Giants Jump Above .500 with Win in Prince George

Quesnel native Tim Traber had the winning goal late in the second period as the Vancouver Giants downed the Prince George Cougars 5-3 at the CN Centre on Saturday night. The G-Men also got goals from Jackson Houck, Blake Orban, Dalton Thrower and Cain Franson while Jared Rathjen made 31 saves for his fourth win of the season. The win improved Vancouver's record to 12-11-4-2 and marked the ninth straight game that the Giants have picked up at least a single point.

Houck opened the scoring at 3:52 of the first when he chipped a rebound past Prince George goalie Ty Edmonds for his 13th goal of the year. Orban made it 2-0 later in the frame on a one-timer after Joel Hamilton found him in the slot with a pass from the bottom of the left circle. Thrower added his name to the score sheet with a shot from the right point, but the Cougars countered before the end of the period when Marc McNulty beat Rathjen with a long shot through traffic.

The Cougars carried the momentum from their opening goal into the second period and came back to tie the game. First, Alex Forsberg deflected a McNulty shot into the Vancouver net, and Sam Ruopp made it 3-3 with a point shot of his own. Traber scored the eventual winner late in the stanza, burying a chance in the slot after a nice pass from Thomas Foster off the left wing.

Prince George had a couple of good chances in the third to tie the game again, but Rathjen kept the puck out, and Franson added an empty net goal with less than a minute remaining to clinch the victory for the G-Men.

The Giants get back at it on Tuesday night when they face the Kelowna Rockets for the first time this season in the Okanagan. The puck drop is set for 7:00pm. Tune-in to TEAM 1410 and teamradio.ca for the play-by-play.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Cain Franson - Vancouver
2. Todd Fiddler - Prince George
3. Dalton Thrower - Vancouver

Pre-Game Report: Giants at Cougars

The Vancouver Giants will face the Prince George Cougars for the second time in as many nights on Saturday evening at the CN Centre. The Cougars emerged victorious on Friday, edging the G-Men 6-5 in a shootout.

Vancouver held the lead on three separate occasions on Friday but had to settle for just the single point after the Cougars staged a late comeback. Dalton Sward put in a first star performance for Vancouver, scoring a hat-trick in his 200th WHL game. The G-Men fired a season-high 51 shots on net and went 2-for-3 on the man advantage on Friday as well. Despite the loss, the Giants have now picked up at least a point in eight straight games.

The Cougars won on home ice for just the fifth time this season by beating Vancouver on Friday night. The Prince George club was without captain Troy Bourke as well as forwards Zach Pochiro, David Soltes and defenseman Raymond Grewal among others. Chase Witala had two goals in the victory over the Giants. The Prince George native now sits tied with Bourke for the team lead in points with 29 and also leads the club in goals with 18.

Where: CN Centre; Prince George, BC

When: 7:00pm (The Pre-Game Show starts at 6:30pm.)

Listen: TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca.

Sward Scores Hat-Trick; Giants Lose 6-5

Dalton Sward scored a hat-trick in his 200th game in the WHL, but it wasn’t enough as the Vancouver Giants fell to the Prince George Cougars 6-5 in a shootout. Arvin Atwal and Brett Kulak also found the net in the losing cause.

The G-Men found the net early as Atwal scored his first of the season in the first three minutes of a game when he beat Prince George goalie Ty Edmonds with a point shot on the power play. Sward made it 2-0 for Vancouver when he netted his first of the evening on a shorthanded breakaway, but the Cougars got one back 13 seconds later when Klarc Wilson beat Payton Lee through the five-hole.

The Prince George club tied the game in the second period on a strange goal when Jansen Harkins threw the puck to the slot from the left corner, and it bounced off Kulak’s stick and past Lee. Sward tallied his second of the game, knocking the rebound of a Thomas Foster shot into an open net to put the Giants ahead again, but Alex Forsberg leveled the score before the end of the stanza to send the teams to the dressing room tied 3-3.

The Cougars took their first lead of the hockey game in the early stages of the third when Chase Witala picked up his 17th goal of the year to put the Cougars ahead. The G-Men bounced back again though, scoring twice in 55 seconds to regain the lead. First, Kulak scored a power play goal with a drive from the blue line before Sward completed his hat-trick with a shot from the right wing that found its way though Edmonds and into the net. Prince George wouldn’t be deterred though as Witala scored again in the late going with a quick shot right off a face-off to send the game to overtime.

Marc McNulty thought he had won the game early in the extra period when he wired a shot off the post from the high slot, and the red light came on, but the referee waved the goal off and play continued. A subsequent review would show that the puck never crossed the goal line, and with neither side able to find a winner, the game went to a shootout. Cain Franson was the only Vancouver player to score in the skills contest while Forsberg and Witala beat Lee to give the Cougars their first win over the Giants this season.

The two teams will face-off again tomorrow night at the CN Centre. Listen to the play-by-play on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca. The Pre-Game Show begins at 6:30pm, followed by the puck drop at 7 o’clock.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Dalton Sward - Vancouver
2. Peter Kosterman - Prince George
3. Chase Witala - Prince George

Ast Wins National Young Volunteers of the Year Award

Congratulations are in order for Giants forward Anthony Ast who has won the Canadian Diabetes Association's National Young Volunteers of the Year Award.

Here's the press release from the Giants:

The Vancouver Giants would like to congratulate forward Anthony Ast on being awarded the Canadian Diabetes Association's National Young Volunteers of the Year Award.

Ast, a Richmond native, is one of three recipients of the award which recognizes the work of someone up to age 29 who has significantly contributed to supporting people living with diabetes. 


The 18-year old was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in January of 2002 and has since become an advocate for helping young diabetic athletes fulfill their dreams.

Ast went to Camp Kakhemela, a summer camp for young diabetics, shortly after his diagnosis. The camp taught him how to live with diabetes, and was also an opportunity for him to get away from doctor’s visits.

Ast has since given back to Camp Kakhemela in various ways including through a contest by TELUS last spring. He shared photos and testimonials through the Give Where We Live campaign and was chosen as one of the ten winners who received a $10,000 donation to a charity of their choice.

Ast chose to donate the money to Camp Kakhemela, his childhood camp, and said, "I've always wanted to be involved in raising money for things that are close to my heart- obviously diabetes and diabetes research stand out- but for me this was a little bigger since Camp Kakhamela was my first ever experience going away, and it's where I gained the confidence to do my first insulin shot. I hope the money will help kids just like me realize that diabetes isn't something that has to hold you back. Once you learn how to live with it you can literally do anything you want. Camp taught me to find the positive amongst all the negative."

Pre-Game Report: Giants at Cougars

The Vancouver Giants will visit the CN Centre to take on the Prince George Cougars on Friday night in the first of back-to-back games between the teams in PG. The Giants have won all three games in the season series thus far.

Vancouver hasn't played in a week after beating the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 last Friday at the Pacific Coliseum. The G-Men have now picked up at least a point in seven straight games and sit eighth in the Western Conference standings, three points clear of the ninth-place Cougars. Friday's game marks the start of a busy week for the Giants as they'll play six games in the next nine nights. Vancouver's divisional record sits at 7-1-0-0.

The Cougars last played on Saturday when they lost 5-1 to the Red Deer Rebels on the road, but captain Troy Bourke was in the line-up for Team WHL on both Wednesday and Thursday night in the two Subway Super Series games against Russia in Red Deer and Lethbridge, Alberta. This weekend's games are crucial for the Cougars as they could find themselves as far as seven points behind the Giants if they lose both contests but could overtake Vancouver in the standings with two regulation wins.

Where: CN Centre; Prince George, BC

When: 7:00pm (The Pre-Game Show starts at 6:00pm.)

Listen: TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca.

Vancouver Giants This Week: November 28, 2013

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G-Men Fly Past Thunderbirds 6-3

Trace Elson scored his first WHL goal and picked up a Gordie Howe hat-trick to lead the Vancouver Giants to a 6-3 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Pacific Coliseum on Friday night. With the win, the G-Men climbed to .500 on the season and moved to within one point of Seattle for seventh in the Western Conference. Vancouver also got goals from Rob Trzonkowski, Brett Kulak, Luca Leone, Joel Hamilton and Jackson Houck in the victory.

The T-Birds opened the scoring less than three minutes into the first when Jared Hauf's point shot found its way past Vancouver goalie Jared Rathjen through traffic. Vancouver responded to tie the game a few moments later when Trzonkowski, who was making his return to the lineup after missing 23 games due to injury, deflected a long shot from Dalton Sward past Thunderbirds net minder Danny Mumaugh. Late in the stanza, Hauf stepped up and laid a big open ice hit on Ty Ronning in the neutral zone, and Elson came to his teammate's defence, dropping the mitts with Hauf despite the face that the Seattle defenseman was eight inches taller and 35 pounds heavier than him.

Elson would net his first goal in the WHL in the second period when Carter Popoff found him in the slot with a pass from behind the net, and the native of St. Albert, Alberta buried it to put Vancouver ahead 2-1. Kulak extended the lead with his 10th of the year on a shot from the point that got past Mumaugh through the screen of Elson who was parked in front of the net, but Jaimen Yakubowski pulled the T-Birds back to within one goal when he hammered a rebound past Rathjen at the other end of the ice less than two minutes after Kulak's goal. Vancouver struck twice more before the end of the period to take a three goal lead to the break and chase Mumaugh from the Seattle crease. Leone tallied his first of the season when he scored on a sharp angle shot from the left circle, and Hamilton picked up his third of the year with less than 12 seconds left in the period on a shot from the high slot.

Houck added his name to the score sheet in the third period with a one-timer from in front of the net to put the Giants ahead by four. Vancouver got into penalty trouble later in the frame and gave Seattle six power plays. Fortunately for the Giants, the T-Birds were only able to convert once when Roberts Lipsbergs scored a pretty goal off the right wing by tucking the puck inside the post, and Vancouver stretched its point streak to seven games.

The Giants will now have an entire week off before they visit the Prince George Cougars for a double-header on Friday and Saturday. Both games are 7:00pm face-offs and can be heard on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Trace Elson - Vancouver
2. Carter Popoff - Vancouver
3. Jackson Houck - Vancouver