Tag Archives: Ty Ronning

So you’re saying there’s a chance?

The Vancouver Giants took three of a possible four points during WHL action this weekend, keeping their slender playoff hopes alive.  Sitting tenth and last in the Western Conference, the G-Men are nonetheless within an unconverted touchdown of the 8th and final post-season berth at the moment held by the dirty, rotten, stinkin’ Portland Winterhawks. That said, the Hawks have two games in hand, and have put daggers in Vancouver hearts just too many times to think they’ll roll over and die for us in the final 20 games.

Ryan Kubic under a spotlight during player introductions. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Ryan Kubic has been one of the bright spots for the Vancouver Giants this season. His team dropped a 3-2 decision to the Calgary Hitmen in overtime at the Pacific Coliseum. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

They’ll need a run of strong play and serious puck luck, but the Giants are more likely to catch the equally slimy, smarmy, lecherous Kamloops Blazers, who currently sit in seventh place. Not only are Loops on a horrid run at the moment — having won just two of their last ten games — but the Giants play them head-to-head five times in the final few weeks of the season. That’s ten points up for grabs. Sweep that series, and the Giants are almost guaranteed a playoff spot.

The Vancouver Giants dropped a 3-2 decision to the Calgary Hitmen in overtime at the Pacific Coliseum. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
The Vancouver Giants dropped a 3-2 decision to the Calgary Hitmen in overtime at the Pacific Coliseum. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

The thing is, much like their NHL cousins up the road at Rogers Arena, the Giants just haven’t shown any kind of consistency to inspire hope for this season. Sure, injuries have played a part — a projected first-round pick in the NHL draft this summer, Tyler Benson has missed most of the season with lower body injuries — but there are games when entire platoons of Giants seem to take the night off.

After a dismal 5-16-4 start to the season, General Manager Scott Bonner started making some roster moves to change the vibe in the dressing room. It seemed to work, as Vancouver put together a remarkable run. They won 12 of the next 18 games. Buzz started circulating about goaltender Ryan Kubic, who rose as one of the team’s more solid pieces. Recent addition Chase Lang has provided timely offence, and a skilful grit around the end boards that the team hasn’t seen since Milan Lucic wore Vancouver colours.

Defenseman Brennan Menell has been wonderful through most of the year — let’s not count his -4 performance against Victoria two weekends ago, because everyone on the team took a nap that night — and has chipped in a respectable 38 points in 52 games from the blueline.

Ty Ronning at the CHL Top Prospects Game. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Ty Ronning scored early, and raised a few eyebrows with his gutsy play, at the CHL Top Prospects Game at the Pacific Coliseum. Team Orr took a 3-2 decision over Team Cherry in an entertaining, skill-filled game. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Forward Ty Ronning has also scored at a wicked pace, earning a place at the CHL Top Prospects game held here a couple of weeks ago. He scored even in that heady arena, with Don Cherry, Bobby Orr and countless hockey pundits in the building, and raised his stock in the June draft immeasurably.

But something clicked off mid-January. Momentum shifted, somehow, and gone are the three- and four-game win streaks. Instead, it’s been .500 hockey for the past dozen or so games. When you’re trying to catch teams in the standings, you need to string together a few Ws. Unfortunately for Vancouver, there’s just been too much reliance upon Ronning and Lang up front, and Kubic at the back end. Without a legitimate second line to help outscore their mistakes, the Giants pretty much have to play perfect hockey to have a hope of extending their season.

Centre Carter Popoff had 64 points two seasons ago, but dropped off to 50 last year and has just 29 this season. Behind him, Alec Baer has a career best 33 points, but he’s a bit of a defensive adventure; Baer is -15 through 52 games, and has a tendency to wander away from his check through the rear two zones of the ice. Slovak winger Radovan Bondra has shown flashes of promise, but only has 18 points in 42 games and an abysmal -18 plus/minus rating.

Owen Hardy punching Bryce Platt. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
I’m not a fan of fisticuffs, but holy hand grenade did Owen Hardy ever pop Bryce Platt in the kisser in this bout. The Vancouver Giants dropped a 3-2 decision to the Calgary Hitmen in overtime at the Pacific Coliseum. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Overall, let’s be honest, this is a team that probably should be on the bubble. With the man-games they’ve lost to injury, it’s no surprise Vancouver is on the outside looking in again this year. It’s a long shot, but if they put together a few strong outings, especially in those five games against the Blazers, there might just be some post-season play to come.

Chase Lang and Jackson Houck face off at the Pacific Coliseum. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Chase Lang and Jackson Houck were traded for each other earlier this season. The Vancouver Giants dropped a 3-2 decision to the Calgary Hitmen in overtime at the Pacific Coliseum. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Silvertips waltz away with two points

The Vancouver Giants relied on hustle, muscle, and a little luck on Friday night. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome a fast, skilled Everett Silvertips team at the Pacific Coliseum. The Giants got two goals in quick succession in the first period to briefly hold a 2-1 lead, but let Everett slip away with the two points.

Let’s be honest: the Silvertips should win this game. They’re first in the US Division, and came into the night on a seven-game unbeaten streak. This is a good hockey team.

The Vancouver Giants dropped an entertaining 3-2 decision to the Everett Silvertips in the first home game of 2016. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Sixteen-year-old Riley Sutter hits defenseman Brennan Menell during second period action at the Pacific Coliseum. You read that right: ANOTHER SUTTER. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Ryan Kubic might want the winning goal back, but he can’t be blamed for the loss. He allowed three pucks by him on 22 shots, but good gravy the Tips looked dangerous on just about every rush up the ice.

For his part, Silvertips goalie Carter Hart spent long stretches of the game idle, but made the stops necessary to win the game. The Giants pushed and prodded late, swarming the net and crashing the boards. They even drew a penalty late, and spent the final minute of the game with a 6-on-4 man advantage. It was tense, with most of the 4,000+ fans in the building screaming “SHOOOOOOT” — it was shades of Thomas Gradin here at the Coliseum for a while there — but in the end, the Tips held out for their 25th win of the year.

Ty Ronning nearly potted one in the second period, but he was held to just one assist in a 3-2 loss to the Silvertips. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Ty Ronning nearly potted one in the second period, but he was held to just one assist in a 3-2 loss to the Silvertips. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Want some clichés? The best players on the Tips roster were their best players tonight. Remi Laurencelle got on the board early with a deft redirect from the slot, and had two assists. For the Giants, Chase Lang and Ty Ronning were held goalless — although Lang did hit one hell of a post with 90 seconds left in regulation, and Ronning nearly potted one in the second period — and secondary scoring just didn’t pick up the slack.

The Vancouver Giants dropped an entertaining 3-2 decision to the Everett Silvertips in the first home game of 2016. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Silvertips leading scorer Remi Laurencelle skates away from Giants best point-per-game guy Trevor Cox. The Vancouver Giants dropped an entertaining 3-2 decision to the Everett Silvertips in the first home game of 2016. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

The Giants applied a disciplined, physical game, especially in the third period. It’s a good plan when they stick to it, because quick teams like Everett have a hard time adjusting. For the plan to work, however, they need to take advantage of the chances they manage to create. Several Giants had pucks in prime scoring positions, but either had shots blocked or put it right in Hart’s bread basket.

The next Giants game comes tomorrow night against the dirty, rotten, stinkin’ Prince George Cougars. Get your tickets here.

Vancouver rides the Stache to a Giant two points

Dude. This guy is in Lanny McDonald territory. WHL file photo.
Dude. This guy is in Lanny McDonald territory. WHL file photo.

Zane Jones’s moustache scored once and added an assist to drive the Vancouver Giants to a 5–4 win over the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night. The ginger duster was all over the place at the Pacific Coliseum, laying hits, creating open ice and sweeping into the dirty areas of the rink.

During an early second-period Giants power play, Jones’s lip foliage took a cross-ice pass in the left face-off circle. Rather than one-timing a snap shot on Rebels goaltender Taz Burman, the soup strainer extraordinaire took the puck to the backhand to cut around a sprawled d-man, made a power move to the lip of the crease. From there, Mr Tickler buzzed a shot into a razor-thin bit of open net, going top shelf where grandpa keeps the moustache wax. The entire sequence was made even more impressive by the fact that the tastefully trimmed mouth brow was dragging along a 210-pound Zane Jones under it the entire time. That lip luggage may have been named third star in the building Friday, but ask just about any of the six thousand-plus fans in attendance, and they’ll almost certainly name Old Bullet Proof number one.

The bro-merang’s big game meant a lot to the Giants, who won for just the second time in the last ten tries.

“I haven’t seen a nose bug like that since Lanny McDonald,” said Red Deer GM and head coach Brent Sutter in an exclusive interview I totally made up in my head during the drive home from the rink. “Seriously, I still have burns on my neck from all those battles on the boards against that mustachioed bastard. Back in the day I preferred getting speared by Ken Linseman to rubbing up against that bloody caterpillar.”

All kidding aside, this was a great game — it had everything junior hockey is meant to be. Loads of goals, momentum swings, a handful of fights and high energy action from the get-go to the final buzzer. On the strength of some lengthy periods of uptempo forechecking and hard work down low, the Giants were able to come back from 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 deficits. Not to take anything away from Alec Baer’s late tying goal or from Ty Ronning’s power play winner with under a minute to go, Jones and his vaunted lip sweater were the main reasons the G-men walked away with these two points.

Zane Jones's moustache was all over the ice Friday night, scoring on this impressive power move in the second before setting up a late tying goal in the Giants 5-4 win over Red Deer. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Zane Jones’s moustache was all over the ice Friday night, scoring on this impressive power move in the second before setting up a late tying goal in the Giants 5-4 win over Red Deer. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.