New captain ‘sweats and bleeds Giants’

By Dhiren Mahiban
Originally Published June 19/07

It’s been a big 12 months for the Vancouver Giants organization; however, no member of the Giants’ organization has had a bigger 12 months than local product Milan Lucic.

Not only was Lucic part of the Giants team that won this year’s Memorial Cup and last years WHL Championship, Lucic was also a second-round selection of the Boston Bruins at last year’s NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, was named the MVP of the 2007 Memorial Cup and will wear the ‘C’ for the Giants 2007/08 season.

“It’s been huge,” said Lucic. “Growing up I always wanted to be a high-end player playing in a high-end league…this year was a year where I kind of broke out of my shell and I think being drafted last year gave me a lot of confidence. The experience we had last year winning the WHL championship and playing in the Memorial Cup gave me a lot of experience coming in to this season.”

After taking nearly two weeks off to rest, rejuvenate and celebrate his 19th birthday, Lucic is back at in the gym working hard in preparation for his second NHL training camp with the Bruins.

“I think the best thing is training and being ready going in to Boston for training camp,” Lucic said. “I already took my time off at the front, enjoyed my birthday party, and I think its time to get back to work and get re-focused.

“I [train] Monday to Friday with [Giants Strength and Conditioning Coach] Ian Gallagher so that’s my plan for the summer and he’s a good trainer,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough summer with him.”

Lucic’s notched 30 goals and 68 points in 70 regular season games while contributing five assists and seven points in five Memorial Cup games, including a helper on Michal Repik’s game winner in the final.

“I think our line played really well, I think you could’ve [the MVP] to Repik or me,” said Lucic. “Both of us really stepped up in the tournament. We did what we needed to do to help our team win.

“We knew our key guys had to keep up and I felt we did a real great job of that and that’s the reason why we won the Memorial Cup and also why I was MVP.”

Lucic’s solid season hasn’t gone unnoticed by the team which drafted the 6-3, 203 pound left winger as he received a special phone call from Hall of Famer and former Bruins great, Cam Neely.

“It was shocking at first, I was kind of like ‘holy smokes Cam Neely’s calling me,’” said Lucic. “He just called to congratulate me and wish me the best of luck in the future. It was a real classy move by a really classy guy. It just shows that he’s a true gentleman and a world class Hall of Famer.”

Lucic’s play has impressed Giants’ bench boss Don Hay so much that Hay has named him the team’s sixth captain in franchise history. According to Hay, Lucic is the ideal fit for the vacant position.

“Milan’s definitely going to be our captain, we’ve made that public to our players,” Hay said during Giants Day at Vancouver City Hall. “He’s the ideal choice for us, the ideal leader for us, he’s what we look for in a player – somebody that works hard every night and competes hard everyday – it’s going to be an exciting year for him, too.”

Lucic will have all summer to get advice from friend and former Giants captain Brett Festerling, as they will work out together at the team’s practice facility in Ladner.

“He brings that leadership on and off the ice he works as hard as he does on the ice off the ice and he cares about the team, he wants to win,” said Festerling. “He really puts the team ahead of himself and that’s what makes him such a good player I think. He sweats and bleeds Giants.”

Fairy tale ending

Disney couldn’t have written a better script, on their home ice in front of 16,000 plus fans waving white towels the Vancouver Giants brought home their first ever Memorial Cup in franchise history.

Mario Bliznak brought the puck from behind the net and beat Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Matt Keetly on the wrap-around between the pads at near the fifteen minute mark of the third period which stood to be the winner in a 3-1 Giants win.

“Its just unbelievable,” said Vancouver Giants majority owner Ron Toigo. “I don’t have any words for it and I can’t remember the last time I was lost for words.”

Toigo spent literally a whole day in front of the board of the WHL convincing them to allow him to expand to the lower mainland market and just six short years its paid off.

“We weren’t very good the first couple years and [the fans] still came out and supported us,” recalled Toigo. “They continued to do that, and what a crowd today. Wow!”

Mario Bliznak opened the scoring in the second period when he pounced on a rebound off an A.J. Thelen shot and beat Keetly. The Tigers responded just over nine minutes later when Darren Helm picked up a marker of his own on the power play.

However, Sunday was not Medicine Hat’s night Repik gave the Giants the one goal advantage with just over five minutes remaining in the third, and then with under a minute remaining Spencer Machacek deposited the puck into the empty net to seal the deal.

Boston Bruins prospect Milan Lucic was named the tournament MVP after collecting two goals and adding 5 helpers in five games.

The win is even more special for those 20 year-olds in the Giants line-up who, last night, saw their junior hockey careers come to an end.

“There’s nothing better, I was pretty much in tears when I was on the ice for that last goal,” said Kenndal McArdle, a Burnaby native who was acquired at the deadline in exchange for Jason Reese. “I can’t even explain how it feels to try for something your whole junior career, and then finally get it.

“I know for the older guys its something we’ve worked hard for and I know every single guy is going to remember this for a long time.”

Added captain Brett Festerling:

“I’m speechless it feels amazing to do it with this group of guys. It’s that much sweeter after last season – it’s that much sweeter after the playoffs I think – guys really hurt when we didn’t win the WHL and the guys were really determined to get the win tonight.”
Vancouver fans who want one last glimpse of their Memorial Cup Champions will have the chance to do so tomorrow after noon as Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan as declared May 29 as Vancouver Giants Day. The players, coaching staff, management and ownership group will be on hand at the Vancouver City Hall for all the festivities beginning at noon.

Champions

The Vancouver Giants won their first ever MasterCard Memorial Cup knocking off the WHL champions from Medicine Hat 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

For pictures from today’s finale click here.

Final game seven

There’s an old saying that goes: be careful what you wish for, and in the Vancouver Giants case the wish was for one more shot at the WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers. After Wednesday night’s loss head coach Don Hay said he was hoping for one more shot at the Tigers, and thanks a dominant 8-1 victory over Plymouth in the semi-finals on Friday night the Giants will get just that: one more shot.

“Before the cup if you had to ask any of the guys if they’d like a shot at one of the teams it would’ve been Medicine Hat and now we got that shot,” said J.D. Watt.  “It’s a game that makes or breaks your season and we’re all excited about this.”

Sunday afternoon’s tilt versus Medicine Hat will be the ninth time these two teams have hooked up in the last 23 days, in that span the Tigers have a 5-3 advantage over the Giants, but a win for Vancouver on Sunday is the only thing that’ll matter in the end.

“There’d be nothing better than to beat Medicine Hat in front of our home crowd,” Milan Lucic said. “There’s going to be 16,000 fans cheering for us; emotions are going to be high [and the] intensity is going to be high.

“They’re a good team we’re a good team its going to be the team that executes the best that comes out on top.”

Medicine Hat took the WHL crown from the defending WHL champion Giants in a seven game series and then managed to hang on to a 1-0 lead in the final game of the round robin on Wednesday night.

The Tigers last won the Memorial Cup back-to-back in both 1987 and 1988, and current Vancouver Canucks’ forward Trevor Linden was a part of both wins. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Giants are appearing in just their second Memorial Cup after taking part in last years tournament in Moncton
The puck drop for tomorrow’s tilt is 1 p.m. at the old rink on Renfrew.

Tigers earn birth at Final

For pictures from the final game of the round robin at the Memorial Cup click here

Tigers take bite out of Giants

They didn’t bring their A-game, that’s the idea the Giants were leaning on after the Medicine Hat Tigers took the final game of the round robin 1-0 earning a spot in the Memorial Cup final game on Sunday.

A Giants victory would’ve left them with a 3-0 record and a birth in the final.

“We got a great effort,” said Tigers Head Coach Will Desjardins. “I think [it was] our only chance, if we had to go the tie-breaker, it would’ve been really tough for us to win. So I think this game was really critical for us, our guys knew that. We got a good effort and we were fortunate enough to win.”

Giants’ nemesis Derek Dorsett converted on a late second period power play opportunity and Matt Keetly stopped all 29 shots he faced to earn the shutout.

“We knew if we played defensive first that there could be a good chance, but it was still going to be tough,” said Matt Keetly, afterwards.

Dorsett’s goal was his first of the Memorial Cup and his second point in three games. With the win the Tigers ensure themselves a spot in the Memorial Cup finals and will have a few days off to prepare.

“We’re a team that works hard, we’ve worked hard all year and that’s our number one motto: go hard,” said Derek Dorsett. “We’ve just got to make sure we keep doing that.

“We just got to heal up and get some rest and focus in on what we can control, then we’ll see who we play and we’ll go from there.”

Entering the night’s action the Giants had everything going for them: they had a couple days off in preparation, they had a record crowd (14,091) backing them, and they had the incentive of a guaranteed Sunday game, however, with so much on the line the Giants failed to capitalize.

“I don’t know what to say,” said goaltender Tyson Sexsmith. “I don’t think guys were prepared, I think was a bit easier than it was. We were 2-0 and guys thought we should be 3-0 I guess.

“Its’ hard to say what was going through guys heads but obviously it wasn’t the right things.”

Added Don Hay:

“I’m a little surprised with that (the effort). The series has been so intense and so competitive. I thought we’d see a little bit more of that but we didn’t.”

The Giants have tomorrow off in preparation for Friday’s semi-final tilt, they’ll keep a close eye on tomorrow nights game between Lewiston and Plymouth as the winner will be their Friday night opponent.

“I think we have to re-group and play better than we did tonight,” Hay said. “I think that we have to have a better effort, from our whole group, we can’t have an average effort and I thought we had an average effort [tonight].”

The Plymouth Whalers and Lewiston MAINEiacs will do battle at 7:30 tomorrow night at the Coliseum with the winner meeting the Giants on Friday night for a 5 p.m. tilt.

G-Men remain undefeated

The Vancouver Giants remained the only undefeated team at the 2007 Master Card Memorial Cup knocking off the QMJHL champion Lewiston MAINEiacs 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.

Lewiston opened the scoring early in the first when David Perron deflected a shot past Giants’ goaltender Tyson Sexsmith.

Despite out-shooting Lewiston by a 21-11 mark after 40 minutes of play the Giants didn’t register on the score sheet until 8:52 of the third period when Burnaby native, Kenndal McArdle beat MAINEiacs goalie Jonathan Bernier.

Afterwards the Giants admitted staying focused and sticking with the game plan was the key to the victory.

“He’s an all-star goalie”, said Kenndal McArdle. “It was a really good job by everyone to stick with it.”

Added Milan Lucic:

“We said we had to stay composed and stick with it. Once we got that first one we really started to put the pressure on.”

Just under seven minutes after McArdle’s second of the tournament, Boston Bruins prospect Wacey Rabbit gave the Giants their first and only lead of the game when he came from behind the net to put in the rebound off a Michal Repik shot.

With the win the Giants have guaranteed themselves at least a birth in the semi-finals as the only un-defeated team at the tournament.

“I was really happy with the way our guys stuck with it and didn’t take any bad penalties”, said Giants coach Don Hay. “It feels good obviously, but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.

“It’s important that we get rest tomorrow and get ready for Medicine Hat [on Wednesday].”

For the MAINEiacs it was a tough pill to swallow after leading for much of the game they’ll now have to beat Plymouth to stay alive in the tournament.

“It was a tough loss”, said goaltender Jonathan Bernier afterwards. “It was a good game, but we’ve got to bounce back. Fatigue is not an issue, we just have to be a bit smarter and play our game.”

Added Lewiston Head Coach Clement Jodoin:

“I was disappointed with some of the plays we made, we just gave them the puck. Against a good team like this, when you get your chance, you have to take it.”

Memorial Cup action continues tomorrow evening when the WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers take on the OHL champion Plymouth Whalers at 5 p.m.

MAINEiacs and Giants fight to remain undefeated

Day three of the 2007 Master Card Memorial Cup features a battle of the two remaining undefeated teams. Both the Lewiston MAINEiacs and Vancouver Giants won their respective first games of the tournament and hook up this afternoon in a game which will leave just one team undefeated.

For pictures from the 2007 Master Card Memorial Cup click here

Giants take game one in exciting fashion

By Dhiren Mahiban

Kenndal McArdle scored at the 5:06 mark of overtime leading the Vancouver Giants over the Pymouth Whalers in game one of the 2007 Memorial Cup. J.D. Watt fed a cross-ice pass to McArdle who was all alone in front and beat Whalers goaltender Michal Neuvirth.

“I just went to the net, called for it, and Watt made an unbelievable cross-ice pass,” said McArdle. “There wasn’t that much work I had to do on the goal.”

The Giants understood the importance of winning early at the Memorial Cup after failing to win in the first two games at last year’s tournament. Coming back from the 0-2 start was a battle the Giants were unable to over come losing at the tie-break game.

“We knew how important it was to get off to a good start,” said Giants Head Coach Don Hay. “With our crowd there giving us good energy, I thought both teams did a good job of competing and battling.

“They have a very talented offensive hockey team, and you really can’t afford to make many mistakes with them.”

Judging by the physical nature of the game and the numerous post-whistle scrums, one who didn’t know better would’ve suggested these two teams have met before setting the tone for the physical nature of game one.

“They came out real hard, I thought we played a real physical game and they played real physical back,” said Milan Lucic who had two goals in the winning effort. “I think if it was a seven game series it’d be a pretty interesting series.

“We executed when we needed to and that’s why we came out on top.”

The OHL Champions from Plymouth were led offensively by Dallas Stars prospect James Neal who found the back of the net twice in the second period.

“James is a horse for us, [and] he’s a great player”, said Whalers Head Coach, Michael Vellucci. “He does everything, he made some great defensive plays for us, he can punish people with his hits, and he scored two very good goals tonight.”

Plymouth scored three times on the power play on Friday night going three for five, but was unable to get that extra marker to put them over the top.

“The guy’s played really hard there, a couple bounces went their way and a couple bounces went ours and that’s the way things turn out”, said Whalers forward James Neal. “I think we let off a little bit and they capitalized on their chances and that’s the way things go.”

Memorial Cup action resumes tomorrow afternoon with the WHL Champion Medicine Hat Tigers taking on the QMJHL Champion Lewiston MAINEiacs at 1p.m. at the Pacific Coliseum.