PREVIEW: Giants Welcome Royals to LEC to Kick off #GiantNewEra
Vancouver, B.C. – The Vancouver Giants open up their 23rd season in the Western Hockey League tonight when they welcome the Victoria Royals to the Langley Events Centre for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
This season is ripe with anticipation, thanks to an accumulation of draft picks that are now knocking on the door as rookies, plus NHL draft picks in Sam Honzek and Jaden Lipinski. New Head Coach Manny Viveiros also makes his regular season debut behind the Vancouver bench.
Both the Giants and Royals are hoping to take significant strides this season compared to last, where Vancouver had 28 wins and Victoria only had 17.
The Giants went 3-0-1 in the 2023 preseason, after they picked up a shootout win last Saturday against Kamloops.
Tickets for tonight can be purchased by clicking here.
GIANT DEBUTS
While the Giants roster features 17 returning Giants that played full time last season, the excitement is about the eight rookies on the club’s roster: Colton Alain, Matthew Hutchison, Justin Ivanusec, Ethan McEneany, Aaron Obobaifo, Jakob Oreskovic, Cameron Schmidt and Adam Titlbach. Only Obobaifo and Titlbach will be making their WHL debut tonight, as the six others all got in some games at various points last season.
From that group, Hutchison, Obobaifo, Schmidt and Titlbach will all feature prominently this season.
A pair of defencemen will also debut for Vancouver this evening, though they played full-time in the WHL last season: Logen Hammett and Marek Howell. Both were acquired in the off-season, Hammett from Brandon and Howell from Moose Jaw.
TODAY’S MATCHUP
Tonight is the first of eight meetings this season between Vancouver and Victoria.
The Giants went 8-2 against Victoria last regular season: 3-2 at home and a perfect 5-0 on the road.
The two rivals last clashed in a regular season setting on March 4, 2023, which was the 10th and final H2H of the 2022-23 regular season, a game the Giants won 4-2. Giants forward Jaden Lipinski was the first star of that game with four assists.
Vancouver and Victoria met once in the 2023 preseason, a feisty affair that saw the teams combine for 80 penalty minutes and resulted in a 5-4 shootout win for the Royals. The G-Men erased a 4-1 deficit late in the third period in that game.
Neither team is at full strength, with players from both sides still participating in NHL training camps: Sam Honzek, Jaden Lipinski and Mazden Leslie for Vancouver, and Ganon Laroque (no longer on the Royals roster), Justin Kipkie, Reggie Newman and Kalem Parker for Victoria.
LAST TIME OUT
Connor Dale scored a pair of goals, Skyler Bruce tied the game in the third period, and Adam Titlbach scored the shootout winner on Saturday Sept. 16 at Cam Neely Arena in Maple Ridge.
Goaltender Brett Mirwald made 29 saves on 32 shots in his first preseason start, and turned away all three shooters in the shootout to pick up the victory.
Vancouver averaged 5.5 goals for per game in the preseason (excluding shootout goals), which was the most of any team in the Western Conference.
SEASON SERIES VS. VICTORIA (8 H2H)
| DATE | LOCATION | RESULT/TIME |
| Sept. 22, 2023 | LEC | 7:00 PT |
| Oct. 27, 2023 | LEC | 7:00 PT |
| Oct. 28, 2023 | SOF Memorial Arena | 6:05 PT |
| Dec. 27, 2023 | LEC | 7:00 PT |
| Jan. 26, 2024 | LEC | 7:00 PT |
| Jan. 27, 2024 | SOF Memorial Arena | 6:05 PT |
| Jan. 28, 2024 | SOF Memorial Arena | 3:05 PT |
| Feb. 14, 2024 | SOF Memorial Arena | 7:05 PT |
NEXT 5 GAMES
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME |
| Sept. 29, 2023 | at Kamloops | Sandman Centre | 7:00 PT |
| Oct. 1, 2023 | vs. Wenatchee | LEC | 4:00 PT |
| Oct. 7, 2023 | at Portland | Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 6:00 PT |
| Oct. 13, 2023 | vs. Swift Current | LEC | 7:00 PT |
| Oct. 18, 2023 | vs. Medicine Hat | LEC | 7:00 PT |
HOW TO TUNE IN
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