Giants 0 vs Portland 1 Nov 25th

[rinkrat]

Czibere is a healthy scratch,trade or doghouse???

[Section_Z]

Just watched most of the first period from ice level. Not much to report. We were hitting hard and outplaying them. Our PP was deadly lacking, though.

[Beaner]

Anyone with a recap on the game? Had to work last night so I missed it. :(

[Gerg]

Sad when the Giants get shutout by the likes of the Hawks. Never saw any of the game, or heard of a re-cap, but that's just an ouch.

[Hunt24]

I think I KNOW where you can find one. WINK

[Beaner]

I think I KNOW where you can find one. WINK

I know too. www.vancouvergiants.com ;) haha

[Section_Z]

Like I said, I only saw the first, but things of note.....
According to the Security guy, it was one of the biggest draws they've had all year. I saw no sign of a single Giants Jersey anywhere, however a couple of guys were wearing Hockey night in Canada jerseys.
Sexsmith and Mucha were hot and on their game.
Festerling was solid in our end and throwing his weight around. Pounded a Winterhawk right in front of my daughter's face...made her day...
Franson spent way too long in our end setting up the play on the powerplay....that being said..the rush that resulted was one of the best chances we had in the man advantage.
We dominated the play in the first, but let them in for a couple of good chances as well.
The Klinkhammer penalty got some Boos from the crowd, but there was no arguement from anyone on the ice.
There was a section of glass that was dislodged for about 2 minutes of the game. It took fans to get Sexsmiths attention who in turn informed the refs....Like I said, the refs weren't down in our end much in the first....=)

[dj-kris]

why watch one period?

[dondo]

Rehman was his usual inconsistent self is seemed -- a double minor to Flatters what the.. ?? JD Watt gets mugged on the Portland bench and not allowed to get up and he gets the 10 min misconduct? really really poor judgement calls from the most inconsistent showboat ref in the league (but he was not the reason we took the loss)

well its all my fault folks -- I listened to the whole game (except the OT) when I had to catch a bus to work (damn you snow ... daaammnnn yoooouuuu) and they scored when I stopped listening --

first - the only game I wasn't there we got our first home loss and now this... :D :laugh:

I seem to remember it took a hell of a long time for the teddy bear fur to fly last year during our teddy bear toss night.

Mucha sounded like the Mucha we faced the first game of the playoffs versus Portland last year. It sounded like Sexsmith made some great stops a lot of them off some mighty quick pad action. .

here's the recap - I borrowed the info on the Bailey goal from Joey's recap as I didn't see it - but changed it up a bit.


Winterhawks Shade Giants
Vancouver 0 Portland 1 OT

The arena was filled more than usual in Portland as the Winterhawks had their Teddy Bear Toss night at the Memorial Coliseum. The tradition is that on the first home goal the fans are encouraged to launch teddy bears (new stuffed toys) to be donated to under-privileged children for Christmas. The ‘hawk faithful spent a nail-biting night on the edge of their seats aching to toss those teddy bears onto the ice. The fans would finally get their wish but only after a long, long night of waiting as both teams brought their tenacious best games to the fore. The much maligned US Division bottom-feeding Winterhawks with 9 wins in 26 tries, showed their pride as they worked the Giants at every end of the ice. The bears would finally get to fly in relieved victory as the Portland squad scored the game winner 1 minute into OT.

The G-Men suffered their first shutout loss of the season and although they played an almost perfect game, in the end they could not come away with the victory. The Giants had their chances but some stalwart ‘tending by Kurtis Mucha kept them off the score-sheet. The Winterhawks played a close checking game and matched the Giants tenacity in all respects. Their goaltending and active shot blocking kept them in the game and they managed to fire 32 shots on the Giants netminder . Tyson Sexsmith was very active earning his team a point with his strong play and robbing the Portland team on some excellent scoring chances as well. The Winterhawks clanged the puck off the iron three times during the game and kept their intensity up for the entire sixty minutes and into the over-time.

In the second, Spencer Machacek was pulled down on a short-handed breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. Machacek went straight in on Mucha and was stopped by the young tender when he ran out room to make a move, shooting the puck into chest of the Winterhawk goalie for an easy stop. The Giants have a history with Mucha. When he was a rookie goaltender last season he stoned the Giants in their building in the WHL playoffs 1 - 0 – before the Vancouver team went on to sweep the rest of the games in the playoffs and win the WHL crown.

The Giants were unable to capitalise on a late third period 4 on 3 PP, which set the stage for their overtime loss. The Portland squad proved that they had more game than a lot of pundits had given them credit for and they hope that this kind of game might spark their top players to be more productive as Kyle Bailey managed only his third of the season for the game winning goal. Bailey, and Michael Sauer were stand-out players for the ‘hawk squad all game so it was apropos that they combined to score the winning goal just one minute into the extra stanza. Sauer brought the puck up ice out of his own end and as he crossed the Giants line drifted the puck across to Bailey who blasted it past Sexsmith and released a volley of teddy bears from the stands.

The Giants took 33 shots on Mucha, while the Winterhawks fired 32 on Sexsmith. The ‘hawks were 0 for 5 on the PP, while the G-Men went 0 for 6. A hard fought game in front of 7800 plus fans, and a satisfying end to the Portland team’s teddy bear toss night. Both teams played very solid hockey throughout the 60 minutes, but one team might have let up for that final minute and it cost them the game. The Giants earned 4 of a possible 6 points on their road trip down south and possibly earned a bit of humility in the process as they learned the hard lesson that they need to maintain the energy and effort for the full game, or they could be looking at the wrong side of the score sheet. The Giants no longer lead the WHL in wins or points, as that honour has been claimed by the Medicine Hat Tigers, with 23 wins and 48 points, but still maintains a respectable 21-2-2-2 record (46 points) and are tied with the Everett Silvertips for the fewest regulation losses at 2 games.

The next game for the Giants is December 1st at the Pacific Coliseum versus BC Division rival Prince George Cougars. The puck drops at 7:30p PST.

Three Stars
1 – Kurtis Mucha
2 - Tyson Sexsmith
3 – Kyle Bailey

[Section_Z]

why watch one period?
Had to go to work.....

[dj-kris]

If i read it right you talked to a Portland security guy so is there something i am missing? or do you live and work in Portland but cheer for the giants.

[Swando]

I watched the game via web and it seemed to me that the Giants were shooting from every angle possible. The rink looked rather small compared to others (am I correct?) and the space behind the net was very small. Nothing got thru on the shots the Giants took and Mucha never had to make "big" saves nor did Sexsmith. Kind of a frustrating game to watch.
The lack of scoring is starting to show it's ugly head. Portland had just come back from a long road trip so the tired excuse can't be used.

[Section_Z]

If i read it right you talked to a Portland security guy so is there something i am missing? or do you live and work in Portland but cheer for the giants.
Giants season ticket holder....Working in Portland for the day. Jumped at the chance to see an away game, or part thereof.

[dj-kris]

ahhh the lego blocks are coming together gotcha