Officials Up To Task

The Vancouver Giants finished the 2015 training camp at the Ladner Leisure Centre and it was interesting to see some of the sixteen year old players rise to impress the brass at camp.

True that there are spots open, but who will fill them and exactly when might be a question that only GM Scott Bonner and Head Coach Lorne Molleken can answer, maybe sooner than later.

As usual with the camp it’s a chance to use some up and coming young officials to work the scrimmage games and give them a taste of what the future might hold for one or more.

They along with the players rose to the occasion and showed not only myself the skill level they have but also showed the desire they possess to advance their careers.

The final weekend saw the lower mainland and surrounding area get hammered with a horrific wind storm that literally knocked out power to thousands of homes, rinks and in some cases for over 48 hours.

We maintained our power at home, but the cable went out due to the power disruption by BC Hydro and was no fault of Delta TV.

Regardless the camp went on without any real hitch and having the luxury of dealing with the Vancouver Giants, it’s great to get an insight from everyone from General Manager Scott Bonner to Lorne Milliken (Coach) as well as the team broadcaster Brendan Batchelor.

On yet another positive note, it’s great to see Paul Fricker return as the teams goaltending coach for the 2015 season after a short stint away.

The Giants hit the ice for a pair of pre-season games shown live on Delta TV for the community to get a touch of what the Giants are offering for the coming season.

The first game saw them host Kamloops where rivals Don Hay (former bench boss for the Giants) and Lorne Milliken went head-to-head in a battle of whit, skill and determination to see who could win this game-like chess battle.

In the end it was Vancouver that showed they could skate using several rookies in the line-up to deflate the Blazers 5-3 in front of a sparce crowd of 536 fans.

This was followed by a full week of practice with the news of Tyler Benson having surgery for a lower body injury which will keep him sidelined for a period of possibly a month or more.

While that’s good news for Tyler, it also remains to be seen if it is good news for the Giants and likely it will as they host the CHL/NHL Top Prospects game Thursday January 28/2016.

This is the game that features the best of the best with Team Orr taking on Team Cherry in what should be a sold-out building, so purchase your tickets early so you’re not disappointed.

Following the week of practice it was game day, where they played host to the Victoria Royals under the coaching duties of Dave Lowry and Assistant Coach Enio Sacilotto formerly with the Grandview Steelers several years ago.

The Giants played an early afternoon contest so the Royals could get back without staying overnight at a huge expense to the club and likewise the Giants play a return match the following day in Victoria at 2 pm – thus the same reasoning.

The Giants used both Cole  Porter and Payton Lee between the pipes and the end result saw the Giants pull off a 3-2 win in front of 354 fans allowing the game to finish prior to 7 pm.

Delta TV broadcasts the games (live) and Brendan Batchelor (play by play) and Bill Wilms (Color) get into game mode calling the game while I have the duties of conducting pre and post game interviews.

One such interview we were fortunate to get today was with Giants Youth reporter Dickson Liong and he talked about what his role is and what concerns he has faced to date, including about his interview with Canucks boss Trevor Linden.

Dickson is passionate about what he does and how he goes about his job of conducting his interviews and he takes a firm NO for an answer to his request.

We at Delta TV wish him all the best in his career, both now and in the future.

The photo is what Kevin Adlem (producer) and Justin Borges (Editor) see when we are on-air for any game shown on Delta TV.