Canadian Press
Dec 31, 2006, 1:04 AM EST
VANCOUVER (CP) - Rookie James Wright scored two goals and added a pair of assists to pace the Vancouver Giants to an 8-0 Western Hockey League victory over the Chilliwack Bruins on Saturday night.
Wright's four-point night doubled his season points total to eight and overshadowed teammate Spencer Machacek's hat-trick before a crowd of 8,614 at the Pacific Coliseum.
Brendan Mikkelson, Garet Hunt and Lance Bouma also scored for the Giants, who improved to 26-5-3-4. Jon Blum provided four assists, matching a team record that he already shares with former teammate Paul Albers.
The expansion Bruins dropped to 11-25-0-1 and remained winless in four meetings this season with their regional rivals.
Vancouver goaltender Tyson Sexsmith recorded his fifth shutout of the season, but he was rarely tested as the Giants outshot Chilliwack 44-20.
Wright, a 16-year-old Saskatoon native who will not be eligible for the National Hockey League draft until 2008, saw a lot more playing time than usual. The Giants were missing five of their most talented offensive players because of a suspension and world junior championship commitments.
Giants winger J.D. Watt sat out a one-game suspension for an elbowing incident in Thursday's game against Kamloops while defenceman Cody Franson, the team's top scorer, and left winger Kenndal McArdle (Canada) and centre Mario Bliznak (Slovakia) and Michal Repik (Czech Republic) were away competing for their
respective countries at the world junior tourney in Sweden.
The Giants took an early lead and never looked back as they led 2-0 and 5-0 by periods.
Mikkelson gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead during a power play at 6:57 of the first period. The goal came only four seconds after Chilliwack's Matt McCue was sent off for interference. McCue was playing his first game since being acquired Thursday in a trade from the Spokane Chiefs.
Machacek staked Vancouver to a 2-0 advantage at 15:25 as he stuffed a rebound past Chilliwack goaltender Alex Archibald.
FULL STORY
Dec 31, 2006, 1:04 AM EST
VANCOUVER (CP) - Rookie James Wright scored two goals and added a pair of assists to pace the Vancouver Giants to an 8-0 Western Hockey League victory over the Chilliwack Bruins on Saturday night.
Wright's four-point night doubled his season points total to eight and overshadowed teammate Spencer Machacek's hat-trick before a crowd of 8,614 at the Pacific Coliseum.
Brendan Mikkelson, Garet Hunt and Lance Bouma also scored for the Giants, who improved to 26-5-3-4. Jon Blum provided four assists, matching a team record that he already shares with former teammate Paul Albers.
The expansion Bruins dropped to 11-25-0-1 and remained winless in four meetings this season with their regional rivals.
Vancouver goaltender Tyson Sexsmith recorded his fifth shutout of the season, but he was rarely tested as the Giants outshot Chilliwack 44-20.
Wright, a 16-year-old Saskatoon native who will not be eligible for the National Hockey League draft until 2008, saw a lot more playing time than usual. The Giants were missing five of their most talented offensive players because of a suspension and world junior championship commitments.
Giants winger J.D. Watt sat out a one-game suspension for an elbowing incident in Thursday's game against Kamloops while defenceman Cody Franson, the team's top scorer, and left winger Kenndal McArdle (Canada) and centre Mario Bliznak (Slovakia) and Michal Repik (Czech Republic) were away competing for their
respective countries at the world junior tourney in Sweden.
The Giants took an early lead and never looked back as they led 2-0 and 5-0 by periods.
Mikkelson gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead during a power play at 6:57 of the first period. The goal came only four seconds after Chilliwack's Matt McCue was sent off for interference. McCue was playing his first game since being acquired Thursday in a trade from the Spokane Chiefs.
Machacek staked Vancouver to a 2-0 advantage at 15:25 as he stuffed a rebound past Chilliwack goaltender Alex Archibald.
FULL STORY
