The Vancouver Giants kicked off February much the same way they’ve spent every other month this season, with back-to-back losses to the Kelowna Rockets. Outscored by a combined score of 10-1 in the home-and-home series, the G-men continue to mess with a troublesome combination: they can’t score, and have trouble keeping pucks out of their own net.

In fact, no other team has given up as many goals as the Giants in 2012-13. They’ve allowed 229 goals in 53 outings, or 4.32 goals per game. Combine that with the fifth-worst offense — 142 goals, or 2.68 per game — and it’s a recipe for just 13 wins all season. Sitting squarely at the bottom of the Western Hockey League table, the Giants have been all but mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. With 19 games remaining, they sit 17 points out of a playoff spot in the WHL Western Conference. Keep in mind that this is a system that admits eight of ten teams into the post-season dance. This will be the first time the Giants don’t make the playoffs since their inaugural season in 2001-02.

One of the biggest problems for this year’s team is a lack of skill. It’s a roster full of pluggers — hey, that can be entertaining, if everyone works hard for 60 minutes, but the team has a predilection for mental lapses and facepalm-worthy errors on a nightly basis. Case in point, Kelowna’s first goal in the 5-1 loss on Friday night: just seconds into the game, first-pairing defenseman Mason Geertsen whiffed the puck inside the Giants blueline, right onto the stick of Rockets forward Cody Fowlie. In the blink of an eye, a pass went cross-crease to Tyrell Goulbourne, and BAM! Kelowna had an easy tap-in past a hapless Jared Rathjen in the Vancouver net. It’s a goal that would break a team’s back at the best of times, but in the opening two minutes of a home game? Killer.

Yes, this is a young team, but it’s the Western Hockey League. They’re all young teams.

More after the jump.

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