A Kid-Packed Nooner – Hooky Day Win In Extra Time

Giants Shave Warriors
Vancouver 3 Moose Jaw 2 OT

A nooner with a flash mob and masses of kidlings occupying the upper reaches of the Coliseum, to the tune of 10K+ in the arena. Not the best game by any stretch, but there were some nice moments. Jack the Giant got his head ripped off by the slingshot thingy (first time I’ve seen that) and there seemed to be great preponderance of people in suits trying to drag the slingshot back into launch position. One contestant was flung off sideways and the other dived too early and had to crawl to the pins. A Jack and two contestants and one whole pin down. Flash mob was good and lively during the ice-scrape break in the second intermission. The videos and incessant yammering through the intermissions were mostly just that. Kind of poorly thought through in my mind, but whatever – acceptance was the word of the day as the anti-bullying messages flashed across the screen.

Back to the game. Rough first period, where the Giants just could not connect, relied more on individual effort than team unity and didn’t really battle to get their chances. Moose Jaw was playing their second nooner in two days edging the Royals 4-3 after scoring twice in the first two minutes of that tilt. Moose Jaw opened the scoring in the first minute of the second when the Giants could not clear the puck from their zone and gave up the puck (badly) four separate times when they had the opportunity to get it out. I am adding a doghouse tonight because there is one player today who totally pissed me off. Puck support was awful in this game and the Giants spent a lot time trying low-percentage long passes. It was another example of individuals trying to do too much. The Giants hit some red iron and lacked finish around the net. They really should have taken this game handily, but made it tougher on themselves than it should have been. Anyway, the Giants bounced back tying the game on a rare PP and then adding the go ahead goal in the final minute of the second. How many times have the Giants rescued a period scoring in the final minute this year? I would hazard to guess double digits. Moose Jaw tied it up early in the third off of yet another nothing play and a bad give-away by the home squad in their own zone. The Giants earned the win in the final minute of extra time with a beautiful finishing play starting off the side boards.

The two teams skated to a 0-0 draw after the opening frame. Moose Jaw opened the scoring when the Giants were simply unable to clear the puck from their zone. Blame effort and poor decisions with the puck. As I watched us struggle in our own end I could feel the MJ goal coming. I was the crazy guy, sitting alone in the corner talking to himself with occasional out-bursts and more board pounding than I expected to do – hi. Thomas Foster tied it up on the PP. Mason Geertsen worked the puck down to Tyler Benson who got the puck to Foster at the side of the net. Foster spun and took a shot, which bounced off the Warriors back-up netminder and was batted in (by the Moose Jaw ‘tender) as the goalie tried to recover and find the puck. The Giants took their first lead in the final minute of the second when Geertsen wired a puck from the point. Benson and Clayton Kirichenko had the other helpers. The Jaw tied it up off of an unassisted play in the third. The Gs were not able to get into those really nice scoring areas in the third period and barely held on for the point as the Warriors brought some late pressure. Payton Lee might have earned that point stoning a skilled Warrior on the breakaway late in the final frame. Geertsen scored in OT coming down the slot, as Benson cut off the side-boards and into an open area, dishing the puck to a wide open pinching Mason. Carter Popoff had the second assist on the play. It was a very smart hockey play by a great playmaker and although I would love to see Benson shoot a lot more there is no doubting his superior vision of the ice. This kid is going to be fun to watch grow up.

Team Notes: I noticed in the stats sheet today that the only Giant player to suit up for all 57 (now 58) games this season is Popoff. Good to see Payton Lee back to take some pressure off of Porter and a couple of nice wins in Kennwick and versus the Warriors today.

Fight Night: nope .. very little emotion although a few scrums

Zebra Cage: Mike Campbell and Nick Swaine. Not impressed with the zebras. I know I have said this before, but allowing the boys to play does not mean allowing them to cheat. Lots of holding and obstruction let go in the first period, mainly from the visitors. Sward gets levelled as he is trying to enter the zone and join the rush, which was pretty clearly interference and Payton Lee is run into with no call. I love that Osipov is called for roughing after the Warrior he hit slashed Lee’s glove after the whistle. They both should have gone, but I will take that roughing call any time. Nice punch.

The Giants out shot the Warriors 32-25. The Giants went 1 for 2 on the PP and perfect on the PK holding the Warriors to 0 for 3. I liked the look of both special teams units. I would have liked a less passive PK and a bit more challenging of the puck carrier, but it was solid. I never really had a clear hard hat in mind while watching the game and found myself wondering who to pick half-way through the third period. Geertsen came to mind for sure, but despite all the points he got in the game he struggled a bit in his own end at times. I liked Benson’s game, but he was lacking that real finish until the end. He is one player who has to learn how to trust his teammates and use his vision and a bit of patience to really dissect defenses. If he ever really gets that into his head with the confidence to back it up there will be no stopping him.

The three stars were kind of a joke, in my opinion. The Warriors tender was solid, but really if our boys hadn’t been missing the net, flubbing on a clear cut breakaway (Foster) and hitting red iron then he would have looked very ordinary. Lee had a couple of big stops, but not star worthy in my mind – maybe third. I really did not like the second goal, which he had a piece of but bobbled badly. I guess this is sounding pretty negative for a victory, but there were really nice flashes and players trying to generate chances, but not quite getting there. Stukel was one of those players with jump, but no finish. I liked our hitting today. I think we laid the body nicely.

The Giants head down to Portland for a Friday tilt before coming back for a game on Saturday versus division rivals Kamloops Blazers. Let’s hope we do not waste our game in hand against the Blazers and really take it to them. We need to maintain third place in the BC Division and a win versus Kamloops would help a lot. Should be a hungry, hotly contested game.

Three Stars

1. Brody Willms
2. Payton Lee
3. Mason Geertsen

Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to Mason Geertsen. 2G and 1A and in on all three goals, gets the game-winner and has a solid night (day). Although not perfect by any means (none of the boys were) he scored when he needed to and made some smart pinches both offensively and defensively

Dondo’s Doghouse: Josh Thrower. I swear this kid has some of worst defensive instincts I have seen in a while. Maybe I’m being unfair, but bad giveaways, consistently unable to get the puck out of his zone in the game, soft on the puck and then taking a useless charging penalty, by leaping with his forearm extended into a players face in the neutral zone for no real reason or purpose. It was the first penalty call of the game and was called when the Warriors had the lead and momentum. It could have really turned game the Warriors way had the Giants not killed the ensuing penalty. I really hope he changes my mind the next time I see him, but I think he’s been defensively suspect since joining the team. Today was just one of those days I was really keying on him and I was not pleased with what I was seeing.