2014/15 Season

[Swando]

I have not renewed my tickets yet for the new season even though the "deadline" lol has passed. This year was a disaster at the beginning.. a great surprise in the middle and a let down in the last 1/4 of the season.

If we look ahead to next year here is what I see..and I think Bonner will have to work some magic or the building may be empty.

Not back from this years team: Thrower, Traber, Franson,(for sure) and I think being released will be Lofthouse,McEvoy,Trzonkowski, AHL bound is Kulak and Europe bound is Volek. I believe that Rathjen will be marketed and traded if possible or released.

That leaves us with a FORWARD line up of : Sward, Hamilton ( as 20 yr olds)
Ronning (17), Baer(17),Stukel (17-injured this year) Foster(18), Popoff(19), Houck(19), Benson(16)and maybe Leone (18)......how does this boost ones confidence??

Okay let's look at the DEFENSE.. where we are much more established it seems with returning players and draft picks ready to step in. As mentioned Thrower and Kulak are gone leaving us : Dosanjh (17) Morrison(19) Atwal (18) Osipov (18) Geertsen (19)

Goalie: Payton Lee (18) has redeemed his mid season collapse to give confidence to having him as the starter and Kubic(16) or Shugrue (16) as potential back ups.( both were high bantam picks!)

Therefore seeing a very depleted line up one can expect Bonner to be busy after the playoffs. We have a lot of high draft picks coming of age but with our draft history that really means didily squat!! 1st rounders =(Spooner(22- big BUST), Hodder(21) bust Sward (20?),Ast(19)on hold but bust for us.. 2nd Rounders.. Kohlhauser,Simpson,Roach,Zalitach, Bellerive

ADVANCING HIGH PICKS from last years draft. Benson- 1st overall bantam pick, Barberis Ist round Defense, McKinsty D, Kubic G..

Scenerios:
Stand Pat as I thought they should have done this year..but I do realize that older "bigger" players help the younger Ronnings and Baers develop confidence.
Trade some of our amassed draft picks for proven players
Draft as high as possible and see how the picks turn out .

Regardless I do not seeing us a being a Memorial Cup Host with much chance unless we do what Saskatoon did last year and basically put their franchise back 5 years with nothing to show for it! I don't want the Mem Cup as it makes the ownership make decisions based on money rather than US>>THE FANS THAT MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

Personally I like the Kelowna Rockets approach.... they "always" seem to trade from a position of strength.. getting Bell, Olsen yet giving up little in the overall picture. Look at the past drafts and you do not seeing Kelowna jumping all over the board like the Giants. They draft WELL and need to trade less often!!

[Giantsfan]

As much as I hate the Rockets I do think they have by far the best coach in the WHL. Hay's old school approach pisses off too many of the players & their families & that isn't good for anyone. They haven't had a solid assistant coach since Craig Bonner left for Kamloops. I'm not sold on Hay anymore but is anyone better who is available?

The Rockets got three franchise players, Benn, Keith & Weber. None were selected in the bantam draft. Those are 3 amazing finds.

The Giants used to be able to get those guys too like Franson & Lucic for example but have struck out big time in the last few seasons.

The biggest problem next season is the defense. As it stands right now, none of the guys on the team or in the system are offensively gifted. I don't see much offense coming from the defense.

I also think the team is still way too small & too soft. Losing Traber & Thrower, along with Cooke & Orban the team will once again be smurfs. Terrible move to trade Cooke & keep Trzonkowski.

Also, I'm not sold on Lee. He's very streaky but looks like he's improving. I don't think he's a starter at this point in his jr career.

I think the Giants will take a step backwards next season & will once again be scratching & clawing to make the playoffs. Sure, it's a year away but the drafting has been terrible & some questionable moves made in the last couple seasons. I think the Coliseum will once again be empty most games as the hope for a championship team seems light years away.

[johnnyradiant]

Good to see Lee getting back after losing so much of the season. I hope he can progress now, along with his team. I remember the first few years, the Giants, win or lose made every team and every player know they were playing in Vancouver. I have heard Bonner saying how they need to get back to that, in terms of size and grit for a few seasons now and yet we still have gone for Ronning 2 drafts after he says size and grit. Maybe he should just give his picks away and stand at the back door with a wad of cash and buy some proven players from GM's that understand size and grit can only be picked if you pick 'em bigger and grittier to start with.

We didn't finish last or second to last but I don't think we have too much room to move back.

The stated roster doesn't look too great but it also looks, from the outside, like a bunch of players that are willing to play as a team under Hay.

If nothing else next season gets me out of the house a few times a month for the season.

[Knuckles Muldoon]

For next year, I have to admit I like the forward group more than the defense. The D looks scary; Geertsen had a progressing season, but Atwal backtracked. Osipov's second half was somewhat encouraging. Morrison and Dosanjh don't do much for me. Up front, I would let Hamilton go and keep McEvoy instead. We need some size up front or else the team will be (again) much too easy to play against. Bonner has got to find some size and heavier bodies somewhere to allow Baer, Ronning, Foster, Stuckel, Benson and the rest some room to play. Scott's lip service about getting bigger has been disappointing. All talk, no results. He's like Mike Gillis talking about the 'reset' that didn't happen.

As for goaltending, I'm not sold on Lee. Too inconsistent. I've turned my hopes and attention to Kubic.

I'll agree with Swando that the team will be hard-pressed to make another jump in the standings next year. And the Coliseum will again not be the place to be. WHL hockey used to be about grit. Ah, those were the days.

[Giantsfan]

The team hasn't been at all successful since they went to the smurf route about 5 years ago.

I agree with the lip service given by Scott Bonner. I've personally spoken to him on the issue of size every training camp & it's always the same line. "I can get these guys but Don's not going to play him".