On the second day of their six-game, 12-day road trip through Alberta and Saskatchewan, the 麻豆传媒映画Giants will spend Tuesday night at Edmonton鈥檚 Rexall Place to see the Oilers host the Arizona Coyotes.
From privileged seats in the rafters, the WHLers will observe a rising star.
鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate enough to see McDavid play tonight,鈥� said Giants coach Lorne Molleken the afternoon before the puck dropped for Oilers rookie Connor McDavid. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to sit in the stands tonight. We will sit up in the upper ring, so it鈥檚 a privilege to do that.鈥�
Such seating is where extra players, opposing team personnel and NHL scouts take in the game. The Giants are seeing what the next level can look like, a prize on top of what鈥檚 been an excellent start to the Giants鈥� season.
Under Molleken, the club鈥檚 fourth coach in three seasons, 麻豆传媒映画went 4-2 in the pre-season and is 2-0 to start the 2015/16 regular season. This record mirrors last year鈥檚 early start, a September surge that didn鈥檛 last and suffered especially on the road with 29 losses and 11 shutouts. Another notable difference is the Giant鈥檚 5-2 win over the WHL champion Kelowna Rockets on Sept. 27. Last year, the Rockets topped the Giants 7-4 in their fourth game of the season, one of 20 wins in nearly two dozen meetings.
It鈥檚 far too soon to label this a turning-point under Molleken, but the coach said the players have been more than willing to work hard and adopt his systems.
鈥淭hey are looking for guidance 鈥� that is the word. Obviously the majority of the players faced some adversity last year and learned from it. Coming into this year, we knew we had some work to do, and the players have done a really good job adapting and competing. They deserve a lot of credit.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing this for a long time and my philosophy is a simple one, I think. I try to treat the players the way I would expect to be treated as a player. Every day we come to the rink, our goal is to get better and we鈥檝e set certain standards to achieve and meet. The guys are really receptive to that. The biggest thing is we want to create a culture or atmosphere that they enjoy being a part of and when they come to the rink, they鈥檙e having fun.鈥�
Named the team鈥檚 captain late last month, Tyler Benson is still recovering from surgery and is expected to return at the end of the month. In the meantime, Jackson Houck is wearing the 鈥淐.鈥�
On Tuesday, Benson was given the top rating on the NHL Central Scouting List, meaning he is a possible first-round draft pick. The eventual captain is not skating but attends practice every day.
鈥淭yler is one of the elite players in all of junior hockey, and we miss him a lot, there is no question,鈥� said Molleken, 鈥渂ut what it does is whenever you get a player of his caliber injured, it opens up opportunities for some of the other guys to get an expanded roll. We move players in different positions and they鈥檝e adapted well. That鈥檚 a real credit to them.鈥�
A few players have stepped in for the six-foot left winger, including Radovan Bondra, a six-foot-five Slovakian skater the Giants picked up from the Chicago Blackhawks. He scored on a breakaway against the Rockets last weekend and had two goals in two games.
The back-to-back wins meant more for the Giants than a clean-sheet. The players dedicated the weekend wins to late hockey executive Pat Quinn.
鈥淚t was their goal to get four points,鈥� said Molleken.
Ty Ronning scored twice and Bondra added a third to defeat the Seattle Thunderbirds on Sept. 25. Two days later, five Giants contributed goals to defeat the Rockets.
鈥淚t was a pretty emotional weekend for everyone involved,鈥� said the coach 鈥淚t鈥檚 a real credit to them and they really starting to understand what it means to represent the Giants organization.
鈥淕etting off to a good start was critical.鈥�
麻豆传媒映画plays in Prince Alberta Oct. 2 before meeting Molleken鈥檚 former team in Saskatoon Oct. 4. He led the Blades to a Memorial Cup in 2013.听
鈥淭he team is in good spirits,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 anxious to see how our team performs this trip.鈥�
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