Giants improve to 5-0-0-1 on season, after 10-2 beating to Seattle

The Vancouver Giants head into their Saturday night matchup with Portland, leading the WHL in points. There have been many great storylines already, such as rookie sensation Jordan Weal with the Regina Pats (more on them in a second), Giants rookie backup netminder Jamie Tucker with two shutouts, and the Giants leading the league, by one point over Swift Current and Calgary.

Vancouver has scored 33 goals this year, 9 more than the team in second place in that department, the Calgary Hitmen. They have only allowed 10 goals, which is second in the league, two goals behind Spokane.

The Giants look like the team from two years ago, when they captured the Memorial Cup, only a bit more physical, and that's debatable.

Now, speaking of the Regina Pats, I have an interview from their voice, Rod Pedersen, that I'm going to be posting after this post. Mr Pedersen is a true hockey fan, and phenomenal broadcaster as well, as I found myself listening to his call, rather than that on TV, when his Saskatchewan Roughriders captured the Grey Cup last season. It's an honour to interview him.

Back to the G-Men...

The Giants second game of the season was in Kamloops, where rookie netminder Jamie Tucker faced off against Jon Groenheyde, despite Giants full-time goalie Tyson Sexsmith returning that day from San Jose training camp. It looks as though Vancouver will feature a rotating goalie-schedule, similar to the one with Dustin Slade and Tyson Sexsmith two years ago, before Slade walked away from the Giants.

In this game in Kamloops, Vancouver was up 2-0 early, after a goal from James Wright, off of a Brent Regner pass, and Evander Kane, whose goal was assisted by Craig Schira. The Blazers answered back with a goal later on in the first, but Vancouver managed another tally in the goal column, after Casey Pierro-Zabotel's first of the campaign. Kamloops fought back with two more goals, tying the game at 3 going into Overtime.

Fights: In this game, Giants enforcer Todd Kennedy got into it with Cole Grbavac...with this one getting a draw.

Overtime came and went, with no goals, so onto the Shootout.

Vancouver's first three shooters, CPZ, James Wright and Mike Piluso, couldn't find any net behind Groenheyde, nor could Kamloops' first two snipers. Their third, however, beat Jamie Tucker, with CJ Stretch's shootout winner. 4-3 Kamloops was the final.

Road Kill Sports Three Stars:

1. CJ Stretch, Kamloops: An assist in regulation, as well as the Shootout winner.

2. Evander Kane, Vancouver: Kandy Kane had a goal and an assist in this one, but wasn't called on in the shootout.

3. Giffen Nyren, Kamloops: Nyren had two assists, which ultimately helped his team to victory.

HOME OPENER:

Vancouver returned home after that game in the Interior, to face BC Division rival Prince George, in what was their home opener, as well. Tyson Sexsmith made his first appearance of the season, facing off against Kevin Armstrong of the Cougars.

The G-Men were faced with a 1-1 tie after a period, thanks to a Craig Cunningham goal, assisted by Regner and Wright on the PP, before the Cougars answered back with Brian Matte's first of the campaign, also on the Powerplay.

Neil Manning helped Vancouver regain the lead with his second of the season, from Adam Basford, but 30 seconds later, Brett Connolly evened things out with his 2nd of the year.

After that, Vancouver slaughtered the Cougars. Craig Schira tallied his first of the season, credit Cunningham and Basford with assists, before a pair of powerplay markers really opened up the game for Vancouver. Neil Manning scored his 2nd of the game, as did Craig Schira. On both goals, there were two assists, Evander Kane, Garry Nuun, Mikhail Fisenko and Lance Bouma, getting credited.

A rebound goal, scored by Brendan Gallagher, the 5'6 rookie's first in the WHL, was assisted by sophomore James Henry. Evander Kane added his first of the game, and 3rd of the year, in the final frame, from Nuun and CPZ, before Vancouver gave Prince George another goal, on the Powerplay.

7-3 was the score, and Vancouver out-shot the Cougars 40-27.

Tyson Sexsmith stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced, and Cougars netminder Kevin Armstrong saved 16 of 22, before getting pulled in favour of Ian Curtis, a 6'5 goaltender. Curtis gave up a goal, on 18 shots.

Road Kill Sports Three Stars:

1. Craig Schira, Vancouver: The Giants captain scored his first two goals of the season, and lead his club to victory, as well.

2. Neil Manning, Vancouver: The sophomore D-Man had a pair of goals, in this thumping.

3. Brendan Gallagher, Vancouver: Despite having only one goal, Gallagher was a force on the ice, despite being just 5'6. He scored his first goal in his short WHL career, as well, on a rebound.

TO PORTLAND WE GO:

After the Home Opener, Vancouver travelled on the bus down the I-5, where they battled the Portland Winterhawks, at the Memorial Coliseum. For those who don't know, Portland has struggled immensley over the last few seasons, and are considered one of the joke teams in the league. I don't feel that way, so no dis-respect to them, but they need to turn things around.

Vancouver dominated the game, with Rookie goaltender Jamie Tucker picking up his 2nd WHL shutout in his 3rd game. Vancouver won 5-0, and out-shot the 'Hawks 35-19.

Adam Basford had a goal in the first period, and Mike Piluso had one in the middle frame.

In the 3rd, Vancouver scored three goals, all in the last 1:15 of the game. Mike Piluso scored one on the Powerplya, before Brendan Gallagher added one seconds later, his 2nd of the season. Lance Bouma had his 2nd of the campaign with 8 seconds remaining in the game, as well.

Portland goalie Jordan White saved 30 shots, of the 35 he faced between the pipes.

Road Kill Sports Three Stars:

1. Mike Piluso, Vancouver: Piluso scored his 2nd and 3rd goals of the season, and proved he deserves to be with the Giants.

2. Brendan Gallagher, Vancouver: I love this kid on the ice, he's small, fast, and feisty, as well. Gallagher had an assist, to go along with his goal in this game.

3. Jamie Tucker, Vancouver: Tucker saved all 19 shots that came his way, en-route to his second career Shutout.

GIANTS PROVE BRUINS ARE WACK:

To complete the 3 games in 3 nights last weekend, Vancouver was close to home, battling the Bruins of Chilliwack, about an hour away from the Pacific Coliseum. It may have been a road game, but the Giants seemed right at home, winning 4-1. Vancouver managed 38 shots on goal, to the 26 Chilliwack had.

This game was like most Bruins-Giants games, lots of goals, and grit. Todd Kennedy battled Liam Darragh of the Bruins, but unfortunately for Kennedy, he hurt himself during the fight and will be out for a week.

Mike Berube dropped the gloves with Partik Bhungal, and Jesse Craige of the Bruins was given a 10 minute misconduct.

James Wright opened the scoring at 14:37 of the first period, with Garry Nuun and Adam Basford getting the helpers.

In the middle frame, Mikhail Fisenko scored his first goal in the WHL, off of a Jon Blum pass, who got the puck from CPZ, on the Powerplay. 2-0 Giants.

Evander Kane netted his 4th of the season, from CPZ and Regner in the 3rd, before the Giants bid for a second consecutive shutout was ruined, due to Ryan Howse's first goal of 2008.

Jon Blum did manage his first of the year, in his first game, from Nuun and Wright, at 17:35 of the third.

Mark Friesen stopped 34 of 38 shots between the pipes, and Sexsmith allowed just a goal, on 26 shots.

Road Kill Sports Three Stars:

1. Jon Blum, Vancouver: Tired, and fatigued from his first NHL camp, Jon Blum made his season debut as Giants captain, and didn't disappoint, scoring a goal, helping on another and finishing the night with a team-high +3 rating.

2. James Wright, Vancouver: The Price was 'Wright' for James, who had a goal and an assist, as well as a +2 rating on the night.

3. Evander Kane, Vancouver: Kandy Kane scored his 4th of the season, in just 5 games.

T-Birds get mauled by Giants:

Vancouver opened October, the same way they finished September, with a dishing to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Vancouver beat Seattle 10-2, and had two less goals, than Seattle did shots. In fact, Seattle managed a lone shot in the first period, to Vancouver's 15. And in the 3rd, the Giants had 3 shots, and all of which were goals.

Vancouver had three goals in the first period, one by Mike Berube, his first of the year, another by Andrej Kudrna, his first in the WHL, and another by Garry Nuun, his first of the campaign as well. Evander Kane, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, James Henry, Craig Schira, Adam Basford and Jon Blum all had assists.

The middle frame came and went, with 4 more Giants goals. The first, by Kudrna, assisted by Henry, the second from Adam Basford, his second goal of the season, another by Pierro-Zabotel, he now has a pair on the season, and finally from James Henry, who had assists going out to Andrej Kudrna and Brendan Gallagher on the play. It was Henry's first goal in the 2008-2009 season.

Evander Kane opened the 3rd period up with a goal, he now has points in all 6 of his games thus far, with 5 goals as well. His assists were dished out to Berube, and goalie Tyson Sexsmith.

Seattle's first goal of the night came at 11:45 of the third, scored by David Richard. It broke up Tyson Sexsmith's shutout.

Andrej Kudrna completed his first hat-trick in the WHL, on the night he scored his first goal. CPZ had an assist, on the short-handed marker.

James Wright added an unassisted goal at 13:23, and Sena Acolatse scored his first of the year for Seattle, with 10-2 being the final score.

It was a thumping to say the least, and the Giants played excellent hockey.

Road Kill Sports Three Stars:

1. Andrej Kudrna, Vancouver: On the night he scored his first WHL goal, Kudrna managed a hat trick. He had a Powerplay goal, an even-strength goal, as well as a short-handed tally to cap off his night of firsts, and thirds.

2. Evander Kane, Vancouver: One of the faces of the Franchise, Evander Kane scored a goal and had two assists in the beating, and has 5 goals on the season, to go along with his 10 points.

3. Mike Berube, Vancouver: Picking up his first two points of the season, a goal and an assist, Berube was +4, which was tied for a team lead in that game.

Vancouver gets back on the ice tonight against Portland, before resting up until next week, with a pair of home games, against Kelowna on Friday, and Prince Albert on Sunday. The play Everett on the 15th, wrapping up the homestand.