(Rob Wilton/Vancouver Giants) Yesterday afternoon the Vancouver Giants took down the Spokane Chiefs in an early afternoon contest. It was a 4-3 overtime victory that let Giants fans leave the LEC in good spirits. The team bent but did not break. Shots were close throughout the game, but the Giants would end the night with 29 while the Chiefs had 27. Power play opportunities were also relatively compact, and Vancouver went one for three while the Chiefs couldn’t cash in on either of their two chances.
Speaking about cashing in, Vancouver’s Samuel Honzek made the most of his second game back with the Giants after missing the past twenty due to injury. A slice on Honzek’s calf held the potential first-round draft pick in this summer’s NHL Draft out of commission. Honzek had a cast on his leg for a significant period and only recently started getting back on the ice. His first game back was a 2-1 defeat to the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday. The native of Slovakia was injured while playing at the world junior hockey championships as he was accidentally cut by an American player. The injury did not seem to phase him too much on Monday afternoon. The 6-foot-3, 186-pound forward had several chances against the Chiefs and added two more goals to his statistics to prove it. Honzek’s goals came in the second period as he tried a shot from the right faceoff dot for his first and shoveled in the rubber disc with 0:19 left in the frame for his second. Honzek is a fan-favorite in Vancouver and was named the game's first star in Monday’s contest. Despite his recent injury Honzek sits second on the team in points (19-26-45) which is six up on Jaden Lipinski (16-23-39), who is third. He hopes to be more than that with 15 games remaining in the regular season. The Giants hold a record of 21-26-4-2 and sit seventh in the Western Conference. The G-men are ahead by five points on the Kelowna Rockets (20-30-3-0), who have had one of the worst seasons in recent team memory. Honzek claims that his conditioning has improved from Saturday’s contest to the game yesterday, which is suitable for the organization to hear. The Giants will need to see more of Honzek to win more games, but the coaching staff doesn’t want to give him too much action until they feel he is ready to return to his usual ways. “He just wants to go. He’s getting more confident each time he gets on the ice. It’s just not trying to do too much with making the plays that he has,” Michael Dyck said. Dyck has been the coach of the team dating back to the 2018-19 WHL season and has made the playoffs each year since. It’s the first time in a long time that Vancouver has had a healthy scratch and the ability to dress four lines, so that’s a massive boost for the club. Establishing consistency is a goal of Michael Dyck, and another player who has been consistent offensively for the G-men all season is their captain. Ty Thorpe has been in the WHL for five seasons and is making the most of his final year of junior hockey. The right-shot forward of Brandon, MB, has mustered 28 goals and 29 assists for 57 points in 51 games. He’s the guy the G-men can thank for the extra point as he scored the overtime winner, which also happened to be point 101 for him as a Vancouver Giant. Vancouver is back in action this Friday when they host the Prince George Cougars. The puck drop is set for 7:30 PM.
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January 2024
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