Vancouver Giants head coach Michael Dyck promised their first-round WHL playoff matchup with the Seattle Thunderbirds, which begins tonight (March 22) at 7:30 p.m. at the 黑马磁力 Events Centre, will be a 鈥渇ast, physical game,鈥� that puts two hard-working teams against each other.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to come down to goal tending and specialty teams,鈥� Dyck said.
鈥淚t should be great hockey.鈥�
It鈥檚 been a long time since Giants fans saw anything beyond the first round of the WHL Playoffs.
The last time Vancouver advanced beyond the first round was during the 2010 WHL Playoffs, which marked the second consecutive year they were eliminated during the WHL鈥檚 Western Conference Championship.
G-Men came close in 2019, falling to the Victoria Royals in seven games.
In the spotlight is Giants defenceman Bowen Byram, who was named a first team Western Conference All-Star for 2018-19. Byram finished the season with 26 goals, and 45 assists for 71 points in 67 games.
It marked a new single-season high by a Giants defenceman and his 71 points put him second on the team in outright scoring and third in league scoring.
Last week, Byram received four team awards, including the Sultan Thiara Plus-Minus Award, the 3-Stars Award, Pat Quinn Defenceman of the Year Award, and the P.C. Toigo Most Valuable Player Award.
