Giants @ Oil Kings

Rexall Place- Edmonton, Alberta
Wednesday, October 22/08
6 p.m. – SHAW TV / 650 CISL

Dave Sheldon – Vancouver Giants

Edmonton AB – The Giants are ready to go on the this three game swing through Alberta . Now in Edmonton, the G-Men prepare to face the Oil Kings for the first time ever at Rexall Place. In their lone meeting last year, the Defending Memorial Cup Champions laid the wood to the expansion Kings, blasting Edmonton by the score of 7-0 at the Pacific Coliseum. Spencer Machacek and Garry Nunn added two goals apiece in the victory while Lance Bouma, Jonathon Blum and Michal Repik notched the singles. Tyson Sexsmith turned aside 23 shots to record the shutout. The Giants would convert on the power play, going three for eight with the man advantage while stifling the Oil Kings on all eight of their opportunities.

The Oil Kings share the ‘Pill Box’ with the NHL Edmonton Oilers, and this building has seen some of the best hockey ever played with the likes of Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson and Fuhr in the their prime, as the Oilers rattled off five Stanley Cups in six years in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The Giants will look to tap into the excitement of playing in an active NHL building.

Vancouver, 7-0-0-3 on the season, last played a road game back on September 28th, when the Giants defeated the Chilliwack Bruins at Prospera Centre. Since then, the Giants have posted a 3-0-0-2 record on their five game home stand, but also haven’t won a game since a 7-1 pounding of Kelowna back on October 10. Even after a seven day absence from play, the Giants Evander Kane and Casey Pierro-Zabotel continue to lead the WHL in league scoring. Kane (9G-14A) and Pierro-Zabotel (3G-17A) are averaging at least two points a game so far this season. Vancouver remains first overall on the power play, which has scored on 20 of 60 opportunities for a 33.3% success rate. On the penalty kill, the Giants are 54 of 62 for fifth best and an 87.1% success rate.

Edmonton, 5-8-1-0, have already played fourteen games this season and are currently tied for last in the Eastern Conference with 11 points. The good news for the Oil Kings is that they are only three points back of a playoff spot as the entire Eastern Conference is tightly packed early on. Brett Breitkreuz, (9G-8A), leads Edmonton with seventeen points, while the Oil Kings as a team have balance up front, having eight players who have scored at least eight points so far. On the special teams, Edmonton is 10th on the Power Play (15/77 – 19.5%), and 19th on the Penalty Kill (50/67 – 74.6%).

This game will be the first of eight appearances by the Giants on SHAW TV. Dan Russell and Bill Wilms will give you your Giants fix on TV, with game time in the Vancouver market beginning at 6 p.m. The Giants as always can be heard home and away on SUPERHITS 650 CISL, pre game show with Dave Sheldon at 5:30 p.m., puck drop at 6.