The Vancouver Giants end their 2014-15 season this weekend with a home-and-home against Kelowna, the top team in the Western Conference. While the Giants are out of the playoff picture thanks to a nine-game losing skid down the stretch, the Rockets have been on auto-pilot the past six weeks or so in preparation for a long playoff run.
Cody Porter has had good games and bad, but you can’t place all the blame for the Giants season on his rookie shoulders. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the head.
It was a roller coaster year for the Giants, who came out of the gate flying before losing 18 of 24 games under Troy G Ward. Replacement coach Claude Noel seemed to buoy the team nicely — a new bench boss often has an invigorating effect — and with four weeks left in the year they’d managed to scrape themselves into a playoff spot.
The Vancouver Giants won their season-high fifth straight game Friday night, turning in what Brendan Batchelor lauded as a high point in his stint as the team’s play-by-play man:
Mason Geertsen scored his third of the year on a power play to open the scoring in a 6-3 win over the Victoria Royals. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
From Mason Geertsen’s third goal of the season late in the first to Tyler Benson’s third period shorty, the Giants played a solid 60 minutes and were full marks for the 6-3 win. Six different G-Men scored, and Payton Lee made 26 saves in the win.
Look for some colourful Christmas wear on Saturday night, as these same two teams do the second half of the home-and-home on Ugly Sweater Night at the Coliseum. We at Pucked in the Head dare you to have as much fun as these five beauties:
These beautiful Aussies were some of the most vocal ugly sweater wearers at a 2012 Giants game — we at PITH challenge you to outdo them this year! Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Or even these folks:
The folks from the Now That’s Ugly Society fundraise for the Make a Wish Foundation, and have loads of fun along the way. Check ’em out at http://nowthatsugly.com/.
It’s a bit of an ironic time for the Giants to go on a tear, as their crosstown NHL brethren in blue and green are in the middle of their longest losing streak of the season. The Canucks still sit high in the standings, however, based upon a strong first quarter. The Giants, on the other hand, languish at the bottom of the Western Conference despite garnering a full ten points in the last five games.
Still, it’s probably not a coincidence that the run comes with a new coach behind the bench. It’ll be interesting to hear at the end of the season just what Claude Noel brought to the room that Troy G Ward didn’t:
Claude Noel about to go 4-0 as @whlgiants head coach. That's one more win than team had in its previous 15 games. Been a good week.
Third-year forward Marek Tvrdon finally scored his first goal of the season the other night. With that monkey off his back, he relaxed his way to a four-point night, including a hat trick, to lead the Giants to a 4-1 win over the visiting Victoria Royals. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Coming into Friday night’s hockey game, a lot of people were talking about #17 on the Victoria Royals roster. And deservedly so. With 18 points in 14 games, Alex Gogolev is one of the top scorers in the WHL. His fluid skating style and flashy puckhandling make him a threat every time he steps on the ice.
But it was the Vancouver Giants #17 who stole the show this night. Marek Tvrdon quadrupled his goal total for the season, notching a hat trick and adding an assist to help the Giants to just their third win of the season.
Alex Gogolev scored the dramatic game-tying goal to send the Victoria Royals on to a 4-3 overtime win over Marek Langhamer and the Medicine Hat Tigers. Photo courtesy of Jon Howe – Victoria Royals
Our Victoria correspondent Adrian Charlie took time away from his film review schedule to hit his second Royals game of the young season. He was treated to a Royal drama in three acts: a dismal start, a furious parry from the homeside, and the excitement of overtime to top it all off.
This is the only time the Tigers visit Victoria during the regular season. Both clubs entered the game with identical records (3-1-0), the Tigers on a three-game winning streak, the Royals looking to bounce back after their first loss. The Tigers have the WHL Player of the Week on their side: Calgarian prospect Hunter Shinkaruk had two goals and five assists in his first four games of the season.
The Tigers came flying out of the gate early, Trevor Cox netting the first goal on the game’s first shot. Through much of the first period the visitors displayed a stingy forecheck, controlling the neutral zone with ease. Cox added a PPG to put the Tigers up 2-0 going into the second period. At this point the Royals were scoreless in four consecutive periods.
Early in the second, the Royals applied pressure, setting up deep in the offensive zone. Marek Langhamer (Phoenix Coyotes draftee) demonstrated great vision, making saves through heavy traffic.
At the 13:44 mark, Elgin Pearce fed a streaking Shinkaruk who placed a gorgeous snap shot high blocker side on Polivka, extending the Tigers lead 3-0. Two minutes later Jamie Crooks put the Royals on the scoreboard with a hard-working effort, tapping the puck in after a blocked pass by a sprawling Tiger defender. At the 19:34 mark the Royals went on a late power play. The Royals won the faceoff, set up traffic and Magee scored a PPG, deflecting a Stahl slapshot from the blue line. With momentum on their side the Royals entered the third period down 3-2.
Halfway through the third, Crooks attempted to dangle past Spenser Jensen. Jensen drove Crooks hard into the boards, knocking Crooks’ visor off. Crooks looked gassed as he skated to the bench, but he stayed in the game.
With six minutes left Langhamer put on a goaltending clinic under siege. In quick succession the Royals forwards forced the Medicine Hat goalie to make four impressive pad saves.
With two minutes left in the game, Royals coach Lowry pulled Polivka. Gogolev tied the game after a silky cross-crease pass from Ben Walker. A roaring crowd of 4,055 stood on their feet as the buzzer sounded, the game tied 3-3 after regulation.
Logan Nelson carried the puck from the right wing with speed, his wraparound foiled by a Tigers defender. The puck was loose in front of the net, Royals defender Brett Cote pinched up and scored the GWG, his second goal of the season. Once again the crowd stood on their feet. The Royals scored 4 unanswered goals. There’s nothing like a come from behind win!
Post-Game Notes:
“Hardest Working Player of the Game” – Austin Carroll (VIC)
At the Victoria Royals home opener Adrian Charlie met a real estate agent by the name of Mark Donnelly. One can only assume he doesn’t wear the cummerbund during open houses. Anyway, this Donnelly fella apparently sings anthems for a hockey team or two in his spare time. Photo courtesy of Adrian Charlie.
Well, I was wrong. After letting in 5 goals on 17 shots in Friday’s opening night loss at the Pacific Coliseum, Giants goaltender Liam Liston did not ride the bench in the next day’s rematch. He performed better, but got the same result: a loss to the Victoria Royals. Pucked in the Head’s new friend Adrian Charlie (@Adrian_Charlie on the Twitter) was in the building, and offers this game recap:
Victoria Royals 3, Vancouver Giants 2 – September 22, 2012
by Adrian Charlie
The Victoria Royals played host to the Vancouver Giants on Saturday in the team’s home opener. The Royals carried momentum going into their second game of the season after defeating those same Giants 6-4 the night before.
Newly-christened Giants captain Wes Vannieuwenhuizen was a physical presence but hit the scoresheet with an unimpressive 0G/0A/-2 in the 2012-13 season opener. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Some things never change. Even with the NHL locked out, hockey fans in Vancouver are wondering just who will be the #1 goaltender for the home team.
No, not the Canucks — pretty much everyone agrees, for better or for worse, that Roberto Luongo’s days are numbered around here — I’m talking about the Giants. Newly-acquired third-year netminder Liam Liston didn’t inspire much confidence during the 2012-13 home opener Friday night, giving up five goals on 17 shots in a 6-4 loss to the Victoria Royals. Rookie Tyler Fuhr will almost certainly get the start in the second half of the back-to-back in the capital Saturday.
