Dreary.
That’s probably the first word that comes to mind with the Vancouver Giants’ lacklustre effort on Wednesday night. It led to a 5-2 loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Pacific Coliseum.
Vancouver added forward Chase Lang and defenceman Ben Thomas in a trade on Tuesday with the Calgary Hitmen, and then picked up winger Trevor Cox in a deal with the Medicine Hat Tigers on Wednesday. All three took part in NHL training camps this season.
You’d might think that the Giants players would be excited about that. It didn’t come through in their play, though.
Payton Lee was beaten on a rebound 3:38 into the game, and then whiffed on a shot at 5:15, and coach Lorne Molleken yanked him from the game. Two goals, five shots. And, keep in mind, that Vancouver ended its three-goalie rotation by sending Cody Porter to Calgary in the Tuesday trade.
Lethbridge went up 3-0. Haydn Hopkins got one back at 15:58 of the first, but Vancouver couldn’t build off that. Alec Baer scored at 18:44 of the third, but the game was long over.
Vancouver outshot Lethbridge 34-22. Attendance was announced at 3,821, but there were more than a few no-shows.
These aren’t the Hurricanes that people are used to. Lethbridge (10-2-0-0) has the league’s best winning percentage right now.
That said, they were coming off a Tuesday game in Victoria. Vancouver (4-7-1-1), now losers of four straight, hadn’t played since Sunday.
Cox, who has a broken hand, did not play. Molleken said he was “pleased with Thomas,” and added, “his first pass was good, I thought he defended well, and he played with physicality.”
As for Lang, Molleken said, “the compete was there.”
It was difficult to come up with a best Giant. Of note, Josh Thrower played with some gumption, despite the fact he’s a defenceman and Molleken had him up front, filling in for Brendan Semchuk and Dawson Holt, who are away at the Under-17 challenge.
Here’s some quotes from an obviously miffed Molleken.
Molleken: “It’s a tough game out there. If you don’t want to play out there, that’s what happens. The first period, we were soft in our coverage. Give them credit. They’re a good hockey club. and they took full advantage.”
Molleken: “We addressed the type of team we were playing this morning. But, you know what — we were a fragile team tonight.”
Molleken on whether it should have been an inspired team after the trades: “You could see some shock in the faces. You know, you are dealing with young men. … The maturity level right now of our team is down here (points at knees). That’s what I’m talking about – fragile. Mentally, we have to be stronger. Mentally, we have to be ready to compete.”
