Giants Outlast Cougars in High Scoring Affair

Trade deadline acquisition Dominik Volek had a goal and an assist as the Vancouver Giants skated to a 6-5 win over the Prince George Cougars at the Pacific Coliseum on Friday night. Tim Traber, Joel Hamilton, Ty Ronning, Mason Geertsen and Jackson Houck also had goals in the victory. The win also marked Don Hay's 599th win as a head coach in the WHL.

Vancouver got on the board early as Traber scored 49 seconds into the game, knocking home the rebound of a Dalton Thrower shot to put Vancouver ahead. The Cougars would answer with two goals in an 18 second span later in the period to take the lead as Marc McNulty beat Vancouver goalie Jared Rathjen on a two-on-one before Tate Olsen found the net with a long shot through traffic. Hamilton quickly pulled the Giants back to level terms, hammering home a one-timer from in close, and Volek gave Vancouver the lead again with his first goal as a Giant, beating Prince George goalie Ty Edmonds cleanly with a wrist shot from just inside the Cougars' blue line. Ronning put the G-Men ahead by two when he netted his fourth of the year, and Edmonds was given the hook after conceding four goals on 13 shots. The Giants added one more before the intermission as Mason Geertsen beat net minder Adam Beukeboom with a drive from the point, and Vancouver led by three after 20 minutes.

The Cougars fought back in the second period and scored twice to pull to within one. First, Zach Pochiro found the net on a five-on-three power play after receiving a cross-ice pass from Troy Bourke, and Klarc Wilson tallied his 18th of the season after beating a number of Giants to a loose puck right off the face-off and tucking the puck past Rathjen.

Houck turned the momentum back in the Giants' favour early in the third, scoring his team leading 24th goal of the season less than a minute into the stanza. The game remained 6-4 for Vancouver until the late stages when Wilson netted his second of the evening after the Cougars had pulled the goalie, but they wouldn't find another as the G-Men closed out their 22nd victory of the season.

The season series between Vancouver and Prince George is now in the books with the Giants posting a record of 6-1-0-1 against the Cougars.

Vancouver returns to action on Sunday when the Portland Winterhawks visit the Rink on Renfrew. Don Hay will be going for his 600th WHL career head coaching win. The puck drop is set for 5:00pm. For tickets, call 604-4-GIANTS or visit vancouvergiants.com.

3 Stars:

1. Brett Kulak - Vancouver

2. Cain Franson - Vancouver

3. Zach Pochiro - Prince George

Ast Traded to Medicine Hat

The Giants made one more move before the WHL Trade Deadline on Thursday morning, shipping forward Anthony Ast to the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for a third round bantam draft pick. Ast has five goals and three assists in 25 games played this season.

Here's the release from the Giants:

The Vancouver Giants have traded forward Anthony Ast to the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2016 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.

The 18-year old Richmond native has played 109 regular season WHL game, all with the Giants. In those games, he had 15 goals and 26 assists (41 points).

"Anthony’s agent had asked us to find him a new team and Medicine Hat seemed to be the best fit," said Giants' Executive Vice President and General Manager Scott Bonner. "Anthony is a really good person who has had some bad luck with injuries. Hopefully those injuries are behind him now."

Pre-Game Report: Giants vs. Cougars

The Vancouver Giants (21-15-5-2) will host the Prince George Cougars (16-22-2-4) on Friday night at the Pacific Coliseum in the final meeting between the two teams in the regular season. The Giants have won five of seven meetings with the Cougars thus far this year, most recently picking up a 5-2 win on December 30th.

The Vancouver club is coming off a 4-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans on Sunday. The G-Men now sit four points back of the fourth place Seattle Thunderbirds. Vancouver GM Scott Bonner acquired 19-year-old import forward Dominik Volek from the Red Deer Rebels on Thursday. The native of Praha, Czech Republic has 15 goals and 9 assists in 32 WHL games this season. Giants captain Dalton Thrower enters Friday's action on a four game point streak.

The Cougars hosted the Seattle Thunderbirds for back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday but lost them both by 9-7 and 2-1 scores. Prince George forward Zach Pochiro has picked up at least a point in his last eight games including a four point night in Tuesday's high scoring loss. The Cougars are on the outside of the playoff picture at the moment as they're four point back of eighth place Tri-City, and the Americans also have two games in hand.

Where: Pacific Coliseum

When: 7:30pm

Tickets: Visit vancouvergiants.com or call 604-4-GIANTS

Listen: TEAM 1410 and teamradio.ca (The Pre-Game Show starts at 7:00pm.)

Giants Add Volek from Red Deer

The Vancouver Giants made another trade on Thursday, this time adding 19-year-old Czech forward Dominik Volek from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for a third and fourth round bantam draft pick. Volek will fill the vacant import spot on the Giants roster that was left open when Andreas Eder was re-assigned to Germany and will likely make his Giants debut on Friday night against the Prince George Cougars.

Volek has also just returned from the World Junior Hockey Championships where he tallied one assist in five games while representing the Czech Republic.

See Volek's WHL stats here.

Here's the press release from the team:

The Vancouver Giants have acquired forward Dominik Volek from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2015 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft and a third-round pick in the 2016 Bantam Draft.

The 19-year old from Praha, Czech Republic, is in his third season in the Western Hockey League and has 73 points (38 goals, 35 assists) in 134 regular season WHL games.

Volek has 24 points in 32 games so far this season, and has a career-high of 15 goals.

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The Giants made another deal on Thursday as well, sending the rights to goalie Adam Beukeboom to Prince George for a 7th round bantam pick.

Here's the release:

The Vancouver Giants have traded the rights to goaltender Adam Beukeboom to the Prince George Cougars in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2016 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.

The 19-year old Sundre, Alberta native is currently playing for the Drumheller Dragons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

Beukeboom played 19 WHL regular season games for the Regina Pats in 2011-2012.

Vancouver Giants This Week: January 9, 2014

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Tvrdon Shipped to Kelowna

The Giants made another trade on Wednesday ahead of Friday's trade deadline, shipping 20-year-old import forward Marek Tvrdon to the Kelowna Rockets for a 2nd round bantam draft pick. Tvrdon did not suit up for the Giants this season after playing in the ECHL for the first portion of the year.

Here's the full release from the Giants:

The Vancouver Giants have traded 20-year old forward Marek Tvrdon to the Kelowna Rockets for a second-round pick in the 2014 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.

The Nitra, Slovakia native played 19 games for the Detroit Red Wings’ East Coast Hockey League affiliate Toledo Walleye this season where he had 8 goals and 3 assists (11 points).

Tvrdon was drafted by the Red Wings in the fourth round (115th overall) in the 2011 National Hockey League Draft.

In three seasons with the Giants, Tvrdon had 107 points (45 goals, 62 assists) in 90 games.

Giants Defeat Americans 4-2

Playing their third game in as many days, the Vancouver Giants skated to a hard fought 4-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans at the Pacific Coliseum on Sunday evening. Jared Rathjen made 17 saves for the win while the G-Men got goals from Alec Baer, Rob Trzonkowski, Dalton Thrower and Jackson Houck. With the two points, the Giants move into a tie for sixth place in the Western Conference with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Vancouver got out to a flying start in the opening period, beating Americans goalie Eric Comrie twice in the first six minutes of the game. Baer netted his second goal in as many nights when he scored on the rebound of a Brett Kulak point shot to put the Giants on the board, and less than a minute later, Trzonkowski tallied his third to the season to make it 2-0 on a long shot off the right wing that snuck past Comrie.

The Giants out shot the Americans 19-4 in the second period, but they weren't able to extend the lead until late in the frame after Tri-City forward Matthew Gelinas was thrown out of the game for a check to the head on Vancouver defenseman Dmitry Osipov. On the ensuing man advantage, Dalton Thrower rippled the mesh with a long shot from the point to give the Giants a three goal lead after two periods.

The five-minute Vancouver power play extended into the third period, but it was the Americans that scored as Lucas Nickles hustled down the left wing and beat Rathjen for a shorthanded marker to pull Tri-City to within two goals. The Giants maintained their two goal lead until the late stages of the period when Philip Tot scored for the Americans after throwing the puck to the front of the net from below the goal line, but Houck would answer back for Vancouver with an empty netter to clinch the win.

The Giants will be in action next on Friday when they host the Prince George Cougars at the Pacific Coliseum. For tickets, call 604-4-GIANTS or visit vancouvergiants.com.

Game Summary

3 Stars:

1. Jackson Houck - Vancouver

2. Brett Kulak - Vancouver

3. Mason Geertsen - Vancouver