Photo by Lucas Chudleigh/Apollo Multimedia
B.C. Division, Game Recap

Giants fall in opener

Written by Adam Kierszenblat on

 

The Vancouver Giants fell to the Kamloops Blazers 7-3 in their first game of the 2021 season. Although the score did not go in the Giant’s favour tonight, there were some positives. The Giants will now have to regroup as they have a quick turnaround playing Kelowna on Sunday.

A little bit of rust:

This was a team that has not played 384 days, and it showed early. Kamloops was able to jump out to a 4-1 lead after the first period and never looked back. Every time the Giants got some momentum and scored in this game, Kamloops was able to find an answer less than three minutes later.

Kamloops has a strong lineup top to bottom so you can not give up as many scoring chances as the Giants did tonight and win. Although they were behind, they continued to pressure and create chances throughout the game. This is Game 1 of 24 so they’ll need a little bit of time to gel and come together. This team has talent and now it is about putting it all together to succeed.

Three best Giants of the evening:

Tristen Nielsen:

Nielsen had a great game despite the score. He was strong defensively and contributed offensively with a goal and an assist. Nielsen is going to be the key to the Giants’ offense this season. His leadership is evident and he really stepped up tonight.

Marko Stacha:

In his first WHL game, Stahca impressed. The rookie defenseman finished the game with a +2 rating and was a real bright spot on the back end. He did not make many mistakes and was driving the transition game tonight. It is very evident that Stacha is going to be a great player for the Giants team and is sure to become a fan favourite quickly.

Bryce Bader:

Bader made the most of his opportunity playing on the first line tonight. The former Calgary Hitman really impressed notching a goal and four shots in his Giants debut. He kept fighting throughout the game while showing off his killer wrist shot on his goal. Bader is someone the Giants are really exicted about this season, and if he continues to play like he did tonight, the team should have no problem scoring goals.

Next Game:

The Giants must now prepare for the Kelowna Rockets who beat the Victoria Royals tonight 5-0. Kelowna is a good team with solid goaltending. The Giants will need to ensure they have jump to start the game and continually pressure the Rockets throughout. Puck drop is at 6pm PST.