Vancouver Giants

Vancouver Giants
City	Vancouver, British Columbia
League	Western Hockey League
Conference	Western
Division	B.C.
Founded	2001
Home arena	Pacific Coliseum
Colours	Black, red and silver
General manager	Scott Bonner
Head coach	Don Hay
Championships	2006 (WHL), 2007 (CHL)
Website vancouvergiants.com

The Vancouver Giants are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Inaugurated in 2001–02, the Giants have won one President's Cup (now known as the Ed Chynoweth Cup) in 2006 and one Memorial Cup in 2007 in their ten-season history. Their home rink is the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, which was previously used by the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.

In the 2010-2011 season, the Giants celebrated their 10th anniversary. It was known as the Giant Decade.

The ownership group consists of British Columbia-based businessmen Ron Toigo and Sultan Thiara, Hockey Hall of Fame member Gordie Howe, Pat Quinn, and Canadian big band singer and actor Michael Bublé.

History

Led by majority owner and British Columbia-based businessman Ron Toigo, the city of Vancouver was granted a WHL franchise for the 2001–02 season. In their inaugural campaign, the Giants compiled 13 wins, 49 losses, and 6 ties. The first goal in franchise history was scored by Tyson Mulock in a loss to the Kamloops Blazers.

The following season, the Giants went 26-37-5-4 (fourth in the B.C. Division) and made their first playoff appearance, but lost in the first round to the eventual President's Cup champions, the Kelowna Rockets, in four games. Second-year forward Adam Courchaine led the team in scoring with 85 points. His 43 goals stood as a single-season franchise record for six years until second-year forward Evander Kane broke it in 2008–09.

In the 2003–04 season, the Giants continued to improve, posting a 33-24-9-6, which marked their first winning season. After defeating the Kamloops Blazers in the first round, the Giants lost in the second round to the expansion team Everett Silvertips in six games. Adam Courchaine led the team again in scoring, finishing ninth overall in the league. Hometown rookie Gilbert Brule, the first overall pick in the 2002 WHL Bantam Draft, scored 60 points and earned the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the league's best first-year player.

In the 2004–05 season, the Giants went 34-30-4-4 and Brulé emerged as a WHL star, finishing third in league scoring with 87 points, which remained a franchise record until overager Casey Pierro-Zabotel snapped it in 2008–09. Courchaine tallied 78 points and finished seventh in league scoring, marking the first and only time thus far that the top ten league scorers would feature two Giants players. In the playoffs, the Giants lost in the first round to Kelowna. Despite the early exit, the Giants drew many fans to the Coliseum that year due to the NHL lockout; game six against the Rockets drew 16,183 fans.^{[citation needed]}

The 2005–06 season featured the Giants' most significant improvement in the standings, becoming one of the WHL's top teams. They finished the season 47-19-0-6, first in the B.C. Division and third in the league overall. In the first round of the playoffs, the Giants beat the Prince George Cougars in five games, then the Portland Winterhawks in the second round, also in five games. In the third and final round, they won eight straight, sweeping both the Everett Silvertips and Moose Jaw Warriors en route to their first ever President's Cup. Gilbert Brulé had returned to the team midway through the season after starting 2005-06 with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and earned the airBC Trophy as the playoff MVP after scoring 16 goals and 30 points in 18 post-season games, including 5 goals and 12 points in the finals.

By winning the WHL league title, the Giants earned their first Memorial Cup appearance in Moncton, New Brunswick. The Giants finished the round-robin tied for third, then defeated the Peterborough Petes in a tie-breaker in order to move on to the playoffs, but lost to the Moncton Wildcats in the semifinal. Brule scored 12 points in 5 games, earning the Ed Chynoweth Trophy, as tournament leading scorer. He was also named to the Memorial Cup All-Star team with Giants defenceman Paul Albers.

The Giants celebrating with the Memorial Cup, May 27, 2007.

The Giants were chosen by the CHL prior to the 2006 Memorial Cup, to host the 2007 Memorial Cup. They finished the season, once again, atop their division, fourth in the league. The season featured a goaltending controversy, in which starter Dustin Slade would begin the season splitting time with emerging goalie Tyson Sexsmith. Slade, frustrated with having to give up his starts, would leave the team in November to pursue a pro-hockey career. With Sexsmith (who finished first in the league in GAA) as their starting goalie, and a balanced offence that included Milan Lucic, Michal Repik and mid-season acquisitions Wacey Rabbit and Kenndal McArdle, the Giants made their way once again to the WHL final. The series went the distance against the Medicine Hat Tigers, but the Giants lost the seventh game in double overtime, failing to win their second consecutive league title. However, because of their automatic bye into the Memorial Cup as hosts, the Giants avenged their seventh game loss against the Tigers, defeating Medicine Hat 3-1 in the final, capturing their first Memorial Cup title. Lucic earned the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as tournament MVP, while linemate Michal Repik led the tournament in scoring (edging Lucic by one goal) to capture the Ed Chynoweth Trophy. Defenceman Cody Franson also joined Lucic and Repik on the tournament All-star team.

As defending Memorial Cup champions the following season, the Giants won the B.C. Division for the third consecutive year and posted a franchise record 106 points (49-15-2-6), third in the league. Third-year forward Spencer Machacek, named team captain after expected captain Lucic would stick with the Boston Bruins of the NHL, led the team in scoring with 78 points, fourteenth in the league. On defence, Jonathon Blum, also a returnee from the Memorial Cup winning team, finished second among league defencemen in scoring, tallying 63 points, a single-season franchise-record among defenceman. In goal, Sexsmith once again led the league with a stellar 1.89 goals against average. The Giants' run for a third consecutive Memorial Cup appearance was cut short; after sweeping the Chilliwack Bruins in the first round, the Giants were stopped by the Spokane Chiefs in six games.

A dominant 2008–09 season has established several records for the Giants. The club set a WHL record by clinching a playoff berth just 46 games into the season. The mark was previously set by the Everett Silvertips, who clinched a berth after 48 games in 2006–07. Individually, overager Casey Pierro-Zabotel broke the team marks for single-season assists and points, surpassing Darren Lynch and Gilbert Brule respectively, while second-year forward Evander Kane bettered Adam Courchaine's single-season goals total. Team captain Jonathon Blum also surpassed Courchaine to become the franchise's all-time assists leader. Finishing the season with a franchise-high 57 wins and 119 points, the Giants came within 3 points of their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the top regular season team, behind the Calgary Hitmen.

Awards and trophies

Championships

Memorial Cup Canadian Hockey League champion 2007 – Champions(Backdoor) 2006 – 3rd place Ed Chynoweth Cup Western Hockey League playoff champion 2007 – Finalists 2006 – Champions

Western Conference Champions 2005–06, 2006–07 B.C. Division Champions First place in regular season 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10

Individual

WHL

Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy Rookie of the year Gilbert Brule - 2003–04 Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy Defenceman of the year Jonathon Blum - 2008–09

WHL Plus-Minus Award Regular season plus-minus leader Paul Albers - 2005–06 Jonathon Blum - 2006–07

Bob Clarke Trophy Regular season scoring champion Casey Pierro-Zabotel - 2008–09

Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy Coach of the Year Don Hay - 2008-09

CHL

Ed Chynoweth Trophy Memorial Cup scoring leader Gilbert Brule - 2006 Michal Repik - 2007

Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy Memorial Cup MVP Milan Lucic - 2007

CHL Defenceman of the Year Jonathon Blum - 2009

Players

NHL alumni

• Mario Bliznak
• Lance Bouma
• Gilbert Brule
• Jonathon Blum
• Brendan Gallagher
• Triston Grant

• Brett Festerling
• Mark Fistric
• Cody Franson
• Evander Kane
• Matt Kassian
• Andrew Ladd

• Milan Lucic
• Spencer Machacek
• Kenndal McArdle
• Andrej Meszaros
• Brendan Mikkelson
• Michal Repik

• Marek Schwarz
• Nick Tarnasky
• Tomas Vincour
• James Wright

NHL draftees

Note that these are the players who were drafted into the NHL while playing for the Vancouver Giants

• Marian Havel (Drafted by Washington Capitals in 2002; sixth round, 179th overall)
• Robin Kovar (Drafted by Edmonton Oilers in 2002; fourth round, 123rd overall
• Adam Courchaine (Drafted by Minnesota Wild in 2003; seventh round, 219th overall)
• Andrej Meszaros (Drafted by Ottawa Senators in 2004; 1st round, 23rd overall)
• Triston Grant (Drafted by Philadelphia Flyers in 2004; ninth round, 286th overall)
• Mark Fistric (Drafted by Dallas Stars in 2004; first round, 28th overall)
• Gilbert Brule (Drafted by Columbus Blue Jackets in 2005; first round, 6th overall)
• Cody Franson (Drafted by Nashville Predators in 2005; third round, 79th overall)
• J. D. Watt (Drafted by Calgary Flames in 2005; fourth round, 111th overall)
• Milan Lucic (Drafted by Boston Bruins in 2006; second round, 50th overall)
• Jonathon Blum (Drafted by Nashville Predators in 2007; first round, 23rd overall)
• Michal Repik (Drafted by Florida Panthers in 2007; second round, 40th overall)
• Spencer Machacek (Drafted by Atlanta Thrashers in 2007; third round, 67th overall)
• Tyson Sexsmith (Drafted by San Jose Sharks in 2007; third round, 91st overall)
• Lance Bouma (Drafted by Calgary Flames in 2008; third round, 78th overall)
• James Wright (Drafted by Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008; fourth round, 117th overall)
• Brent Regner (Drafted by Columbus Blue Jackets in 2008; fifth round, 137th overall)
• Evander Kane (Drafted by Atlanta Thrashers in 2009; first round, 4th overall)
• Craig Cunningham (Drafted by Boston Bruins in 2010; fourth round, 97th overall)
• Brendan Gallagher (Drafted by Montreal Canadiens in 2010; fifth round, 147th overall)
• David Musil (Drafted by Edmonton Oilers in 2011; second round, 31th overall)
• Marek Tvrdon (Drafted by Detroit Red Wings in 2011; fourth round, 115th overall)
• Jordan Martinook (Drafted by Phoenix Coyotes in 2012; second round, 58th overall)
• Brett Kulak (Drafted by Calgary Flames in 2012; fourth round, 105th overall)

Ring of Honour

• Brett Festerling (inducted on December 7, 2010)
• Andrej Meszaros (inducted on December 27, 2010)
• Mark Fistric (inducted on January 23, 2011)
• Gilbert Brule (inducted on January 28, 2011)
• Milan Lucic (inducted on February 25, 2011)
• Cody Franson (inducted on February 17, 2012)
• Evander Kane (inducted on March 7, 2012)

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history as of 2011–12.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Giants player

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Brendan Gallagher	RW	244	136	144	280	1.15
Adam Courchaine	C	241	126	147	273	1.13
Craig Cunningham	LW	295	86	136	222	0.75
Mitch Bartley	LW	280	107	107	214	0.76
Jonathon Blum	D	248	49	155	204	0.82
Darren Lynch	RW	213	81	121	202	0.95
Gilbert Brule	C	165	87	98	185	1.12
James Henry	LW	281	62	122	184	0.66
Neil Manning	D	310	45	138	183	0.59
Spencer Machacek	RW	203	77	91	168	0.83

Current roster

Updated September 16, 2012.

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Height	Weight	DOB	Place of birth	NHL Draft
1		Payton Lee	L	6'0	175	June 24, 1996	Cranbrook, British Columbia
31		Tyler Fuhr	L	6'0	157	May 30, 1995	Sherwood Park, Alberta
33		Liam Liston	L	6'2	195	April 6, 1993	St. Albert, Alberta

Defencemen
#		Player	Shoots	Height	Weight	DOB	Place of birth	NHL Draft
2		Brett Kulak	L	6'1	175	January 6, 1994	Stony Plain, Alberta	CGY 2012
4		Blake Orban	R	6'1	197	January 28, 1994	Calgary, Alberta
5		Wes Vannieuwenhuizen	L	6'3	208	April 20, 1992	Chilliwack, British Columbia
8		Tyler Morrison	L	5'11	183	October 23, 1995	Sherwood Park, Alberta
21		Stewart Coyle	R	6'2	185	August 15, 1995	Sicamous, British Columbia
29		Reid Zalitach	R	6'0	175	May 1, 1996	Narol, Manitoba
44		Mason Geertsen	L	6'4	203	April 19, 1995	Rocky Rapids, Alberta
Forwards
#		Player	Shoots	Height	Weight	DOB	Place of birth	NHL Draft
9		Dalton Sward	R	6'1	182	January 10, 1994	Abbotsford, British Columbia
10		Scott Cooke	R	6'2	175	March 15, 1994	Surrey, British Columbia
12		Cain Franson	L	6'1	167	March 25, 1993	Sicamous, British Columbia
14		Trevor Cheek	L	6'2	198	December 29, 1992	Vancouver, Washington
15		Riley Kieser	L	6'0	182	April 27, 1993	Sherwood Park, Alberta
16		Carter Popoff	R	5'9	180	May 9, 1995	Richmond, British Columbia
17		Marek Tvrdon	L	6'2	217	January 31, 1993	Nitra, Slovakia	DET 2011
18		Anthony Ast	R	5'8	170	February 11, 1995	Richmond, British Columbia
20		Tanner Moar	R	6'3	180	July 12, 1994	Canwood, Saskatchewan
22		Kale Kessy	L	6'3	202	December 4, 1992	Shaunavon, Saskatchewan	PHO 2011
24		Travis McEvoy	R	6'0	211	April 16, 1994	Thorsby, Alberta
25		Tristan Sieben	L	5'9	187	July 13, 1994	Edmonton, Alberta
26		Taylor Vickerman	L	6'1	181	April 12, 1996	Kennewick, Washington
27		Jackson Houck	R	6'0	184	February 27, 1995	North Vancouver, British Columbia
39		Thomas Foster	L	5'10	160	March 28, 1996	Slave Lake, Alberta

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties OTL = Overtime losses Pts, SOL = Shootout losses Pts, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
2001–02	72	13	49	6	4	198	365	36	5th B.C.	Out of playoffs
2002–03	72	26	37	5	4	217	292	61	4th B.C.	Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2003–04	72	33	24	9	6	215	196	81	2nd B.C.	Lost Western Conference semi-final
2004–05	72	34	30	4	4	212	205	76	3rd B.C.	Lost Western Conference quarter-final
Season	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
2005–06	72	47	19	0	6	252	156	100	1st B.C.	Won WHL Championship; Lost Memorial Cup
2006–07	72	45	17	3	7	245	143	100	1st B.C.	Lost final; Won Memorial Cup
2007–08	72	49	15	2	6	250	155	106	1st B.C.	Lost Western Conference semi-final
2008–09	72	57	10	2	3	319	151	119	1st B.C.	Lost Western Conference final
2009–10	72	41	25	3	3	267	211	88	1st B.C.	Lost Western Conference final
2010–11	72	35	32	1	4	236	251	75	2nd B.C.	Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2011–12	72	40	26	2	4	255	234	86	2nd B.C.	Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2012–13	72	21	49	2	0	197	299	44	5th B.C.	Out of playoffs

WHL Championship history

• 2005–06: Win, 4-0 vs Moose Jaw
• 2006–07: Loss, 3-4 vs Medicine Hat

Team records

Team Records for a single season
Statistic	Total	Season
Most points	119	2008–09
Least points	36	2001–02
Most wins	57	2008–09
Least wins	13	2001–02
Most goals for	319	2008–09
Least goals for	198	2001–02
Least goals against	143	2006–07
Most goals against	365	2001–02

Individual player records for a single season
Statistic	Player	Total	Season
Most goals	Evander Kane	48	2008–09
Most assists	Casey Pierro-Zabotel	79	2008–09
Most points	Casey Pierro-Zabotel	115	2008–09
Most points, rookie	Kevin Connauton	72	2009–10
Most points, defenceman	Kevin Connauton	72	2009–10
Best GAA, goalie	Tyson Sexsmith	1.79	2006–07
Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in British Columbia
• Vancouver Canucks

External links

• Vancouver Giants Official Web Site