Tag Archives: Payton Lee

Double digits, baby

The Vancouver Giants put the boots to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes with an impressive 10–0 Friday night win on home ice. Payton Lee’s first shutout of the season was lost next to the offensive explosion at the other end of the ice — the Giants dominated, holding a huge edge in puck possession and putting 40 shots on the poor bastards between the Hurricanes pipes.

Payton Lee stopped 18 shots for his ____ career WHL shutout as the Vancouver Giants spanked the Lethbridge Hurricanes 10–0 at the Pacific Coliseum. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Payton Lee stopped 18 shots for his second career WHL shutout as the Vancouver Giants spanked the Lethbridge Hurricanes 10–0 at the Pacific Coliseum. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

More, including highlights, after the jump.

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Missed it by that much

The Vancouver Giants came within a hair of beating the Portland Winterhawks for the first time since February 2012, but settled for a single point in a 5–4 shootout loss on Sunday night. It was a hollow victory for the Giants, who led 4–3 late in the third period but gave up a shorthanded goal to take the game into extra time.

Taylor Leier nearly won the game in regulation for the Winterhawks when he hit the crossbar with under a minute left in the third period. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Taylor Leier nearly won the game for the Portland Winterhawks with under a minute left in regulation when he chipped a bouncing puck off the crossbar behind Payton Lee. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Vancouver held the edge in the first period, punishing a tired Winterhawks team playing their third game in three nights. After 20 minutes, the G-Men led 3–2 and looked in pretty good shape.

As the night wore on, however, Portland’s snipers seemed to gain their legs. Leading scorer Nicolas Petan started cutting in and out of traffic, giving nifty short passes to linemates and trailing defenders alike. The also dangerous Oliver Bjorkstrand dominated on the boards, making Vancouver goaltender look over his shoulder several times in the third period. And in the final ten minutes, Portland generated a seemingly endless string of breakaways and odd-man rushes.

 More, including pics and highlights, after the jump.

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Giants sock it to the Hitmen

The Vancouver Giants came out swinging in the first period, then held on for a gritty 4-3 overtime win over Calgary Wednesday night. In the first period, Hitmen goaltender Chris Driedger didn’t look much like the young man who stopped 38 of 39 shots to gift his team a 2-1 win over Kelowna on Tuesday night. He was beaten three times in the first period, including once on a spectacular dangle by rookie Alec Baer.

Forward Alec Baer scored a beauty midway through the first period en route to a 4-3 win for the Vancouver Giants on Wednesday. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head
Forward Alec Baer scored a beauty midway through the first period en route to a 4-3 win for the Vancouver Giants on Wednesday. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

He wouldn’t allow another puck past him until 2:04 of overtime, however, when Tim Traber swept home a rebound to seal just the third win of the season for the Giants.

More after the jump.

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Vancouver Giants 4, Seattle Thunderbirds 1

Vancouver Giants defenseman Arvin Atwal lines up a point shot while sporting a commemorative #9 Gordie Howe Mr Hockey jersey. Atwal had an assist in the Giants 4-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on February 25, 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Vancouver Giants defenseman Arvin Atwal lines up a point shot while sporting a commemorative #9 Gordie Howe Mr Hockey jersey. Atwal had an assist in the Giants 4-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on February 25, 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
The Vancouver Giants scored three times on the power play and but for one exception kept opposition pucks out of their own net on Sunday on their way to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. It was a rare treat for more than 8,500 Sunday afternoon fans at the Pacific Coliseum, as the Giants have had little success this season in either of those areas.

Brett Kulak, Brendan Rouse and Cain Franson each had a goal and an assist, while goaltender Payton Lee stopped 23 of 24 shots to collect his 10th win of the year. Carter Popoff had the other goal for the Giants. Left winger Alexander Delnov scored the lone goal for the Thunderbirds, taking advantage of a two-man advantage in the second period.

More (including highlights) after the jump.

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Vancouver Giants Teddy Bear YouTube Challenge

Anthony Ast is one of the Giants featured in the Teddy Bear Toss promo video, which the organization hopes will go viral before their December 14 game versus the Prince George Cougars. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Like a lot of organizations, the Vancouver Giants make important gestures to the charitable community throughout the year, and especially so at Christmas time. A great Xmas event is the Teddy Bear Toss, which takes place this year on December 14. Fans are invited to bring an unwrapped, new teddy bear (or other stuffed animal), and throw it onto the ice when the Giants score their first goal of the night. The toys are collected and donated to the Province Empty Stocking Fund for underprivileged children and the CKNW Orphans’ Fund — it’s a treat to be a part of, and an impressive display of generosity to see all those airborne bears.

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Payton Lee shines in back-to-back losses

Vancouver has struggled this season, but 16-year-old Payton Lee has kept them close the last couple of games. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

For the second game in a row, Payton Lee was the best player in a Vancouver Giants uniform. And for the second game in a row, the 16-year-old goaltender from Cranbrook earned a big fat regulation loss for his efforts, as his teammates were unable to put together much of anything at the other end of the ice. Lee stopped 29 of 31 shots, but his Giants left Kamloops on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline.

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Vancouver anything but giant on the power play

Sixteen-year-old Payton Lee collected his first win of the season in a 4-1 win over the Victoria Royals on October 26. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

After 12 games, the Vancouver Giants are off to what you might call a rough start. At 3-9, the team sits in the cellar of the Western Hockey League standings, and has the league’s second-worst goals for total. Goaltending has troubled the G-men, certainly, with third-year player Liam Liston already doing his best Dan Cloutier impression to earn a spot on the bench behind a couple of 16-year-olds. But it’s another set of stats that is probably to blame for Vancouver’s slow start: special teams.

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