PRESEASON PREVIEW: Giants Battle Royals in PoCo on Saturday
Port Coquitlam, B.C. – The Vancouver Giants begin their 2024-25 pre-season this evening when they host the Victoria Royals in the first of two straight contests at Jon Baillie Arena in Port Coquitlam.
Puck drop tonight is set for 7 p.m. PT, while tomorrow the rematch will be played at 2 p.m. PT.
The Giants announced their 29 player pre-season roster on Friday, with 18 forwards, nine defencemen and two goaltenders. Of those 29 players, 20 were on the 2024 playoff roster, including six of the team’s top seven scorers from the regular season: Ty Halaburda, Cameron Schmidt, Connor Levis, Tyson Zimmer, Tyler Thorpe and Mazden Leslie.
Many of those players are expected to suit up tonight, especially considering NHL rookie camps begin next, which will mean players like Halaburda, Levis, Thorpe, Leslie and Roberts cannot play next weekend’s preseason games.
MATCH UP
The G-Men haven’t hit the ice yet in game action, nor have the Royals.
Last preseason, they faced off once at Ladner Leisure Centre, where Victoria snuck away with a 5-4 shootout win.
In the 2023-24 regular season, the two rivals met eight times, with the Giants going 5-2-1. Six of those eight head-to-head games were decided by two goals or less. Vancouver went 3-0-1 in the four most recent matchups.
Both teams were knocked out in the first round of the 2024 WHL playoffs, with the Giants falling to Everett in five games and Victoria getting swept by the Portland Winterhawks.
A couple of interesting player matchups include high draft picks on both sides from 2022 and 2023.
Cameron Schmidt was the seventh overall pick in 2022, while Cole Reschny was selected by Victoria with the third overall pick the same season. Both had standout rookie seasons, with Schmidt’s 31 goals outpacing all 16-year-old rookies other than Gavin McKenna, while Reschny registered one more point than Schmidt (59) in two more games played.
Both teams also have rookie defencemen looking to make a big impact in their first WHL seasons, with Ryan Lin – the sixth overall pick in 2023 – and Keaton Verhoeff – the fourth overall pick in 2023 – also expected to line up against one another this evening.
UP NEXT
After Saturday, the G-Men have three more preseason games. *Please note the preseason game on Sept. 15 has moved from 4 p.m. to 2 p.m., which is reflected below.*
| Date | Opponent | Time | Location |
| Sunday, Sept. 8 | Victoria Royals | 2:00 PM PT | Port Coquitlam |
| Saturday, Sept. 14 | Kelowna Rockets | 6:05 PM PT | Kelowna |
| Sunday, Sept. 15 | Kelowna Rockets | 2:00 PM PT | Ladner |
