Lay It On The Line This Weekend
The Vancouver Giants look to reclaim top spot in the B.C. division this weekend with a pair of games vs. conference rivals. It all gets started on Friday night at the Pacific Coliseum when the Seattle Thunderbirds come calling. The T-Birds sit in last place in the Western Conference with 49 points and are struggling right now with just two wins in their last 14 games; however, they did defeat Spokane in their last game Sunday night. It will be the third of four meetings this season between Vancouver and Seattle. The Giants won the last meeting back on January 16th at the Showare Centre, 4-3. The Thunderbirds have had success at the rink on renfrew beating Vancouver 4-3 in a shootout on October 15. Seattle is led by goaltender Calvin Pickard who has played in 54 of their 57 games, including starting the last 26 games.
All fans are encouraged to wear red mittens in honour of John Furlong, the CEO of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, who will be on hand Friday night to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the Olympics and take part in the ceremonial faceoff. The first 100 fans at the game wearing red mittens will receive an autograph copy of Furlong’s book ‘Patriot Hearts’.
Vancouver wraps up the weekend with a trip to the Okanagan to take on the Kelowna Rockets Saturday night. The Giants will be looking for a little redemption after Wednesday’s loss and to snap their 3-game losing streak vs. the Rockets. It will be the 6th meeting of the season between these two B.C. division rivals. Kelowna currently holds down top spot in the B.C division. Both teams are tied with 65 points, but the Rockets have two more wins and a game in hand. Kelowna has a tough schedule coming up. They host Spokane on Friday, the Giants on Saturday, then they play 5 straight on the road, including a 4 game road swing through the central division vs. 3 playoff teams in Medicine Hat, Red Deer, and Kootenay. Of course the B.C. division could come down to the final weekend of the season when the Rockets and Giants play a home and home series on March 18th and 19th.
