WHL playoffs – Kelowna Rockets vs Vancouver Giants

I went to my first hockey game in almost a year yesterday. I went to game three between the Kelowna Rockets and the Vancouver Giants. The series was tied at 1 game a piece and there was a lot of excitement going into the game in Vancouver.

The first period it seemed like the two teams were feeling themselves out and most of the game was played in the neutral zone, or in the corners. Kelowna came out of the period with a 1 goal lead. The second period started with Kelowna’s Keller scoring a pair of goals to put them up 3-0. Throughout the whole game Vancouver had been totally outhitting Kelowna, and it continued after going down 3-0. Then things started to go right for Vancouver and they were able to pop a goal on the power play (textbook pp goal I might add). Then a few minutes later with the momentum with them they were able to steal another goal after some poor goaltending on Kelowna’s part. Finally with less than a minute in the 2nd period Brule truly impressed the hell out of me by throwing two huge checks before getting himself to the net to help setup the tying goal. The third period Vancouver came out hitting and full of energy. Tying the game in the second gave them a new jump in their skates and it paid off midway through the 3rd to take the lead. After that Vancouver buckled down to win the game 4-3.

This was my first WHL game of the year and was a lot of fun and totally worth the $20 tickets. While the start of the game was a bit slow it definitely picked up in the second and carried on to the end. I was very impressed by two players last night, Brule and Keller. Brule was everywhere, and often double shifted, he showed signs of brilliance when he almost deaked out two defensemen at once and was a one man force on the ice when they scored the tying goal. For being only 5′11 180 pounds this guy can sure throw his weight around. Keller was also impressive for the Rockets, he scored two of their 3 goals and was a force everytime he was on the ice. What really impressed me a lot about Keller was that despite the booing of fans he still came out for a skate when he was named 2nd star of the game.

I am really glad I went to this game, it gave me the hockey fix I needed. Hopefully the Giants can make it further in the playoffs so I can check out another game or two.