dondo
11-11-2006, 01:59 AM
Not bad hockey all in all and the crowd was nigh 12,000. Rehman was officiating and between he and Raphael I thought we were in for a travesty, but for the most part other than his notorious inconsistency the reffing was a non-factor over-all. It helped that both teams PPs were fairly anemic so didn't really contribute to the final score.
Some good hitting, skating, goals and generally a good game to be in the seats for.
my recap enjoy
Giants Bruise Bruins
Vancouver 3 Chilliwack 1
The Giants first home game after a mostly successful extended road trip through the Central division was taking on the newest team in the league, and the BC division, the Chilliwack Bruins. The Bruins have had some growing pains but as of late have been putting together decent efforts in front of their home crowd. They have two players in the top 20 in scoring in the WHL and both are rookies to the league. 18 yr old Mark Santorelli leads the team with 26 pts (now 27), and his line-mate 17 yr old Oscar Moller has notched 21. That’s where the depth ends as the next closest player in another line-mate of those two Josh Aspenlind who has a respectable 17 pts. The Bruins however, were coming into this game on a bit of losing slide dropping their last four games.
The Giants opened the game with a line of Tim Kraus, Kyle Lamb and Garet Hunt and that line stayed mostly consistent throughout the game including on the PP. However it was Milan Lucic, playing on a line with Mario Bliznak and Michal Repik who would garner the first goal just over four minutes into the game. The goal came off the rush as Lucic and Bliznak stormed into the zone and Bliznak waited and waited until both the goalie and d-man had committed before chipping a soft pass back cross crease onto to Lucic’s stick for the tally. Lucic stayed back enough to separate himself from the Chilliwack D and by the end Bruins goalie Jim Watt had no chance to make the save. The Giants went up by two on the PP with Kraus working the puck back to the point after making some nice moves to maintain possession. Cody Franson with his usual picture perfect wrister about two inches off the ice, fired it at the net and everybody’s favourite grinder Garet Hunt neatly tipped it through the wickets. Off the ensuing face-off, Partik Bhungal decided to get his team going by testing the mettle of Milan Lucic. He should not have bothered as Lucic got the upper-hand and kept it landing and missing big haymakers. To Bhungal’s credit he stayed standing through most of it and hung in there until the Lucic finally toppled him and then refrained from landing the final cocked blow. The Giants held the Bruins to zero shots on net in the first and controlled the play, cutting off the angles with machine-like efficiency, but only managed 8 shots of their own which is below average for the Vancouver squad.
The Giants went up three early in the second, about four minutes in to be exact. Off of some tenacious work in the Bruins end Mitch Czibere put one past Jim Watt. Jason Reese and JD Watt aggressively worked the puck along the boards and found Czibere as he cut across the goal-mouth, snapping the puck past the Bruins’ tender. The Giants continued to work the Chilliwack players in their own zone, pressure the puck and just do what the Giants did at home or on the road. They play disciplined close checking hockey and make it very difficult for their opponents to get quality shots on goal. The G-Men had a hard time clicking with their PP though, as they went only 1 for 10 on the man-advantage and had at one point a full two minute 5 on 3. Although they looked dangerous at times, I felt that maybe they were trying too hard to score highlight reel goals as opposed to just getting it in the net. To Chilliwack’s credit though they blocked a ton of shots and had very active sticks chipping away passes with great regularity.
The Giants continued the third as they ended the second finishing off the last seconds of the 5 on 3 and then went back to making sure the Bruins players didn’t get anywhere near the net. Unfortunately Bruins’ sniper Mark Santorelli broke Dustin Slade’s shutout bid at 15:19 of the final stanza with a solid individual effort. The G-men made a mistake clearing their zone and Santorelli picked up the loose puck and came in on the right wing and using the Giants player as a screen snapped the puck far-side on Slade. The goal was unassisted and it is one the Slade probably would want back as it appeared that he was cheating and got beat on the far-side. The shot came on about the 8th shot of the game for the Chilliwack squad, who would only hit double digits off of a last second chip at the Vancouver net from centre-ice.
Franson and Mikkelson both had solid outings this evening, and notables included Garet Hunt, Tim Kraus, Milan Lucic and John Flatters who played a very quietly effective game. The G-Men went 1 for 10 on the PP, while holding Chilliwack to donuts on 7 chances. The final shot count was 27-10 for the home squad.
Next up - Kamloops comes to town for their first game versus the Giants this season. The Blazers have been on a bit of tear as of late riding the goaltending of Dustin Butler, who they acquired early in the season from Portland, and could prove challenging to the Vancouver team. The Blazers, riding a 5 game winning streak, will be ready to take on their division rivals on Sunday (Nov 12th). The puck drops at the Coliseum at 5pm. Should be a good one.
Three Stars
1 - Garet Hunt
2 – Milan Lucic
3 – John Flatters
Some good hitting, skating, goals and generally a good game to be in the seats for.
my recap enjoy
Giants Bruise Bruins
Vancouver 3 Chilliwack 1
The Giants first home game after a mostly successful extended road trip through the Central division was taking on the newest team in the league, and the BC division, the Chilliwack Bruins. The Bruins have had some growing pains but as of late have been putting together decent efforts in front of their home crowd. They have two players in the top 20 in scoring in the WHL and both are rookies to the league. 18 yr old Mark Santorelli leads the team with 26 pts (now 27), and his line-mate 17 yr old Oscar Moller has notched 21. That’s where the depth ends as the next closest player in another line-mate of those two Josh Aspenlind who has a respectable 17 pts. The Bruins however, were coming into this game on a bit of losing slide dropping their last four games.
The Giants opened the game with a line of Tim Kraus, Kyle Lamb and Garet Hunt and that line stayed mostly consistent throughout the game including on the PP. However it was Milan Lucic, playing on a line with Mario Bliznak and Michal Repik who would garner the first goal just over four minutes into the game. The goal came off the rush as Lucic and Bliznak stormed into the zone and Bliznak waited and waited until both the goalie and d-man had committed before chipping a soft pass back cross crease onto to Lucic’s stick for the tally. Lucic stayed back enough to separate himself from the Chilliwack D and by the end Bruins goalie Jim Watt had no chance to make the save. The Giants went up by two on the PP with Kraus working the puck back to the point after making some nice moves to maintain possession. Cody Franson with his usual picture perfect wrister about two inches off the ice, fired it at the net and everybody’s favourite grinder Garet Hunt neatly tipped it through the wickets. Off the ensuing face-off, Partik Bhungal decided to get his team going by testing the mettle of Milan Lucic. He should not have bothered as Lucic got the upper-hand and kept it landing and missing big haymakers. To Bhungal’s credit he stayed standing through most of it and hung in there until the Lucic finally toppled him and then refrained from landing the final cocked blow. The Giants held the Bruins to zero shots on net in the first and controlled the play, cutting off the angles with machine-like efficiency, but only managed 8 shots of their own which is below average for the Vancouver squad.
The Giants went up three early in the second, about four minutes in to be exact. Off of some tenacious work in the Bruins end Mitch Czibere put one past Jim Watt. Jason Reese and JD Watt aggressively worked the puck along the boards and found Czibere as he cut across the goal-mouth, snapping the puck past the Bruins’ tender. The Giants continued to work the Chilliwack players in their own zone, pressure the puck and just do what the Giants did at home or on the road. They play disciplined close checking hockey and make it very difficult for their opponents to get quality shots on goal. The G-Men had a hard time clicking with their PP though, as they went only 1 for 10 on the man-advantage and had at one point a full two minute 5 on 3. Although they looked dangerous at times, I felt that maybe they were trying too hard to score highlight reel goals as opposed to just getting it in the net. To Chilliwack’s credit though they blocked a ton of shots and had very active sticks chipping away passes with great regularity.
The Giants continued the third as they ended the second finishing off the last seconds of the 5 on 3 and then went back to making sure the Bruins players didn’t get anywhere near the net. Unfortunately Bruins’ sniper Mark Santorelli broke Dustin Slade’s shutout bid at 15:19 of the final stanza with a solid individual effort. The G-men made a mistake clearing their zone and Santorelli picked up the loose puck and came in on the right wing and using the Giants player as a screen snapped the puck far-side on Slade. The goal was unassisted and it is one the Slade probably would want back as it appeared that he was cheating and got beat on the far-side. The shot came on about the 8th shot of the game for the Chilliwack squad, who would only hit double digits off of a last second chip at the Vancouver net from centre-ice.
Franson and Mikkelson both had solid outings this evening, and notables included Garet Hunt, Tim Kraus, Milan Lucic and John Flatters who played a very quietly effective game. The G-Men went 1 for 10 on the PP, while holding Chilliwack to donuts on 7 chances. The final shot count was 27-10 for the home squad.
Next up - Kamloops comes to town for their first game versus the Giants this season. The Blazers have been on a bit of tear as of late riding the goaltending of Dustin Butler, who they acquired early in the season from Portland, and could prove challenging to the Vancouver team. The Blazers, riding a 5 game winning streak, will be ready to take on their division rivals on Sunday (Nov 12th). The puck drops at the Coliseum at 5pm. Should be a good one.
Three Stars
1 - Garet Hunt
2 – Milan Lucic
3 – John Flatters