Payton Lee was tackled by a Rocket player who did not even try to stop. No call on the play and Lee was out for the rest of the game, replaced by Bantam draft pick Ryan Kubic. Kubic looked okay for the rest of the first saving a few great chances, but he bit on rookie moves in the second and allowed a few more goals than he should have. The team wasn’t really helping in the middle frame though. The two teams split the first with a goal each. The Rockets pounded home 5 unanswered in the second. It looked pretty ugly for the Gs going into the third, but they got some great effort, a bit of luck and made it a game by the end. The Giants notched four in the third, just failing to come back all the way, but to the 13,000 strong there it felt like a win.
Ty Ronning opened the scoring mid-way through the first. He had had a great chance earlier in the period which he bobbled, so this felt pretty good. Joel Hamilton and Thomas Foster garnered the assists. Kelowna replied on the PP. In the second it was all Rockets. They scored two in the first 5:14 of the middle frame. Then added a SH’d marker a couple of minutes later. That shorty hurt and the momentum flowed away from the home team, buoying the visitors to score two more before the end of the period capping it off with a PP goal, which shouldn’t have been.
In the third the Rockets eased up and the Giants battled back. Hamilton solved former Giant Jackson Whistle 3:07 into the final frame and the ice titled toward the Rockets net. The crowd were back into it, the team were feeling the shift and the excitement in the building began to climb. Brett Kulak and Shaun Dosanjh had the helpers on Hamilton’s goal. A few minutes later Dmitry Osipov found twine from the point through traffic. Dalton Sward and Trent Lofthouse had the helpers. The Giants were buzzing and the Rockets scrambling. Ronning’s PP marker and his second of the night blew the roof off of the place. Tyler Morrison and Kulak with the assists.
Late in the game the refs made a ridiculous “boarding” call that was simply a hard check. Bad timing and frankly some seriously stupid zebras impaired this game in a multitude of ways. The hockey gods decided to smile upon the hard grinding home team and Jackson Houck took a turnover all the way up the ice and blew it by Whistle for a short-handed marker. Carter Popoff and Mason Geertsen had assists on the play. Cat-calls of Whiiiiiisssttllllleeeeeee came from around the stands. The Giants had some pressure going, but some checks along the boards were called boarding yet again by refs who were completely unaware. In fact if it was boarding I would say it was the Rockets who were guilty as it was a white hockey sweater crawling up from the ice not the dark Rockets jersey when I looked. That bonus penalty put the face-off in the Giants zone and destroyed what should have been an exciting finish.
Team Notes: Cain Franson was out of the line-up tonight with a nagging injury. The Giants take on the Rockets tomorrow night in Kelowna for their final game of the season. It sounds like Lee might be able to suit up in Kelowna, but that will be a last minute decision depending upon how well he is doing.
Rookie Watch: Ryan Kubic did okay in the first, but got rattled in the second. It was good to see him get some minutes at this level and take responsibility for the game. Oddly enough Lee had not faced any shots before he went out with injury, so it’s almost as if Kubic started the game shot-wise and save-wise. Ronning had some serious jump tonight. 2 goals and challenged hard for the hat trick when he had his chances. It was the hungriest and most intense I have personally seen him play. Considering I feel this is one of the holes in his game, it was very good to see flashes of that showing through.
Fight Night: Arvin Atwal v Tyrell Goulbourne… Atwal and Goulbourne tangled at the end of the second period and it was a good momentum shifter for the Giants. Goulbourne maintained the upper hand for the majority of the tilt, but Atwal hung in there and gave some back. Hay felt the fight gave the Giants something to hang their hat on going into the second intermission and some energy and focus going into the third.
Zebra Cage: Pat Smith and Tyler Adair .. Adair needs to take his cheesy 70s moustache and resurrect his porn career cause he sure as hell shouldn’t be a referee. Frequently losing the point of any scrum, who started it and where the cheap shots originally lay. You know, ref stuff. Missing high-sticks (right in front of him) and high-hits and calling ticky-tack trips and interferences. His timing for calling penalties sucked as well and he seemed to be out of touch with the game from the get-go. Smith was no better as his quick draw whistle ruined more than a few opportunities, but it was Adair who made the most egregious calls and completely lacked any and all sense of why he was on the ice. Maybe open your eyes and see that a pane of glass has been knocked out of its frame, for example. Awareness …..
I love watching the refs stand there while a player repeatedly spears a goalie, who is covering the puck, in the stomach. I love watching goalies getting mugged and injured with no calls. Fantastic. They failed to protect players and failed to manage the game. They chose to make calls out of nowhere and destroy momentum, while letting the same thing go all over the ice previously. Ridiculous and embarrassing. It really is time for this league to address the ineptitude of their entire roster of zebras. Maybe teach them the rules along the way.
The linesmen need to learn how to call an icing (which considering it being no touch icing shouldn’t be too tough, but apparently is – one waives it off, one calls it. And calling a touch on a puck which passed through three sticks and not touching one of them. Seriously should we put up with this crap as fans? I also love the 3 seconds too late off-side call that is not blown as a player carries the puck down the boards, but then mysteriously appears as the player cuts to the net. Also learn to drop a freaking puck. It isn’t a doggy-bone it’s a puck, drop it. Good boy.
The Giants out-shot the Rockets 34-30 by the end, but the Rockets lead that stat for the majority of the game. The home squad went 1 for 4 on the PP, while the Rockets were 2 for 5. The Giants had a tough tilt, but in the end they battled back and that bodes well for their series versus the Winterhawks as they will bury you if you back off.
The Giants final game of the regular season happens tomorrow night in Kelowna. This could prove to be a very intense game as the boys on both sides were making note of numbers. Hopefully they dig up some refs who know how to let teams play and are aware when to step in and when to step back. The game really means nothing to either team as the playoff match-ups are set, but I suspect there will be some bad blood between these two squads and Kelowna will not want to come close to losing at home. The puck drops in Kelowna at 7pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Madison Bowey
2. Ty Ronning
3. Justin Kirkland
Dondo’s Doghouse: I have to single out Ryan Kubic as he allowed a couple of really poor goals. That said, he’s very young and I bet pretty stunned to have been inserted into this game. The Rockets are a dangerous team and took advantage of a rank rookie. I really felt for Kubic during the second period, but was happy to see him rebound a bit in the third and with the team playing better in front of him. So not really doghouse, kinda sitting on the doorstep.
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to Ty Ronning - two goals, but mainly for the hunger and fearlessness he exhibited tonight. He was a buzzsaw in the offensive zone and very tenacious on the puck. A few rookie stumbles, but all in all an excellent outing for the young forward.
Giants 5 Rockets 6 - Mar 14, 2014
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