T-Birds Striped Again by Giants

South Island Thunderbirds, September 27, 2009

South Island Assistant Coach Don Robinson summed up Sunday’s game at the Burnaby Winter Club between the Vancouver North West Giants and the visiting Thunderbirds very succinctly:  “It’s not like the Giants needed the help.”

After Saturday’s 5 – 0 shutout, it was pretty clear which of the two teams had the stronger horses.  But after going 0 for 10 on the power play on Saturday, the Giants were given no fewer than 11 more man advantage opportunities by the head “zebra” on Sunday.  They were certainly not wasted as the potent Vancouver power play weaponry connected four times and kept the T-Birds pinned down in their own end for big chunks of the game.  It all spelled doom for the Birds and allowed the Giants to pad their stats in a one-sided 9 – 0 victory.

With ten of those Giants’ power plays coming in the first 45 minutes of the game, it was not a particularly good game for spectators, few of whom came to watch the referee.  Looking on the bright side, South Island got some excellent penalty killing practice this weekend and, even with the Giants scoring four power play goals on Sunday, the Birds achieved a pretty respectable 17 for 21 PK success rate overall against one of the strongest power play units in the league.  On the other hand, the Birds enjoyed only 2:13 on the power play themselves on Sunday so hardly had a chance to advance their own offensive special team skills.

Apart from the penalties, the first period was all about the Giants’ ability to make their opponents pay for mistakes.  Three times in the first period, the Birds turned the puck over at their own blue line and within seconds saw the puck end up in the back of their net.  Once again, the Giants’ stars, Curtis Loik, Connor Rankin and Steven Iacobellis, converted their scoring chances and accumulated eight points between them in that opening frame.  Towering defenceman, 6’-5”Griffin Reinhart, added the other goal , unleashing his slapshot cannon from the top of the slot on a 5 on 3 power play.  With a 15 – 8 advantage in shots on goal, the Giants led 4 – 0.

Two more power play goals accounted for all of the scoring in the middle 20 minutes, as Rankin and Brandon Morley both tallied.  There was actually a 10 minute stretch of 5 on 5 play in the latter part of the period, during which there was real flow and tempo and even territorial play.  It was the kind of hockey you hope to see in the BCMML and provided the best entertainment of the day.  Too bad it would not last however as the march to the penalty box then resumed in earnest.  Eric Kerluck added the Giant’s last power play marker early in the third period and then Alex Kerfoot and Jarrett Martin scored late goals.

For South Island, there were several excellent scoring chances amongst their 20 shots on goal but, for the second straight day, not a counter in the group.  Justin Polischuk hit a post late in the first period, then knocked a rebound over the goal line at the end of the period after the Giants’ netminder bobbled Matthew Sheeran’s wrist shot but (surprise) the referee ruled that the puck had gone in after the buzzer.  Connor Krupa missed a breakaway in the 3^rd period and there were a number of other great looks at the net from inside 20 feet.

Next weekend, South Island will host the Fraser Valley Bruins, who also lost a pair of games to the Cariboo Cougars this weekend and are just 1 – 3 – 0 in their first four games.  Saturday’s contest is at UVic’s Ian Stewart Complex at 5:20 PM and then the two teams move to the Fred Wurtele Arena at Naden on Sunday morning at 10:30 AM.

Reducing the number of turnovers in their own zone and playing more of the game at full strength will be two important steps to take if the South Island team is to have success with Fraser Valley.  In other words, the advice here is:  “Don’t feed the bears but be nice to the zebras.”

Bird Droppings:  The shots on goal were 8-6-6=20 for South Island and 15-15-12=42 for Vancouver… Nic Renyard made his second start in goal for the Thunderbirds and battled hard through another severe test... Once again, there was no scoring to report for the T-Birds (the two straight shutouts being a dubious first for the team).  For the Giants, the points came from:  Iacobellis (1G, 3A), Rankin (2G, 1A), Loik (1G, 1A), Reinhart (1G, 1A), Mark Begert (2A), Morley (1G, 1A), Filipp Conti (1A), Kerluck (1G), Mitch Fyffe (2A), Kerfoot (1G), Jarrett (1G, 1A), Destry Straight (1A) and Matt Bellerive (1A)… The final penalty minute totals included 15 minors and one misconduct for South Island for a total of 40 minutes.  The Giants took 6 minors and one misconduct for a total of 22 minutes... The Giants come to the Island to play the Thunderbirds in mid-December at the T-Birds’ homes away from home, Lake Cowichan and Fuller Lake.  Good seats are still available.