With the 2019-20 WHL season currently suspended (rightfully so) due to precautions of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a hole in many hockey fans’ lives.
Here is the start of some content to help keep both Giants and WHL fans fulfilled until we learn more about the remainder of the season.
Let’s begin with the Top 5 imports in Vancouver Giants history…
Relatively speaking, the Giants are still one of the newer franchises in the WHL, with this season being their 19th. The Czech Republic leads the way with 11 players to suit up for the Giants, with Slovakia coming in a close second with nine players.
*Note: This list and any future ones are completely subjective.*
We go to Slovakia with number five….
5. Mario Bliznak
Bliznak became quite familiar with the city of Vancouver in the summer of 2005.
He was selected by the Canucks in the seventh round of the NHL Entry Draft as well as 27th overall by the Giants in the first round of the CHL Import Draft.
The Trencin, Slovakia, native joined the Giants for the 2005-06 WHL season, the start of the franchise’s prime years of the mid to late 2000’s. He was a great two-way forward on those powerhouse teams that featured the likes of Milan Lucic, Cody Franson and Tyson Sexsmith among others. He won a WHL Championship in 2006 and a Memorial Cup in 2007. In two Memorial Cups, he had seven points (1G, 6A) in 10 games.
His 94 points (36G, 58A) in 183 games puts him fourth among Giants imports all-time, but no goal was more important than the one that opened the scoring for Vancouver in the 2007 Memorial Cup Final against Medicine Hat on home ice.
After his WHL days, Bliznak played three seasons of professional hockey in North America, highlighted by six NHL games with the Canucks where he recorded one goal. He played an additional eight seasons in Europe in the Czech league and KHL before finishing his career with his hometown team, HK Dukla Trencin, in 2018-19.
4. Marek Tvrdon
The only reason Tvrdon isn’t higher on this list is he only had one healthy season (shoulder issues) in 2011-12 that saw the Slovak put up 31 goals and 74 points.
Vancouver selected him 13th overall in the 2010 CHL Import Draft, and right from the get-go, you could see his raw skill. He very much so had the potential to be #1 on this list if healthy for his three seasons as a Giant. Here’s a sample of said skill.
Despite only playing 12 games in his NHL draft year, the Detroit Red Wings selected Tvrdon in the fourth round (115th overall) in 2011, a sign of how high of a prospect he would have been with a full 72 games.
He played 90 games in Vancouver, racking up 107 points (45G, 62A) before being traded to Kelowna while starting the 2013-14 season in the AHL/ECHL.
After playing the majority of his North American pro career in the ECHL, the Red Wings agreed to terminate his contract so he could pursue other opportunities. Tvrdon has bounced around various professional leagues in Europe, most recently with Cracovia Krakow in Poland.
3. Milos Roman
This one is fresh in the minds of Giants fans, being the only player on this list to have called the Langley Events Centre home.
Roman was selected sixth overall in the 2017 Import Draft and was a very important pick for the franchise at the time. The Giants had swung and missed on Filip Zadina, who they picked fourth overall in the previous year’s draft.
Vancouver has had three seasons of service from the Slovakian, accumulating 160 games with 139 points (61G, 78A), including his overage season. Not often do CHL teams use one of their three 20-year-old spots on an import player as they are known as “two-spotters”, who take up an overage spot and one of two import spots, showing Roman’s value to the team.
After his rookie season in 2017-18 that saw him put up 32 points (10G, 12A) in 39 games, the Calgary Flames selected him in the fourth round, 122nd overall.
His most memorable moment(s) came when his team needed him the most, scoring two goals in Game 7 of last spring’s WHL Final.
He is currently looking for a contract from the Flames.
2. Andrej Meszaros
The Vancouver Giants had yet to land an import of Andrej Meszaros’ caliber at the time of the 2004 CHL Import Draft.
(The Giants also selected goaltender Marek Schwarz 40th overall in that Import Draft. He was a St. Louis first-round pick in 2004).
Fresh off being an NHL first-round pick (23rd overall by Ottawa), the Giants selected the Slovakian defenceman 16th overall in the import draft ahead of the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
The WHL saw a large amount of talent during the 2004-05 season that could have been playing professional hockey, and Meszaros likely wasn’t an exception in that.
In his lone WHL season, he had 41 points (11G, 30A) in 59 games, having missed time for the World Juniors representing Slovakia.
That season was enough to eventually earn him a spot on the Giants Wall of Honour, the only European to earn that honour to date.
Meszaros had the most successful NHL career of the five players on this list, including immediately making an impact as a rookie. In his first season in 2005-06, he had 39 points in 82 games and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team.
He skated in 645 NHL games with Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Boston, and Buffalo before making the move to Europe where he currently plays for HC Slovan Bratislava of the Slovak league.
1. Michal Repik
Coming in at number one on this list is none other than the Giants all-time scoring leader among imports.
Repik came into the league with the aforementioned Bliznak for the 2005-06 season after being selected 21st overall in the 2005 Import Draft, six spots ahead of his future teammate.
A Czech Republic native, he made an immediate impact as a rookie, putting up 52 points en route to a WHL Championship.
The 2006-07 season is the reason he tops this list. Repik had himself a banner year, leading the WHL Playoffs and 2007 Memorial Cup in points as well as scoring the eventual tournament-clinching goal for the Giants on home ice.
That run convinced the Florida Panthers to select him in the second round (40th overall) the following summer. Repik went on to play 72 NHL games with Florida over four seasons. He made the move to the KHL for 2012-13 and is currently captain of HC Sparta Praha of the Czech league.
In 176 games with the Giants, Repik put up 168 points (75G, 93A) and will always be known as a hero in these parts.
Honourable Mention
Dmitry Osipov
If this list was a “Top 6 Imports”, this towering six-foot-four, 230-pound Russian would be on it.
The defenceman was selected first overall by the Giants in the 2013 Import Draft and played parts of four seasons with the club, something almost unprecedented for an import player.
Osipov played a heavy, rugged style of game and was a Giant in the heart of the franchise’s recent dark years. His loyalty resulted in 239 games with Vancouver, 63 more than the next import.
He was eventually traded to Brandon at the 2017 trade deadline to end his lengthy WHL career.
Now Osipov plies his trade with the Chicago Blackhawks organization, mostly in the AHL and some ECHL.
Stay tuned to DUBNetwork for more Giants coverage during this season suspension….
