PG 2 @ Giants 5 Dec. 1st

[Swando]

I had not yet seen a post so I will start a short one hoping someone will elaborate.
A very entertaining game / One that saw the Giants come out of the gate roaring and nearly putting away the Cougs if not for the goalie and a few unlucky bounces. Lucic in particular had a couple of great opportunities.
Then as has happen before PG gets a "good" but lucky type goal that turns the momentem. PG dominated the last 10 minutes on the 1st..couple of posts and were in control until Watt popped his 17th of the year with 15 seconds left in the period. What a downer for PG What's the cardinal sin in hockey DON'T GIVE UP A GOAL IN THE 1ST OR LAST MINUTE OF A PERIOD.

Second was all Giants but PG again had a post and the outcome could have been different. PG scored and we replied within a minute (Bliznak)
After that goal midway thru the 2nd we dominated and as the cardinal rule goes ... James Wright scored his 1st WHL goal .7 sec remaining in the 2nd period.
PG managed only 3 shots in the 3rd period as they seemed tired compared to the Giants who were flying. The Hunt Cunningham Czberie line was a force in the 3rd. Forechecking etc as were all lines.

3 stars 1. Kraus ( i thot Repik)
2. Blum - great and hard choice
3. McArdle - 2 assists and rewarded for a fine game

Listening to the post game with Joey and Hay's interview. McArdle coming here has more than his scoring presence. It is also to untrack a guy like Kraus who needs to play with skilled players to do better himself - being a great passer etc. Again hats off to Kendal for a great interview with Joey as well as I noted in another post.

[dondo]

Curious swando I thought Repik should have got the nod for the a star as well. He was driving the net and TAKING SHOTS!! :spineyes: yeehoo -- good to see -- want to see more of that -- take the shot Michal, take the shot.

I would have chosen Kraus Repik and Blum. Kraus had a great night and its clear he enjoys his new line-mate and that line McArdle, Kraus and Watt looks to be very good in the very near future.

Czibere had a good game (would like to see him finish his checks a bit more though) and James Wright was all over the ice -- good to see him get his first WHL goal (go to the net good things happen James)

anyway here's my usually involved and detail laden recap :thumb: -- enjoy


Giants Thump Cats
Vancouver 5 Prince George 2

The Vancouver Giants were eager to get back into the winning swing of things after taking a 1-0 OT loss in Portland, on November 25th. Last night, four Giants played in the ADT Russia Challenge where Cody Franson garnered a goal and Spencer Machacek an assist in an 8-1 drubbing of the Russian Selects. JD Watt and Brendan Mikkelson also suited up for the WHL squad. Tonight also marked the return of Burnaby native Kenndal McArdle in his first game for the G-Men. McArdle was acquired yesterday in a trade with Moose Jaw which saw Jason Reese and an ’07 second round pick go the other way. McArdle brings a tenacious game, a snipers instincts and game-breaking ability which will help the Giants in their bid for the Memorial Cup.

The Giants started out a bit tentative and sluggish in the first making some poor plays in the neutral zone and getting hung up in their own end. They allowed themselves to be beat down low and did not bring their best skating game to fore in the opening stanza. Prince George out-shot the Giants 11-7 and tallied the first marker 12:55 into the first. Some good work along the boards allowed Nick Drazenovic to get an open shot which caromed off of Eric Hunter standing at the top of the crease. After such a lack-lustre period the Vancouver squad managed to salvage the score by tying it up with a mere 15 seconds left in the frame. Kenndal McArdle got his first point as a Giant by feeding the puck to Tim Kraus in the neutral zone but the work for the goal was pure Kraus. Kraus button-hooked just over the blue-line and looked to be in trouble, but he patiently waited for JD Watt to enter the zone and then softly dished the puck onto Watt’s stick. JD then cruised in off the RW and snapped a beauty five-hole on Cyr to tie the game going into the second.

Getting that goal allowed the Giants to regroup and reset themselves to play their style of hockey. The G-Men have out-scored their opponents 43-10 in the middle stanza this season and that stat is more telling for what they haven’t let in, than by what they have scored. The Vancouver group got back to playing their kind of hockey in the second by pressuring the Cougars in the neutral zone, slowing down their talented free-wheeling forwards and frustrating them in the process.

The Cougars battled back for a time though and capitalised on the PP, early in the second. The Cats had their best pressure of the period in a flurry which kept the puck deep in the Vancouver zone with Prince George players buzzing around the net. Tyson Sexsmith weathered the onslaught but in the end a loose puck was batted past him when he was sprawled on the ice after making a few solid stops. Jared Walker managed to get his stick on the loose puck and put his team back up by one. However, just 29 seconds later the Giants would tie the game back up and never look back. Tim Kraus wheeled in the Cougars zone and fed McArdle in the slot. McArdle found his line-mate coming off the boards and Kraus snapped the puck beating Cyr between the wickets for the second time tonight. The Cougars then got into penalty trouble as the Giants began to press the Cats’ zone, maintained the pressure and kept their feet moving as they cut to the net drawing a four consecutive second period penalties from the visitors. Mario Bliznak made the most of one of the PPs, benefiting from the sharp play of Michal Repik. Jonathon Blum fed Repik at the point and Repik wheeled and held onto the puck as he searched for an open look. He found it and snapped the puck hard and high to the net and Bliznak managed to tip it past Real Cyr, giving the home team their first lead of the game. The Bliznak, Repik, Lucic line was buzzing all night, but Lucic did not really have his best night as he seemed a tad slow on his feet, and didn’t fight for the puck he way I usually expect him to do. The Giants went up by two with just .7 (yes, point 7) seconds left on the clock in the second. With 17 seconds left in the middle frame the G-Men came out of their zone. Kyle Lamb brought the puck into the Cougar zone and down the boards drifting the puck back to Mikkelson at the point. Mikkelson slipped one on net through traffic and James Wright pounced on the rebound for his first ever WHL goal. The Vancouver squad out shot the Cougars 19-4 in the second.

The Giants continued their stifling play in the third sitting back and stymieing the Cougar offense with tight checking and good positioning. They finished off the visiting Cats about six minutes into the final period. Michal Repik would be rewarded for his hard work all night long putting his team up by three and ostensibly salting away the victory. Jonathon Blum snapped a shot at Real Cyr who made the stop but did not control the rebound. Milan Lucic gathered the rebound and chipped one at the net which bounced off of Cyr and floated to the open side where Repik was ready to pounce, finding twine with a quick wrister. The game had some nice hits, but all in all it was not the kind of physical battle you would expect from these two teams. There were no fights and the refs pretty much allowed the teams room to play and may have missed a call or two but were fairly consistent throughout the evening.

The Giants out shot the Cougars 36-18, holding the Cats to just 7 shots in the latter two periods. The Cougars were 1 for 4 on the PP, while the Giants went 1 for 6 – two of those penalties that PG took were the much hated “delay of game penalty” for throwing the puck over the glass. Tonight was the first of three in three nights. The Giants travel down to Seattle tomorrow night (Sat. Dec. 2), where I expect that newly acquired ‘tender Blaine Neufeld will get the nod for the start and then finish up on Sunday (Dec. 3) in Kamloops to take on the steadily climbing Blazers who have been the only team to deal the Giants a loss at home this season. Both are evening games starting at 7pm local time.

Three Stars
1 – Tim Kraus
2 – Jonathon Blum
3 – Kenndal McArdle

[dondo]

btw swando Beaner usually does his game recap threads in this format -- so if you want to change it for him I'm sure he'd appreciate it to be consistent.

Giants 5 vs Cougars 2 Dec 1st

[Beaner]

Thanks much for the recaps guys, I appreciate it as do others.

Once again I had to work, busy time of year.... :)


PS I'll fix the title.

PPS: If you don't see a thread started for post game thoughts, feel free to just start one, you don't have to wait for me.

[Swando]

btw swando Beaner usually does his game recap threads in this format -- so if you want to change it for him I'm sure he'd appreciate it to be consistent.

Giants 5 vs Cougars 2 Dec 1st


Good review Dondo. I changed the heading like Beaner would like. I didn't see him at the game tonight...working I suppose. I see that Kraus is a favorite for a star here BUT as always I like to watch Blum and he was almost perfect tonight. He reminds me of a Paul Reinhart ..he dekes out the attacker with his brains rather than a flashy move. He made so many unnoticed yet Pro moves it was spine tingling. Can you imagine if he had a shot like Franson? Speaking of which teams have caught on to his shot and position a check on the PK about 6' in front of him - not allowing many chances to unleash the "howitzer"

[Swando]

Thanks much for the recaps guys, I appreciate it as do others.

Once again I had to work, busy time of year.... :)


PS I'll fix the title.

PPS: If you don't see a thread started for post game thoughts, feel free to just start one, you don't have to wait for me.


Hey Beaner: I know you have to make moola to buy ST's but this is rediculous..you are missing way to may games--home and away for my liking. You need a 6 month holiday

[Beaner]

Hey Beaner: I know you have to make moola to buy ST's but this is rediculous..you are missing way to may games--home and away for my liking. You need a 6 month holiday


Tell me about it.

Better yet tell my boss, he sits 2 seats down from me. ;)

That does make it awfully difficult to skip out on work, now that I think about it. :spineyes:

[rinkrat]

That does make it awfully difficult to skip out on work, now that I think about it. :spineyes:

If you want to skip out,we could trade seats... :clown:

[Knuckles Muldoon]

Good game. I thought the boys looked flat in the first and the Coogs looked very good. I thought it was lucky that Watt scored with 15 seconds left in the period, as it tied the game and gave the Giants some momentum in a period where they were definitely outplayed. For the final 40 minutes, the Giants looked terrific. They turned the tide and cut the Coogs off at the pass and wrestled control of the game away brilliantly. I thought Repik was the best of the Giants, as he was the only one who was effective from start to finish. That is exactly the kind of game I want to see from him on a consistent basis. Blum and Kraus were also excellent, as was Mikkelson. McArdle looked pretty good, but was clearly out of sync with his linemates. When that line (Kraus, McArdle, Watt) gets on the same page, they could be a hellacious trio. And about the third goal. Did Bliznak really delect it? I thought it was Repik all the way and didn't even see anyone between Repik and the net. :spineyes: Also, great to see James Wright finally bag a goal. He's been working real hard and deserved one.
Boys looked good, let's back it up by slapping Seattle around tonight. :thumb:

[Kassian]

I also thought Repik should have been one of the stars. He played a real solid game and it was nice to see him finally score a goal that wasn't an empty netter. ;)

[dondo]

Good review Dondo. I changed the heading like Beaner would like. I didn't see him at the game tonight...working I suppose. I see that Kraus is a favorite for a star here BUT as always I like to watch Blum

thanx swando

me too --- maybe that's why I have the Blum third jersey :D :thumb: (but there was one time where he was looking for his jock as he bit hard on a deke)


I thought Repik was the best of the Giants, as he was the only one who was effective from start to finish. That is exactly the kind of game I want to see from him on a consistent basis. Blum and Kraus were also excellent, as was Mikkelson. McArdle looked pretty good, but was clearly out of sync with his linemates. When that line (Kraus, McArdle, Watt) gets on the same page, they could be a hellacious trio. And about the third goal. Did Bliznak really deflect it? I thought it was Repik all the way and didn't even see anyone between Repik and the net.

yeah I noticed that -- while guys like Lucic were drifting the Repik was hustling, hitting and shooting.

and me too again__ I didn't see anyone in front of the net (although waay down the other end of the ice) I thought it was Repik all the way as well -- and as scrunt said to me as Repik scored his actual goal -- that he scored another empty netter - lol

and Beaner your boss is a pushover I figure we can bend him a bit :laugh: