This is going to be one of those watershed years where the Giants go from being a team to watch to an elite squad everyone is gunning to take down. There are going to be very few teams who will take games with the Vancouver Giants, lightly. A good deal of this attention stems from the fact that the Vancouver franchise is hosting this years Memorial Cup tournament and as the host city have a guaranteed berth in the event.

Even though the Giants have a guaranteed spot for the 06/07 edition of the tourney there’s a certain cachet in the host team actually earning their way into the Memorial Cup playoffs by winning their league’s championship. Two teams from the dub will find their way into the tournament this year, one will be the Giants, and the other will be either the winner of the league’s championship, or the second place team in the WHL.

Losing a marquee player like Gilbert Brule to the Columbus Blue-Jackets, again (he would have played in the NHL full-time last year but two virtually concurrent injuries allowed him to be sent back the Giants), will undoubtedly be a bit of a challenge for the G-men. Other players will have the daunting take his spot in the team hierarchy, which is the inherent nature of the WHL, as it is rare to have a player on the team for three let alone four consecutive years. Losing hard-working players like Mitch Bartley, and multi-faceted blue-line patrolman Paul Albers, as well as late 20year old addition Brett Parker from last years squad will mean that other players will be expected to step up.

Leading the Giants in points and goals mid-season, prior to Gilbert Brule’s return, and finishing the season with the best plus/minus on the team; centre Tim Kraus will be expected to take a leadership role and hopefully, once again, lead the team in points. Czech sniper Michal Repik, who’s first season last year marked an auspicious beginning to his career in the dub, will be counted upon to fill the scoring slot left vacant by Brule’s departure. Up and comers Spencer Machacek and Milan Lucic made definitive statements last season cementing their roles with this year’s squad, with the expectation that they will be major building components of the team. Euro-centre Mario Bliznak and Albertan Mitch Czibere will be expected to be regular contributors to the line-up as well with Bliznak most likely assuming second line centring duties.

Our blue-line is looking as solid as last year’s squad, as injured defenseman Brendan Mikkelson will be ready to contribute, and with the loss of surprisingly well-rounded Paul Albers, he will be put into a major role with the team. Blue-line phenom Jonathan Blum who turned more than a few heads to the point of threatening to twist off, last season, will also be returning. We will be losing Mark Fistric to the Dallas Stars and there’s an outside chance that Anaheim will snap up Brett Festerling during their NHL camp, but unlikely. Late acquisition John Flatters will continue to play his strong defensive game as he did since coming over from the Red Deer Rebels. There could also be space to insert one (possibly two) of three very solid defensive prospects in the system. Young D-men Ryan Molle, Brent Regner, Nolan Toigo or possibly Nathan Deck could work their way into a regular spot with the team this coming season.

We currently have four over-age players (20 year olds), scheduled to return and it appears that team favourite Chad Scharff might be the odd man out. Stalwart defenseman Brett Festerling is slated to return to the squad to pick up where he left off last year. Festerling, signed by The Anaheim Ducks (no longer Mighty) made steady progress throughout last season ending up as a dependable and at times surprising defensive contributor for the team. Winger Kyle Lamb will be asked to contribute more than he did last season during what was a breakout year, scoring 26 goals. 20-year-old goaltender Dustin Slade shed his bad boy hothead reputation posting some phenomenal stats last year leading the Giants team to their first ever Western Conference trophy. Sporting a sparkling 1.90 GAA, a respectable .912 SV%, and backstopping the team to 11 shutouts, Slade had a landmark year. Prior to last season Dustin was invited to the New Jersey Devils training camp and this year the Vancouver Canucks have invited him to come try-out for their team. As a twenty year old Dustin would be able to be sent down to the Canucks AHL affiliate so the Giants could lose him, but again that would be unlikely at this time.

The loss of Slade would be difficult, but there are two goaltenders in the wings for the Giants who are both more than capable of stepping into the starters position with the team. Californian native Tommy Tartaglione, is the front-runner for the starters position with his quick hands and almost effortless mobility in the crease and the fact that 07 is his draft-eligible year this is the time for Tommy to get a regular starting role in the WHL. In fact, should Slade be back in the fold it would not be surprising to see Tartaglione traded to a team who is in need of a starting ‘tender. The other goalie in the mix is Tyson Sexsmith who is making steady progress and would be a solid back-up to either Slade or Tartaglione and would get the ice-time he needs to get to that next level.

The Giants team is solid, yet not at this time the juggernaut it was with Brule in the mix and we shouldn’t be surprised if the team makes a move to acquire a driven sniper along the lines of Gilbert to fill out the line-up and although there are capable young players ready to make the jump to the WHL, the franchise might opt to acquire some veteran depth to assure a solid Memorial Cup run.