GIANTS ARE BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN THANKS TO SUNDAY EFFORTS

(Vancouver Giants / Rob Wilton)

The Vancouver Giants are back in the win column! Vancouver took down the newly-located Wenatchee Wild in front of a crowd of a little less than 4,000. The Giants got goals from several players, including Kyren Gronick, Adam Titlbach, Cameron Schmidt, and Tyler Thorpe.

The G-men moved the puck well; they won battles along the boards and did a great job getting to the front of the Wild's net. Net front presence was solid on both sides of the puck for the Giants, who had some excellent offensive chances off rebounds and did a great job of clearing Wild players from the front of their own goal. "We got pucks to the net tonight, and we got players going to the net also," said Giants head coach Manny Viveiros. "That's something we talked about after Friday's game…We're pretty happy that the guys were willing to get to that area tonight."

The team put on a decent performance this evening after suffering a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Kamloops Blazers on Friday. The Giants got contributions from everyone, which is something that couldn't be said about the game on Friday.

The Wild moved from Winnipeg this summer and went all-in on the quest for a championship last season, making it to the WHL Finals, where they lost in five games to the Thunderbirds. A few of the team's top players were absent from the game as they were still at NHL camps, including Zach Benson, Connor Geekie, and Matthew Savoie.

The G-men got some key guys back in the mix on Friday, including Mazden Leslie and Jaden Lipinski. Lipinski was named a second star of the game tonight. "It feels great coming back to this building," Lipinski said. "Fans are showing their support, so it's good to have them here." The Scottsdale, Arizona native had two assists.

It is still unclear when Vancouver will get Calgary Flames prospect Sam Honzek back, but Giants bench boss Manny Viveiros hopes he will be in his line-up soon. "We were hoping it was going to be today, but I think pretty soon."

A player who stood tall for the team was goaltender Brett Mirwarld. He was square to the puck, didn't give up many rebounds, and his teammates were there to clear the puck when he did. The overage goaltender seemed quite confident on the ice. WHL teams have until October 10 to cut their lineup down to three twenty-year-olds. "We're going to take our time to make the best decisions for our organization," claimed Viveiros. The four guys the Giants have right now are all great players. "We want to make sure we're doing the best we can to make the right decision."

All in all, it was an exciting game for the Giants. It's great to see the team working hard and getting rewarded. The players enjoy being at the rink, and the fans are having a great time. The team will be fun and exciting to watch this year.

Vancouver will travel to Portland next weekend before hosting the Swift Current Broncos on October 13.