measure on a delayed penalty at 16:30 of the third period.
Giants' Head Coach Don Hay was among those honored in a pre-game ceremony by the Blazers, who were busy inducting a who's who that included Philadelphia Flyers' Coach Ken Hitchcock and New York Rangers chief Tom Renney, as builders of the storied franchise. The brief festivities were the only reason any Blazers' fans had to cheer once Vancouver took control of the contest after a conservative start.
“We knew they were going to come out with a lot of emotion after giving the six builders here their awards and they did,” Assistant Coach/Assistant GM Craig Bonner said. “The first couple shifts they were buzzing, but we knew if we could sustain that and continue to play a solid first period – our goal was to be tied or better after one – and we were up by one. For most of the weekend we played pretty solid hockey and didn't give them a lot of opportunities.”
Schwarz recorded his second Western Hockey League shutout by playing a strong positional game and making a few difficult saves look easy. The Giants sent 29 shots at Kamloops counterpart Devan Dubnyk, who was hung out to dry by his teammates on numerous occasions. Schwarz, however, got plenty of help from all of Vancouver 's forwards and defensemen.
“His positioning was good and I thought our ‘D' and forwards did a real good job collapsing down,” Bonner explained. “There weren't many second opportunities and credit everybody for that, but Schwarzie was real solid and he played with a lot of confidence.”
The puck wasn't in the Giants end of the rink too often and when it was the club's fleet defensive corps moved it out with authority. Bonner is in charge of the defensemen behind Vancouver 's bench and liked what he saw on Saturday from key players, Festerling, ex-Blazer Conlan Seder and super rookie Andrej Meszaros.
“As a group they were really solid tonight,” Bonner said proudly. “Three guys, I thought, that really stepped up were Festerling, Seder and Andrej – they were great tonight. That's as good as Festerling's played for us, Seder was outstanding. That's great to see that coming back into a rink he got traded from and for Andrej it was one of those nights he was a man amongst boys.”
Just eight points up on Kamloops entering the weekend, the Giants staved off their close rival with back-to-back convincing wins. 29-25-3-3 after the shutout and 6-2 trouncing on Friday, the G-Men are a solid third place in the BC Division.
Tri-City visits the Pacific Coliseum in a game televised on Sportsnet on Wednesday, before the Giants host Kelowna on Friday. Vancouver plays in Everett on Saturday to close out their February schedule.