The Giants simply did not show up for the first period. They were outworked and out-played, and out-skated. They lost all the puck battles along the boards and were virtually incapable of completing a clean pass. Their PP stunk and they did not chase down the dump-ins or keep the puck in at the point. The Blades on the other hand showed youthful enthusiasm and played a patient game which coughed up pucks all over the ice. Saskatoon has one of the youngest teams in the league and although they carry their full complement of 20yr olds they have no 19 yr olds in their line-up. They also have two possible first round NHL draft picks in 17 yr old Colton Gillies, and 18yr old Justin McRae.

The Blades opened the scoring after weathering a few PPs and then getting a couple of their own, they managed to get one by Dustin Slade on the man-advantage at 11:08 of the first. The reffing was bizarre as he seemed to ignore the blatant and call the invisible most of the evening. The Giants got a bit tied up behind their own net when Slade and Cody Franson were unsure who was going to play the puck. The loose biscuit found its way onto Gillies stick and he drifted unmolested into the sweet spot of the left face-off dot, with lots of traffic and snapped a beauty off the post, the crossbar and in behind Slade who never saw the shot. The Giants continued their scrambly play throughout the period garnering 9 shots to the Blades 7, but the it was the Saskatoon squad which was up by the goal when the horn blew on the first stanza and they deserved to be.

The G-Men played a bit better in the second but continued to have difficulty handling the puck and the Blades seemed to sense that tentative quality and pressed the puck handlers every time the Giants got the disc on their sticks. Blades goalie Braden Holtby, was also very good turning away any pucks which came his way and smothering second chances for the G-Men. Slade had to be good and was almost unlike himself making Hasek-like swim moves to keep the puck away from his twine. The energy of the game turned on a knock down, drag-out battle royale between JD Watt and smaller but feisty Chris Cloud mid-way through the second. Watt and Cloud squared off and JD had the upper hand for the majority of the fight, but Cloud never went down and managed a few late licks, but as far as the crowd was concerned it was all Watt and the energy in the building was electrified. Holtby had to be good late in the second as the Giants began to press the attack, but two late period penalties against seemed to dampen their momentum a bit.

The Giants began the third down by two men for a very brief 5 seconds and then killed off the remainder of the 5 on 4 and had the crowd back in the game. The very next shift the Giants pressed hard, the way they are capable, for the first time in the game it seemed, in the Blades end of the ice. Hay double shifted Watt, Milan Lucic and Spencer Machacek riding their momentum and it paid off. The Giants maintained puck possession and the puck went from Franson to Brendan Mikkelson at the point. Mikkelson wired a puck toward the net and Machacek deflected the puck between the wickets on Holtby standing in the paint, 60 seconds into the third. The crowd went wild and the Giants felt the ice tilt. Not without their scares at the other end of the ice, but the Giants played a much better game in the offensive end of the ice. The ice broke at 13:35 of that period when Franson fed the puck behind the net to Machacek. Machacek did what he did best and fought off a few checks and found Lucic in the high slot for the one-timer. The red-light was on before Holtby knew the puck was past him and the Giants were up by one. The end of the game was frenetic as Slade had to become the acrobat yet again to work his mojo and keep the puck out of his net. The Giants pressed but Holtby stood tall. The chances went back and forth, but in the end even after pulling their the goalie the Blades just could not get another one past the Vancouver netminder and dropped a nail-biter to the home team, who established a new franchise record with their 8th straight win at home.

The young Blades played a very solid game and for awhile there it felt as if they were going to steal one from the Coliseum, but it was nice to see the real Giants team finally show up and get the W. Part of me thinks that although games like this are a learning opportunity, we might have learned the harder lesson had we dropped the tilt to the Blades this evening. That lesson being that they must play the full 60 minutes if they want to ensure themselves of victory.

The Giants were 0 for 9, on the PP while allowing 1 for 8 from the opposition. The shots at the end were 36-22 in favour of the home squad. The Giants established a new franchise record for consecutive home wins with 8 and counting. Up next they face the blazing hot Brandon Wheat Kings who have put together an admirable winning streak losing only one of their last six and that one in OT, and trailing the Giants by only two goals in the Goals For (GF) category. Tyson Sexsmith will get the start as Hay continues to alternate his goalies game to game. The game is on Wednesday ( the only Wednesday game of the entire home schedule this year) October 25th, 2006. Puck drops at 7pm and this is one to see folks so get those tickets soon as it could be a barn-burner.

Three Stars
1 – Spencer Machacek
2 – Colton Gillies
3 – Brett Festerling