Tuesday will see the end of not just the calendar year, but the decade as a whole.
As their 2010 through 2019 record of 340-345-34-30 shows, the 2010s were very average for the Vancouver Giants.
Ten years saw two BC Division titles, a Western Conference championship banner, a WHL Final appearance, a new home arena and countless players that moved onto to various levels of hockey.
I have decided on six players that make up the Giants’ “All-Decade Team” to have a look back on some of the most successful players in the last ten years.
But first….
Like with many other franchises there were highs and lows, in Vancouver’s instance, both the highs and lows were on the extreme side.
The Lows
After such a successful mid-late 2000s that saw WHL and Memorial Cup Championships, the Giants found themselves on the wrong side of the junior hockey cycle.
After making the playoffs between 2009/10-2011/12, winning two rounds in 2010, Vancouver went into the 2012/13 season missing the likes of Brendan Gallagher and Neil Manning from the season before.
Gallagher and Manning were two of the last players from the successful core from years past and it showed. Vancouver finished dead last in the WHL standings that season, losing 51 of their 72 games which helped them land the first overall pick for the second time in franchise history…..more about that pick in “The Highs”.
Surprisingly, the Giants made the playoffs the next season, getting swept in the first round by Portland, who was in the middle of their dynasty years. That playoff exit ended the Don Hay era in Vancouver and in turn, the start of a revolving door of head coaches and three consecutive seasons of less than 30 wins.
With all those negatives do come positives….
The Highs
Despite having some tough hockey to watch for a stretch of time, there were rewards that came from it.
As previously mentioned, the Giants were awarded the first overall choice in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft (AKA the Tyler Benson sweepstakes). Unsurprisingly, Benson was selected after breaking scoring records in bantam hockey. After a 45 point rookie season, the now-Oilers prospect had a hard time staying healthy, missing over a season’s worth of games due to injury in his WHL career. When he was in the lineup, he was a game changer, specifically in his last season (2017/18) where he and Ty Ronning helped lead the Giants to the playoffs after not doing so in the previous three seasons.
As a result of those non-playoff seasons, three of the better players this franchise has seen came of it.
2016 saw arguably the best player in franchise history, Bowen Byram, get drafted third overall after trading down from second with Saskatoon. The star defenceman was selected fourth overall in June’s NHL Draft by Colorado and is currently representing Canada at the World Junior Championships, the first Giant to do so since 2012.
Justin Sourdif and Milos Roman came into the picture in 2017, also as a result of high draft picks.
Again with the third overall pick, Vancouver drafted the homegrown Sourdif who stepped in immediately as a 16-year-old, scoring 26 goals. The Surrey native is a projected first round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and will participate in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in the New Year.
Roman, who has since been drafted by the Calgary Flames, was brought in through the CHL Import Draft. The Slovakian was the sixth pick in 2017 and is now in his third and final season in the WHL.
New Home:
Prior to the 2016/17 season, it was announced the team was moving from the Pacific Coliseum to the smaller Langley Events Centre. The move was to the displeasure of many loyal fans in the Vancouver region but attendance was not keeping up for the costs of running in the former NHL rink.
The Langley Events Centre showed it’s great atmosphere especially during the 2019 playoff run to the WHL Final, with a full capacity 5200 or so.
The Giants did hold Teddy Bear Toss games at both the Coliseum and Rogers Arena since the move to Langley.
The highest of highs in the 2010s were of course the most recent full season (2018/19) that saw the Giants win the BC Division as well as both regular season and playoff Western Conference crowns before falling a goal short in Game 7 overtime to the Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL Final. The regular season was the third best in Giants history, finishing with 48 wins and 101 points in the first season since the WHL changed its season from 72 games to 68.
All-Decade Team
Goaltender: David Tendeck
Vancouver has not had a star goaltender during the last ten years, with the exception of David Tendeck. The North Vancouver product is in his fourth full season with the Giants and has consistently been a top goalie in the WHL for the past three seasons. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Arizona Coyotes after posting a .912 save percentage in 48 games in 2017/18 and represented Team WHL in the 2018 Canada Russia Series. After splitting the net with Trent Miner for the 2018/19 season, Tendeck took the reigns in the conference and league finals, going 11-3-2 with a 2.38 GAA and a .918 save percentage in the postseason.
Defencemen: Bowen Byram and Neil Manning
This pairing combines both the start and end of the decade and are two instrumental members of this team’s history.
There is some recency bias so far to the list, but that’s what happens when you’re as good as Bowen Byram.
The accolades could be listed but they’ve been pushed down our throats over the last year or so and for good reason. The Cranbrook, BC native puts up an argument as the best to ever lace them up for Vancouver. As a 17-year-old, he led all WHL defensemen in goals with 26 and led all skaters in postseason scoring last season. His poise and calmness with the puck is beyond his years and Giants fans are very fortunate to see such a caliber of player night in and night out.
Manning is the franchise leader in regular season games played, dressing in 310 with 203 of them coming between 2009/10-2011/12. The always-reliable offensive defenseman was around the “golden year” for the Giants, 2006/07, when he was a 15-year-old and dressed in one game during the memorable run.
That experience made him so respected among his peers and had his strong play rewarded with invites to Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers camps, as well as World Junior Development Camp for Team Canada in 2011. His 183 points puts him twelfth in franchise scoring and second all-time for defensemen.
Forwards: Brendan Gallagher, Ty Ronning and Tyler Benson
Gallagher had three consecutive seasons with 40+ goals between 2009/10-2011/12 and is the franchise leader in points, rightfully earning his spot in the Giants’ Wall of Honour. The current Montreal Canadiens forward is also one of the biggest steals to come out of the bantam draft, originally being drafted in the ninth round in 2007 due to his size. He had 249 points during his three seasons in this decade.
Next is another player that did not let his size hold him back.
Ty Ronning came to the Giants more touted than the aforementioned Gallagher, being drafted 15th overall in 2012. After some early injury trouble, he broke out as an 18-year-old where he scored 31 goals and 59 points in his first full WHL season. That season caught NHL scouts’ eyes as the New York Rangers used their seventh round pick in 2016 to select Ronning. After a very slight regression in his 19-year-old season, the local product broke out as an overage, scoring a whopping 61 goals in 70 games, a franchise record. That season earned him an NHL contract with the Rangers as well as fourth in franchise scoring.
Somewhat of a prodigy coming out of minor hockey, Tyler Benson makes this all-star team despite his injury problems in the WHL. The 2013 first overall pick was an impact player — when dressed — from day one, being named the youngest captain in Giants history at 17 years old. He was the second selection in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft by his hometown Edmonton Oilers but would have been a surefire first rounder if healthy. Benson put up 111 points in 91 games in his last two seasons of work with the Giants.
Honourable Mentions:
Brett Kulak, David Musil, Craig Cunningham (only played 1.5 seasons in ’10s), Cain Franson
*NOTE* This list is completely subjective
