Fact: A 1,700 kilometre-plus drive home from the Prairies is a lot more fun with a victory in your back pocket.
Saturday night’s 5-2 defeat over the Regina Pats Saturday night makes the Vancouver Giants trip home to Langley a whole lot more palliable, said the team’s play-by-play broadcaster Dan O’Connor.
“For a fifth straight game, the Giants struck first,” he said.
James Malm snapped his third of the season in to start the back and forth battle.
Ty Ronning had a goal and two assists for Vancouver while three other Giants (Brad Morrison, Brendan Semchuk, and Dawson Holt) recorded multi-point games.
Todd Scott was “solid in goal” making 33 saves, O’Connor added, also noting that the Giants posted a season-high 50 shots on goal to improve their season record to 5-5-1-1 and finish their road trip record to 3-2-1-1 (earning eight of a possible 14 points).
They earned at least a point in five of the seven games on the trip and remain tied with the Kelowna Rockets for the second-best record in the B.C. division, O’Connor said.
The G-Men are one point ahead of the Prince George Cougars, who are coming to the Langley Events Centre to face the Giants on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Benson is back
In the meantime, the Giants have learned that forward Tyler Benson will be back on the ice with the team as of tomorrow (Tuesday).
The 19-year-old former Giants captain returns after an injury and surgery sidelined him for a large chunk of last season.
Benson last played a game with the Giants on Jan. 2 in Calgary where he posted a goal and an assist in a 5-4 Giants victory.
Of note, said O’Connor, Benson managed 11 goals and 31 assists for 42 points in 33 games prior to his injury.
“During the off season, Benson underwent sports hernia surgery and has been recovering and training under the watchful eye of the Edmonton Oilers medical staff since,” he elaborated, noting Benson’s exact return to game action has yet to be finalized.
But he will be joining practice in Ladner on Tuesday, after being cleared by the Oilers.
Originally selected by the Giants with the first overall pick in the 2013 WHL bantam draft, Benson has registered 34 goals and 81 assists for 115 points in 132 career WHL games.
He was named captain of the Giants in September 2015 and in June 2016 he was selected 32nd overall by the Oilers in the NHL draft. He signed a three-year entry level contract with Edmonton in December that year.
Internationally, Benson twice represented Canada at the World Under-17s and also donned the Maple Leaf with Team Canada at the 2015 World Under-18s and the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.
Last week he was named to Team WHL’s roster for the 2017 CIBC Canada Russia Series, marking the second straight season that he’s represented the Giants and the WHL at that event.
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Showing at WHL cup
Five of the Giants nine draftees from the 2017 WHL bantam draft class competed last week in the (U-16) 2017 WHL Cup Tournament held in Calgary.
Four of the players – Justin Sourdif, Tanner Brown, Cole Shepard and John Little – represented Team B.C. while Krz Plummer suited up for Team Alberta.
The tournament featured four teams: B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Sunday in Calgary, Team B.C. earned a 4-3 overtime victory over Team Alberta to clinch the gold medal.
Fittingly the final game of the tournament featured all five Giants prospects.
Sourdif, a Surrey forward, (selected third overall by the Giants in Round 1) grabbed B.C.’s first goal of the game in the late stages of the second period to help B.C. claw back from a 2-0 deficit. Sourdif finished the tournament with four goals and an assist and was named a WHL Cup All-Star. He was named a tournament all-star. He was a +1 with four penalty minutes through five tournament games.
Brown of Kelowna, (Round 2, Pick 24) scored once goal and added an assist through five games for Team B.C. while finishing a -1 with six penalty minutes.
Cole Shepard of West Vancouver (Round 2, Pick 33) scored once and added two assists for three points in five games while finishing with an even plus-minus and two penalty minutes.
Plummer of Whitecourt, Alta. (Round 3, Pick 46) finished with one assist in five games for Team Alberta while finishing with eight penalty minutes and a -2 rating.
Little of Parksville (Round 3, Pick 60) registered one goal in the tournament while finishing with an even plus-minus rating and two penalty minutes.
Of the five Giants who participated in the 2017 WHL Cup, three have signed Standard WHL player agreements with the team: Sourdif, Brown and Plummer.
