The Vancouver Giants playoff run last season was not as much a surprise as it was a relief. So much had happened with the Giants since the organization hosted and won the 2007 Memorial Cup.
Numerous coaching and management changes, the move from Pacific Coliseum to the Langley Events Centre, combined with a frequent inability to secure a post-season berth made for a decade of some discontent.
But things really changed during the 2018-19 Western Hockey League season. The Giants were among the best teams in the entire league during the second half of the season, particularly after the trade deadline.
Jadon Joseph was acquired from the Regina Pats, Jan. 4, 2019.
Giants assistant coach Jamie Heward had watched Joseph from his perch behind the Swift Current bench during the Broncos championship season. Swift Current dispatched Lethbridge in the 2017-18 eastern conference final en route to the WHL title.
“Obviously their star guys are always guys you’re going to remember,” Heward said when asked about Joseph.
“But the one guy that made a massive impact on me was ‘Joe’.
“He was playing centre on the Hurricanes third line and he was an impact guy all over the place. Just talking to our high-end guys after games, Glenn Gawdin is saying, ‘like, who is that guy, he’s all over us’.”
“Jadon just did everything you want out of a third-line centre, just heavy and hard and fast. He was good on the draws. That impact stuck with me and I told our general manager here we should go out and get him. Then we got him and he just stepped right in and he was everything we expected he would be.”
The GOAL!
Joseph shared a snippet about Heward, an ongoing light-hearted joust between the two.
Joseph says he was bound and determined to take a spin on the Giants’ blue line as the season wound down. It finally materialized in the regular-season finale (March 16, 2019), a game the Giants played without a full complement of players in Kelowna against the Rockets.
Joseph would tally a late power-play goal at the 19:27 mark of the third period to send the game into overtime.
Here’s Heward’s take:
To hear Giants general manager Barclay Parneta talk about the trade, well, there was absolutely no lack of enthusiasm.
“I watched Jadon play about a month before he got moved to Regina,” Parneta said. “I saw a guy I thought was really good on faceoffs and a kid that really had a solid two-way game. But the biggest thing for me that was really attractive was the amount of playoff games he’d played.
“I heard he was a good kid, but it’s kind of a funny story. You know, I’ll approach our players and say, ‘Hey what’s this dude like; would he fit in?'”
“So, I had asked Dylan Plouffe about a different player.
“I remember this vividly. We were in Medicine Hat when this happened, we were on a road trip and Dylan came back to me and told me he knew Jadon Joseph and felt he would do awesome here, that he would be a guy definitely worth looking at.
“We’d already targeted Jadon, and you know when other players give that good of a recommendation, that kind of solidified it even more. Dylan knew what we did here, he knew how hard it was and he vouched that Jadon would fit right in.”
According to both Joseph and Parneta, the 2019 playoffs were an absolute revelation for the Giants, a tremendous bonding experience, kick-started by a tough series against the Seattle Thunderbirds.
“It was a grueling battle,” Parneta said. “Seattle was a big heavy team and Jadon really took charge.
“I’m pretty sure he was our leading goal scorer in that series. He knew what to expect, how hard it would actually be, those playoff games in a hostile territory. Jadon really led the way, being a mature guy. That might have been some of the best hockey I’ve ever seen him play.”
“When he came to us, I think he just needed some fun,” Heward added. “Jadon is really a first-class kid. It was a good trade for us – we really lucked out with how great a character kid he was and everything he did for us.”
The Giants dispatched the Thunderbirds in six games, then swept the Victoria Royals and eliminated the Spokane Chiefs in five games to reach the final against the highly-touted Prince Albert Raiders.
Joseph had been to the Eastern Conference final the previous two seasons as a member of the Hurricanes. That included a pair of seven-game series the Hurricanes won during the 2017 playoffs. With 36 playoff games under his belt before landing with the Giants at the trade deadline, he entered the post-season with an eye on continuing his progression to win a WHL title.
The Hockey Talk with Jadon Joseph – Part 2
The Giants and Raiders went to overtime in the seventh game and it was apparent the memory of losing that finale still does not sit well with Joseph.
As our discussion moved toward that fateful night, there was a noticeable wince and a slight crack in Joseph’s voice.
Indeed, if winning is everything, the alternative can be most painful.
Jadon Joseph’s Journey – Part 3: tomorrow at DUBNetwork.ca
