Enthusiasm At LEC

As the Giants hit the ice for the 2016-17 season; the long wait is finally over and while the team is excited, one could sense the enthusiasm from the fans.

Arriving early was essential for not only the media, but also the fans and given the fact the rink was turning away requests, it’ll be interesting to see if the hype continues.

Despite the hype the fans came and were on time for the opening with a sell-out crowd for the G-men and in their new home.

The opening was an impressive tribute to Mr. Hockey; Gordie Howe with members of the family on hand for the ceremonial puck drop.

The game started with a fast pace only to have the Giants #22 Osipov assessed the teams first penalty in the early season.

Not only a bad penalty to take, it gave the Silvertips the chance to put pressure on Kubic as well as get the early lead in the game.

Vancouver’s first shot on goal came off the stick of Langley’s James Malm at 3:14 of the first only to be followed by an impressive save by Malm.

As impressive as the LEC looks and feel’s, given the atmosphere the one thing missing are the media room conversations from the late Charlie Hodge.

Hodge was a fixture at the Giants game at the PNE over the past years and as ironic as it might sound; it was Charlie that initially mentioned to Dale Saip that they should relocate to the LEC from the PNE.

Some might question Charlie’s motive, but to him it was never a matter of distance, but rather about the product the Giants would put on the ice.

Try as they might it was the Silvertips that got the first goal in the Giants new home as well as the second and third

All three coming 3:05 apart with the Giants managing only two until the 2:55 mark when they finally managed to get one behind Silvertips “tender” Petit.

As much as there was a hype in the building Everett got the fifth goal a short 37 seconds later to take a 5-1 lead.

With the first coming to an end the Giants were sent on the PP with 20 seconds remaining in the first, which would carry over to the second.

After one period the Giants were being outshot by a 19-4 margin and one question several were pondering was if the Giants will make a goaltending change to start the second.

Thoughts were one thing, but the Giants stuck with Kubic to see if they team could get some stronger offensive play.

The conversation in the media room between periods mostly focused on the atmosphere in the building as well as the changes made by the Giants.

It took just over half a period before the Giants scored the second of the game, which ironically was the second of the game for Dawson Holt on the10th shot of the game.

The second ended with a much more up tempo style game at both ends of the rink, with the advantage going to Everett.

After two period the Giants were trailing by a 5-1 margin as well as being outshot 19-5.

The third period was as much of a battle between the pipes with both Kubic and Petit playing solid in goal, but the outcome saw the Silvertips leave with two points with a 7-3 victory.

Interesting to note that the LEC lists the capacity crowd of 5,276, which includes (maybe) 700 standing patrons.

The Giants (I was told) had set seating capacity at 4,500 as a manner of getting accustomed to the building, but the total attendance for this game was just over 4,800.

We were told that the Giants average attendance last season at the Coliseum was 5,169 – again which is based on an overall average and not per game.

Giants Centre Dawson Holt (17) had two goals in the losing cause, whereas last season he failed to ripple the twine in any of his 40 games last season.

The other lone goal was scored by Giants forward Jack Flaman, while Millar and Skoleski each had two for Everett.

Both Vancouver and Everett listed 12 scratches on the night because of to injuries and pro camps.

The Giants were without team Captain Tyler Benson (Edmonton Oilers), Ty Ronning (New York Rangers), last year’s 31-goal man.

Also newest Giants defenceman Darian Skeoch (Anaheim Ducks) was also at pro camp.

Centre Thomas Foster was out due to a lower body injury, while Alec Baer is out with an upper body injury for this contest.

Everett had a total of seven (7) scratches which included starting goalie Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers) and defenceman Noah Juulsen (Montreal Canadians).

Vancouver’s next home game is September 27^th as they host Prince George Cougars

Giant News:

The Vancouver Giants announced the hockey club has acquired 1998-born winger Taden Rattie from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for a sixth round WHL Bantam Draft pick in 2017.

“We’re looking forward to adding Taden to our roster,” said General Manager Glen Hanlon. “He’s a big forward who will bring some size and grit to our lineup right away.”

Rattie, who hails from Airdrie, Alberta, is listed at 6’4” and 191 lbs. The 18-year-old played 25 games for the Rebels in 2015/16, scoring one goal along the way.

He is the younger brother of former Portland Winterhawk standout Ty Rattie.

All photo’s by D. Laird Allan – Sportswave’s Official Photographer