Giants in Langley

[dondo]

Okay --

...so how's it going for everyone in Langley? Enjoying the games, the venue?

The team is struggling mightily, but have sort of bounced back after a dismal start. Seems like business as usual to me, but really since I'm not going to most every home game, I have found my care level one way or the other with regards to the team is at an all time nadir. I feel sorry for the boys as they are still not being given the proper support a larger market team should expect. I feel Toigo might care about as much as I do right now and it has shown the past half-dozen or more years.

I freely I admit I am still pretty angry at how poorly the long-time supporters were treated and how badly this move was handled in all respects. Information, respect, understanding and assessment of the overall impact. So I personally still feel a bit bitter about the franchise right now, so positivity will not be my strong suit in this minor rant. I still hope for the best, but I sadly foresee yet another very mediocre year for the Gs.

I do not see any major improvements other than some of the better players becoming more veteran. We are currently in about year 7 of a rebuild that should be 3-5 years and an owner who insists we are playoff bound when we simply do not have the talent or support to do so. We did not improve at all in the off-season by my estimation and we continue to acquire middling smallish forwards like Wesley instead of trying to embody a truly competitive identity. We still don't have a quality shut-down D pairing, we aren't that tough and we aren't super fast scoring machines. On top of that we haven't had a high-level work ethic for years - so how should we expect anything other than what we have seen the past years of mediocrity.

Thoughts?

[Lucic]

I've watched maybe two games all year. And to be honest I don't miss it one bit. The games are just awfully boring. Painfully boring. This has been an ongoing trend for years now but man is it bad now. When I have time I'll tune into a game mostly out of habit but it wouldn't surprise me if this is my final year watching even if it's sporadically. Hockey is officially dead in my eyes. If this is what hockey is going to be heading forward I am proud to have nothing to do with it. It's a joke and an embarrassment to what the sport once was.

[dondo]

I have to agree Lucic, the game is being strangled by excess rules and a determined and pointed lack of physicality being imposed from the league side of things. I swear I saw more hitting in the NHL last year than I did in the Dub.

Last year was painful to watch and for the first time I was at a place where I was not only not eagerly looking forward to games; I was actually regretting coming to the arena. As someone who normally stays until the bitter-end regardless of the score I was finding myself feeling like leaving after a couple of periods. I think part of that was the team and lacklustre way they went through the motions of playing, but a considerable slice was due to the dumbing-down of the game itself. It's not the game I remember or even enjoy watching much anymore, so maybe this move came at the right time as I (sadly) have not missed it at all this year.

[scrunt]

I went to the Swift Current game last weekend. The venue was good, and there was a better vibe in the rink. More families and fewer jaded long time STH's. Row 1 corner seats were excellent - wide, comfortable, excellent sight lines, and permanent (not clanky removable ones like in most arenas) -- way better than the Coliseum.

Inside the rink it is fine, but the parking is a pain, especially exiting. I suppose if I went regularly I would fine-tune the best parking spots. However, with no neighbourhood street parking and few transit options, I suspect 90%+ of attendees park in the on-site lots, compared to probably far less than 50% for the Coliseum. To make matters worse, all the lots feed onto to two streets and through one main intersection, hence the exit bottleneck. The lot I was leaving had a someone directing traffic to right-exit only, but that was in completely the wrong direction to where I wanted to go. From the time I left the rink to getting home was 70 min. compared to 10 min from the PNE. Getting there is harder to compare since I went early and used the trip to visit the Hockey Shop in Surrey, but 45 min. versus 15 min. is a reasonable expectation. So an extra 90 min of driving...

Anyway, enough on logistics. The game was typical of recent seasons, and as usual I enjoyed the interaction with the other fans as much or more than the game itself.

I think the moves Hanlon has made are definitely in the right direction, but the previous management depleted the team so badly that he is dealing from a position of weakness. I like the Skeoch for Mennell deal, and also have no problem with the Ramsay for Bruce deal (gaining size without losing age). The Rayman pickup also seems decent; we got him for nothing and he has good size and some ruggedness.

Although I enjoyed going to a game again and I like the direction, I have no desire to see many games this year in Langley. In fact, I'm more likely to do a road trip to watch the Giants play some of the US division teams.

I still look back and lament that it was the actions of ownership and management, rather than the team's record, that alienated me. Waffling over the hiring of coaches and the GM, short-sighted moves to try and make the playoffs while in last place, gimmicky and tacky game night themes, bad scouting and player development, all served to drain me of any connection with the team.