Royals at Giants 21 Oct 11

[CdnSailor]

at

11 6 5 0 0 = 12 PTS 2-0-0-0 STK 6-4-0-0 P10 225 PIM
Royals are currently on a 2 game winning streak taking 2/2 from the Kelowna Rockets in Victoria and is in 2nd place in the BC Division.
Royals have played the Giants 3 times loosing 2 of 3 so far this season


11 4 6 0 1 = 9 PTS 0-3-0-0 STK 3-6-0-1 P10 214 PIM
Giants have lost there last three games loosing on Thursday against Kelowna. They are currently in 4th place.

[pontcanna]

This is brutal. I don't get this road stuff. Get a s**t kicking the first few minutes of an awful lot of the road games so far. Poor old Rathjen, his only role is trying to keep it under double figures. His stance in net makes him look like some guy brought down out of the stands. This doesn't feel good, but I gotta watch this trainwreck.

[CdnSailor]

Watching it as well. 4PP against. They need to learn to play hockey and stay out of the friggen sin bin

[pontcanna]

Wish we were playing rec hockey tournament rules. We tied the second period!

[pontcanna]

At least Rathjen popped his WHL cherry without being lit up too badly.

[pontcanna]

Giants strike early and often

BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMESCOLONIST.COM OCTOBER 21, 2011 10:37 PM

Is the Victoria Royals’ home versus road dichotomy a short-term trend or a long-term pattern?

Only the passage of time, well into the Western Hockey League season, will truly tell. But the Royals (6-6) are 4-1 at home and 2-5 on the road following Friday night’s 8-1 loss to the Giants before 6,517 fans at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

The Giants won for the third consecutive time this season at home against Victoria as the PNE venue has been anything but a Playland for the Royals.

“We were brutal the whole game,” said a blunt Victoria coach and GM Marc Habscheid.

“We’ve lost all three games in this building this season. Maybe we should appy to the league to play all 72 games at home.”

The Royals might have wanted to call a mulligan on last night’s opening. They were victimized by a disastrous first period, in which Vancouver took a 6-0 lead which proved insurmountable. The Giants (5-6-1) scored on four of six power-play opportunities and outshot Victoria by a 17-1 count in that first frame. Of the 12 penalties called in the period, the Royals drew nine of them and the Giants made them pay. Victoria had no power-play opportunities in the first period.

Despite the rubber rain he faced, Victoria starting goaltender Keith Hamilton was pulled and 17-year-old rookie Jared Rathjen got into his first WHL regular-season game at the start of the second period. Rathjen, who describes himself as “calm by nature,” acquitted himself fairly well in allowing two goals on 18 shots over two periods as the Giants finished with a 35-23 advantage overall over the game.

Vancouver’s lethal power play finished six-for-nine on the night and Victoria zero-for-three.

“We have to bring it every night and we didn’t tonight,” said Habscheid.

“We have to work every night and didn’t tonight. We stood around and watched.”

Steve Hodges scored the lone goal for Victoria in the second period to ruin Adam Morrison’s shutout bid.

Marek Tvrdon led the Giants with two goals and two assists.

The Royals might want to get this road thing figured out sooner rather than later. Friday kicked off a four-game road trip that continues tonight at 7 in Kelowna against the Rockets, in Tri-City on Tuesday against the Americans and at Spokane on Wednesday against the Chiefs.

“If we could bring those 6,000 screaming fans from Victoria with us on the road, that would be great,” said Royals assistant coach Enio Sacilotto.

“We have to find a way to play well on the road. We’re a young team that has to learn that.”

Following the road excursion will be a return to the friendlier confines of Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre for a seven-game homestand that begins next Friday and Saturday with a set against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

[CdnSailor]

8 1

Game Highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXXe-ydbSJU

1st Period
Giants 1st goal by Dalton Sward 0:07
Giants 2nd goal by Marek Tvrodon 0:40
Giants 3rd goal by Marek Tvrodonn (PP) 1:15
Giants 4th goal by Jordan Martinook (PP) 1:54
Giants 5th goal by Brendan Gallagher (PP) 4:05
Giants 6th goal by Anthony Ast (PP) 4:42

2nd Period
Royals 1st goal by Steven Hodges 5:50
Dumb penalty on Royals Tim Traber 6:54
Giants 7th goal by Austin Vetterl (PP) 7:32

3rd Period

Giants 8th goal by Levi Bews (PP) 9:27
Giants Jackson Houck getting a charging call 10:02

Attendance: 6517

3 Stars
1. VAN - 17 Marek Tvrdon
2. VAN - 25 Jordan Martinook
3. VAN - 24 Austin Vetter

Game Summary
http://www.whl.ca/schedule/show/game/59513

[coach]

This is brutal. I don't get this road stuff. Get a s**t kicking the first few minutes of an awful lot of the road games so far. Poor old Rathjen, his only role is trying to keep it under double figures. His stance in net makes him look like some guy brought down out of the stands. This doesn't feel good, but I gotta watch this trainwreck.

They are juniors, get used to it.

[coach]

Watching it as well. 4PP against. They need to learn to play hockey and stay out of the friggen sin bin

What exactly do you think they are learning to play? Pull your head out and breathe.

[pontcanna]

They are juniors, get used to it.

I suppose that wild swings of performance and mood are part of the teenage package, hence hope always springs eternal that we can manage to beat Kelowna tonight for the third time in a row. I'm not sure, however, that Habscheid will "get used to it". In fact, I think his invective likely peeled the paint off the visitor's dressing room wall last night.