The Return of Craig Cunningham
The Vancouver Giants get set for two crucial games this weekend at the Pacific Coliseum vs. U.S. Division opponents. Heading into the weekend the Giants sit in 2nd place in the B.C. Division, 4 points back of the Kelowna Rockets. Saturday marks the return of Craig Cunningham to Vancouver as the Portland Winterhawks pay a visit to the Rink on Renfrew. It will be Cunningham’s first game in Vancouver since being traded to the Winterhawks on December 27, 2010 in exchange for Spencer Bennett, Teal Burns, and 2 draft picks. Since the trade Cunningham has put up 15 goals and 35 points in 26 games in a Winterhawks uniform and overall has 80 points on the season, tops on the team. This will be the first of two games between Portland and Vancouver in the final month of the season. They haven’t played each other since September when Portland defeated Vancouver 7-2 on September 27th at the Rose Garden and 4-3 September 29th at the Pacific Coliseum. The Winterhawks currently sit in first place in the U.S. Division and Western Conference with a record of 43-17-0-3, two points better than rival Spokane. Portland has been on a roll winning 16 of their last 19 games. They feature the 4th and 5th overall pick in the 2010 NHL entry draft, Ryan Johansen and Nino Niederrieter, not to mention two possible first rounders this year in Ty Rattie and Sven Bartschi. This will be a good test for the Giants to see how they stack up against the conference’s best. Game time is 7:00pm at the Pacific Coliseum
For a second straight Sunday the Giants will play host to the Tri-City Americans. Game time is 5:00pm. Last weekend Vancouver snapped its 6 game regular season losing streak vs. the Americans with a 5-0 victory. Brendan Gallagher led the way with 2 goals and 4 points, while Mark Segal made 23 saves for his 5th shutout of the season. The Americans continue to sit in 4th place in the Western Conference and seem content to stay there considering all their injuries. Right now they are without starting goaltender Drew Owsley, leading scorer Adam Hughesman, and veterans Jordan Messier and Mason Wilgosh. They head into play this weekend having lost 7 of their last 9 games.
