WHL Vancouver Giants

THIS WEEK IN GIANTS HOCKEY

November 17, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release


VANCOUVER BC - The Vancouver Giants posted a 3-1 record this week, finally falling from the ranks of the undefeated in regulation on Remembrance Day versus the Chilliwack Bruins, but finishing the week strong with back to back wins over Division Rivals, the Kelowna Rockets, before taking care of teh Portland WinterHawks on Sunday night.

This past Tuesday, The Vancouver Giants took 18 games to do what every other WHL team has already done at least four times this season...lose in regulation. The Chilliwack Bruins ended their run of futility against the Giants by hanging on for a 3-2 decision before a holiday crowd of 4631 at Prospera Centre.

The Giants started out once again guns a blazing, as Garry Nunn was able to convert an Evander Kane turnover into a top shelf goal past the startled Bruins goaltender Mark Friesen, just 1:35 into the opening period. For Nunn, it was his fourth of the season as he has now scored in back to back games. For Evander Kane, the lone assist extends his point streak to 18 games, tops in the WHL. Kane's marker also allowed him to jump into first place in the WHL scoring race.

After a great start, the Giants found themselves in penalty trouble. Over the past nine road games, the Giants had been outstanding on the penalty kill, successfully killing off 50 of 53 opportunities against and being successful nearly 95% of the time. Tonight would not be a night that followed form on the PK, as newest Bruin Andy Smith was able to find a loose puck behind the Vancouver goal and beat Tyson Sexsmith on the wrap-around to tie the score at 1-1, 9:29 first period.

The tie wouldn't last for long, as just 1:32 later; the Bruins would have their lead. Andy Smith with his second of the night would convert a Randy McNaught feed to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Before the period was complete, the Bruins would double their lead. With the Giants again in the penalty box, Swedish forward Alexander Wiklund would pounce on a loose puck and on his second chance would bury his fifth goal of the season behind Sexsmith. Despite being outshot 14-6 by the Giants in period number one, the Bruins would go to the locker room with a 3-1 lead.

The second period was like the first for Vancouver, except they kept the puck out of their own goal. Despite relentless pressure and an onslaught of 19 shots in the second period, only Adam Basford was able to beat Friesen to cut the lead to one. In the dying seconds of the period, with Chilliwack scrambling in front of their net minder, Basford was able to shovel the puck past Friesen for his third of the year. At 19:51 of the second, Basford cut the lead to one.

In the third period, the Bruins were able to hold off the continuous Giants pressure to secure the victory. The best chance of the period belonged to Evander Kane, who found himself all alone out front after a brilliant play by Jonathon Blum. Unfortunately for Kane, the puck rolled off his stick as he shot, bouncing the puck wide.

The Bruins post their first ever regulation victory against the Giants while the Giants fall for the first time in 18 games this season, their record falling to 14-1-0-3.

On Wednesday, the Giants would have an immediate chance to rectify the situation, but it wouldn't be easy against the Kelowna Rockets. You knew that over the course of a season, your goaltender is going to win you a few games...tonight was one of those games.

Giants goaltender Tyson Sexsmith was superb, stopping 36 of 37 shots faced and leading the Vancouver Giants to a 3-1 win over the Kelowna Rockets. Sexsmith made countless Kelowna scoring opportunities look tame, turning what had to be at least a dozen high quality scoring chances on the night into routine saves. There wasn't a weak link in the Vancouver net minder's game on Wednesday, and the Giants needed every one of those saves to pull out a victory.

The first period saw the Kelowna Rockets come out flying after a week off. The continuous pressure and physical play led to a pair of back to back penalties against the Giants. After a bench minor for a too many men penalty followed by a Brendan Gallagher tripping penalty, the Giants found themselves down two players for over a minute midway through the period. Enter Sexsmith...who dazzled with three or four enormous saves, allowing the Giants the opportunity to kill off the penalties and get on a power play late in period one. Brent Regner took a pass from Evander Kane and snapped a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. Rockets rookie Adam Brown had the Regner shot clip the top of his glove and flip up and over his shoulder into the net. 1-0 Vancouver on Regner's third of the year from Kane and Casey Pierro-Zabotel at 16:53.

On the very next shift, the Rockets would strike back. Mitchell Callahan would track down a blocked shot out of his own zone and race away on a breakaway. Callahan would skate in a top speed and beat Sexsmith with a wrist shot glove side to tie things at one, just 27 seconds later at 17:20. The Rockets would outshoot the Giants 14-8 and had many of the great chances.

The second period would remain scoreless, once again thanks to the play in the crease of both Sexsmtih and Brown. Both clubs had some nice opportunities to take the lead, but neither net minder would budge. Shots on goal again favoured the Rockets, this time by a 11-9 margin.

In the third period, the Giants started to get their game on track and that led to a penalty by the Rockets Lukas Matejka. Matejka would get whistled for tripping Craig Cunningham and the number one ranked power play would get to work. In the late stages of the power play, some nifty passing from Craig Schira and James Wright would end up on the stick of Slovakian forward Andrej Kudrna. Kudrna's quick shot would deflect off a defender and past Brown to give the Giants the lead at 7:03. Kudrna now has 9 goals on the season and has been great on a line with James Wright over the past few games.

Brendan Gallagher would double the lead a few minutes later...but what a strange goal! Gallagher would take the initial shot from the top of the slot. The shot was tipped high into the air by the stick of Kelowna defender Tyler Myers and looked to be an easy basket catch save for the goaltender Adam Brown. Not so fast! The other defenseman on the play for Kelowna, Aaron Borejko, would attempt to bat the puck out of harm's way with his glove. What ensued was a scene out of the Bad News Bears as Brown and Borejko, looking like they were a couple of outfielders that didn't call each other off to make the catch, come together and have the puck bounce off the glove of Borejko and into the back of the net...unbelievable! Gallagher would get his fourth goal of the season and that would turn out to be the final nail in the coffin for the Rockets, as they would have no answer for the two Giants third period tallies.

The Giants would be outshot in a game for the first time all season by a 37-24 margin. Tyson Sexsmith was outstanding and takes the win for the Giants with 36 saves on 37 shots. Adam Brown would take his first WHL loss, falling to 7-1 on the season as he would make 21 of 24 saves in the loss

The Giants would make it back to back against the Rockets, with a 5-3 victory at the Pacific Coliseum on Friday night. Vancouver returned to the Pacific Coliseum and also returned to 60 minutes of hard work, defeating the Kelowna Rockets for the second straight game in front of the largest home crowd of the season.

The 11,555 fans were treated to a solid home showing by the G-Men, who led throughout once they opened the scoring at the 17:21 mark of period one. After taking a pass from Garry Nunn at the left point, Regner smartly snapped a shot past the screened Adam Brown of the Rockets and the Giants were in business 1-0.

Regner's fifth goal of the season was a lot like his previous four; taking advantage of what the opposition was offering. Just 1:10 later, the Giants would take advantage of what Kelowna offered again. On the power play, Andrej Kudrna was able to get two or three whacks at the puck before his last effort careened off a hard charging James Wright and into the net. Wright's tenth goal of the season quickly turned a one goal lead into two, at 18:31. The period would end 2-0 with the Giants outshooting the Rockets by a 13-5 margin.

The Giants exhibited the same tenacity in period two. Great fore-checking, hard work along the wall and crisp passing led to a number of decent scoring chances, but no goals...until late in the period. Garry Nunn was once again involved, starting a three man rush that led to Evander Kane getting off a nice shot in the deep slot. Rockets goalie Adam Brown was able to kick out his right pad to make the save, but put the rebound right on the stick of Misha Fisenko. Fisenko would bury his fifth of the season and the Giants were on their way 3-0 at 17:07 of the second.

Late penalties by the Rockets in the second stanza would lead to power play opportunities in the third for Vancouver. Just one minute into period three, Evander Kane would add a goal to his earlier assist, with a wrist shot from down low, to the left of the goalie that seemed to fool Brown. Brown lets the Kane shot in and the Giants were now in a runaway at 4-0, one minute into the third period...or so they thought.

Back came the Rockets, led by Buffalo Sabres draft pick Tyler Myers. The 6'6" behemoth from DeWinton, Alberta was able to open the scoring for the Rockets with a shovel shot through a goal mouth scramble that made the score 4-1 at 5:15. Myers would add an assist at 13:01 of the third, as he and Tyson Barrie teamed up to feed Jamie Benn on the doorstep to cut the lead to 4-2. Just over a minute later, Myers was at it again, this time with a slick feed to Dylan Hood. Hood's one timer past Giants goalie Tyson Sexsmith made the score 4-3 at 14:11 and the Giants now had a fight on their hands.

The fight, however, was short lived as Garry Nunn was able to steal the puck from Rockets captain Colin Long and find the empty net from long range at 18:57 to seal the deal for Vancouver. For Nunn, three points on the night and a well deserved goal after a night of hard work.

To finish the week the G-Men handled the Portland WinterHawks 5-2. The Vancouver Giants overcame a stubborn Portland Winterhawks team with goals by Brent Regner, Jonathon Blum, Garry Nunn, James Henry and Evander Kane scored goals for the Giants in the victory while Killian Hutt and Radim Valchar scored in a losing cause for the WinterHawks.

Hutt opened the scoring for Portland mid-way through period one, converting a pretty feed from Cole Reddin and firing a shot that beat Giants goalie Jamie Tucker high, glove side. Brent Regner was able to tie things up before the end of the period, going coast to coast before beating Hawks keeper Keith Hamilton with a snap shot, blocker side. Regner tied it up 1-1 after one.

In the second period, both teams were locked in a tight checking battle. Midway through this well played period, the Giants were able to get the go ahead goal. Jonathon Blum launched a rocket through traffic from the right point. A power play goal and the Giants had the lead, 2-1 heading to the third period.

Vancouver was able to take advantage of a tired Portland team early in the third period. Garry Nunn was able to use his speed to create an opportunity. Nunn sped around the Portland defence, in behind the goal and beat Keith Hamilton on a wrap around to the far post. For Nunn, it was his second goal in as many games, and it gave the Giants some insurance at 3-1. Moments later, on a WinterHawks power play, James Henry was able to block a pass and sprang himself on a partial breakaway. With the Portland defence bearing down, Henry was able to fire the perfect shot, high glove side on Hamilton and the Giants were on their way at 4-1. Radim Valchar was able to cut the lead to two late in the period, but then Evander Kane was able to close things out...Kane took a lead pass at centre ice and with Travis Ehrhardt doing everything he could to stop him, Kane was able to win the battle and slide the puck into the empty net for a 5-2 win. Kane's goal extended his WHL leading point streak to 21 games.

Jamie Tucker stays undefeated in regulation, stopping 18 of 20 shots in the victory, while Keith Hamilton surrendered four goals before the empty netter and takes the loss for Portland.

Vancouver finishes the week off with a 3-1 record and continues on a torrid pace. The Giants are now 17-1-0-3 on the season and have opened up an eleven point lead on second place Kelowna in the BC Division and a six point lead on second place Spokane in the Western Conference. Vancouver still has two games in hand on the Rockets and one game in hand on the Chiefs.

Notes:

* After this week of play, the Vancouver Giants (17-1-0-3) once again have the best regulation loss record in the entire CHL. Vancouver stands alone with just one regulation loss while the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL), previously undefeated before the week as were the Giants, suffered two losses to fall to 18-2-2. The Windsor Spitfires (OHL) are also in the two loss category at 21-2.

* Evander Kane is now on a 21 game point streak. This past week, Kane was able to score twice and add three assists for five points. Kane continues to lead the WHL in points with 37 in 21 games, while Brett Sonne is second in scoring just one point behind, Kane has played in five fewer games than his Calgary counterpart.

* Tyson Sexsmith and Jamie Tucker continue to get it done between the pipes for the Giants. Sexsmith is now 11-1-0-2 with a 2.00 GAA (4th) and a .904 save percentage (12th). Jamie Tucker has a 6-0-0-1 record with a 1.52 GAA (1st) and a .932 save percentage (2nd).

* This defence never rests! The Vancouver Giants continue to get valuable contributions from their d-corps. The Giants defence has so far contributed 22 goals and 62 assists for 84 points and they are a combine +84! To break it down further, the Giants defence has scored 21.3% of the goals so far this year, they have 36.4% of all the assists and 30.7% of the points. Brent Regner is now a +21 on the season and leads the team.

What the score sheet isn't telling you...

The Giants are on a phenomenal run. Including last season, the Giants in their last 43 games, the Giants are 34-6-0-3. In their past 72 regular season games, the Giants have 53 wins, 14 losses and 5 shootout losses, which would give them 111 points over that stretch.

This time last season, the Giants were 14-5-1-1 for 30 points...they are currently seven points ahead of last year's pace which saw them post 49 wins and 106 points.

STANLEY CUP LEGENDS WEEK

The year was 1915...The Vancouver Millionaires, led by the Legendary Fred 'Cyclone' Taylor, swept the Ottawa Senators for Vancouver's one and only Stanley Cup. At the time, it was the farthest west that a team had captured Lord Stanley's Cup, and today it is still the only time in Vancouver's sport's history that the Holy Grail of Hockey can be called Vancouver's.

NOW...93 years later and one year removed from their 2007 Memorial Cup Championship, THE VANCOUVER GIANTS are set to bring the Stanley Cup back to Vancouver and the Pacific Coliseum for what will surely be one of the most memorable nights in Vancouver Hockey History!

On Friday, November 21, 2008 the Giants will host the Kamloops Blazers at 7:30pm and will celebrate Stanley Cup Legends Night by wearing Vancouver Millionaires jerseys and honouring the following Stanley Cup Winners who will be here in person for a special pre-game ceremony:

* Dave "The Hammer" Schultz (2 Cups)

* Gerry Cheevers (2 Cups)

* Johnny Bower (4 Cups)

* Steve Shutt (5 Cups)

* Yvon "Roadrunner" Cournoyer (10 Cups)

The first 5,000 fans through the doors will receive a commemorative poster featuring the Millionaires' famous team photo and a collage of the Stanley Cup Legends in attendance. Also, 100 random fans will win the chance to get autographs from all five Legends!

And of course the night wouldn't be complete without having the Stanley Cup on display!

Stanley Cup Legends Night is proudly presented by Save-on-Foods, Maple Leaf Foods, and Global Television.

Special thanks to VM Sports Ltd for their participation. Visit www.vancouvermillionaires.com

Check out the Vancouver Giants Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2008


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