"Hockey Historian, Author, Broadcaster, and HockeyBuzz Trivia Blogger"
Ardmore, PA • United States • 67 Years Old • Male
HockeyScoop
HockeyScoop
All Hail the Vancouver Giants -- 2007 Memorial Cup Champions
Posted 10:02 PM ET | Comments 4
What a glorious aftrnoon of fellowship and the pure joy of hockey could be found in the HockeyBuzz Chatroom today! For almost four hours, a diverse group of us HB chatters eschewed family BBQs, a day at the beach, and other recreations of a beutiful holiday weekend Sunday afternoon to huddle by our computers and join, albeit in cyberspace, the crowd of 16,281 that filled the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, BC, as the WHL Vancouver Giants -- coached by my old friend of more than thirty years, Don "Hayzer" Hay -- played their 99th game of the year and captured junior hockey's ultimate prize, the Memorial Cup, by defeating the Medicine Hat Tigers, 3-1, in a tense, nailbiting contest. (It was also the ninth time these two powerhouse WHL rivals had played each other in May!)
Over the past few months, the Giants have become the favorite of the regulars in the chatroom who have been joining together for each WHL playoff and Memorial Cup game in which our favorite club has participated this Spring to follow their exploits with the help of the Giants spectacular play-by-play voice, Joey Kenward. Joey was again at his post at "radio rinkside" weaving his masterful word pictures while we jointly lived and died with the Giants on every shift as they sought both to avenge the seventh game, double-overtime loss to the Tigers in MH two weeks ago in the WHL Finals -- and in doing so brought themselves the 89th Memorial Cup championship.
While none of us have ever actually ever seen the Giants play in person, we feel that we know each and every one of these young men. The names of goalies Tyson Sexsmith and Blaine Neufeld, defensemen Brendan Mikkelson, Neil Manning, Cody Franson, Jonathon Blum, Brett Festerling, A. J. Thelen, Nolan Toigo, and Brent Regner, and forwards Evander Kane, Lance Bouma, J.D. Watt, Tim Kraus, Craig Cunningham, Spencer Machacek, Wacey Rabbit, Mitch Czibere, James Wright, Mario Bliznak, Kenndal McArdle, Garet Hunt, Michal Repik, Milan Lucic, and Mike Wuchterl have all become as famaliar to us as those of the players on our own favorite home pro teams, and we will intensely follow the progress of those members of this extraordinary team of teenages as they make their own way through the pro ranks.
And behind the bench, of course, was Hayzer, my friend since we were together with the NAHL Philadelphia Firebirds in 1976-77. In the years since he has coached in the NHL with Phoenix and Calgary, and in the AHL with Utah. But it is in the rough and tumble world of the WHL in which he has made his name as the developer of young men into winning hockey players -- including his son, Darrell, who is captain of the ECHL Idaho Steelheads who are currently playing the Kelly Cup finals against Dayton Bombers. While the 2007 Memorial Cup is the Giants first, it is the fourth for Hay as a coach having won it three times before with Kamloops.
The Stanley Cup finals open in Anaheim on Monday between the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators, and it will be glorious. But none of us "chatters" will likely follow it with quite the same passion and personal caring, I think, as we all gladly invested in the Giants these past weeks. The joy we collectively felt as we jointly heard Joey Kenward's excited voice coming out of the speakers of our computers as he announced that the Giants had just won the Memorial Cup will be wicked hard to match anytime soon!
Congratulations to Hayzer and the Giants -- the 2007 Memorial Cup Champions -- from all your friends and fans in the HockeyBuzz.com Chatroom!!!
<img src="http://www.hockeybuzz.com...scoop/VGMCC.jpg">
Over the past few months, the Giants have become the favorite of the regulars in the chatroom who have been joining together for each WHL playoff and Memorial Cup game in which our favorite club has participated this Spring to follow their exploits with the help of the Giants spectacular play-by-play voice, Joey Kenward. Joey was again at his post at "radio rinkside" weaving his masterful word pictures while we jointly lived and died with the Giants on every shift as they sought both to avenge the seventh game, double-overtime loss to the Tigers in MH two weeks ago in the WHL Finals -- and in doing so brought themselves the 89th Memorial Cup championship.
While none of us have ever actually ever seen the Giants play in person, we feel that we know each and every one of these young men. The names of goalies Tyson Sexsmith and Blaine Neufeld, defensemen Brendan Mikkelson, Neil Manning, Cody Franson, Jonathon Blum, Brett Festerling, A. J. Thelen, Nolan Toigo, and Brent Regner, and forwards Evander Kane, Lance Bouma, J.D. Watt, Tim Kraus, Craig Cunningham, Spencer Machacek, Wacey Rabbit, Mitch Czibere, James Wright, Mario Bliznak, Kenndal McArdle, Garet Hunt, Michal Repik, Milan Lucic, and Mike Wuchterl have all become as famaliar to us as those of the players on our own favorite home pro teams, and we will intensely follow the progress of those members of this extraordinary team of teenages as they make their own way through the pro ranks.
And behind the bench, of course, was Hayzer, my friend since we were together with the NAHL Philadelphia Firebirds in 1976-77. In the years since he has coached in the NHL with Phoenix and Calgary, and in the AHL with Utah. But it is in the rough and tumble world of the WHL in which he has made his name as the developer of young men into winning hockey players -- including his son, Darrell, who is captain of the ECHL Idaho Steelheads who are currently playing the Kelly Cup finals against Dayton Bombers. While the 2007 Memorial Cup is the Giants first, it is the fourth for Hay as a coach having won it three times before with Kamloops.
The Stanley Cup finals open in Anaheim on Monday between the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators, and it will be glorious. But none of us "chatters" will likely follow it with quite the same passion and personal caring, I think, as we all gladly invested in the Giants these past weeks. The joy we collectively felt as we jointly heard Joey Kenward's excited voice coming out of the speakers of our computers as he announced that the Giants had just won the Memorial Cup will be wicked hard to match anytime soon!
Congratulations to Hayzer and the Giants -- the 2007 Memorial Cup Champions -- from all your friends and fans in the HockeyBuzz.com Chatroom!!!
<img src="http://www.hockeybuzz.com...scoop/VGMCC.jpg">
Everything is going well with Memorial Cup Champions so far and all players perform in the early session. The uk-dissertation.com also sponsored few players this time and they arrange many things there.
The Giants have become the favorite of the regulars in the chatroom who have been joining together for each WHL playoff. metal fence
The 2007 Memorial Cup is over and done. The Vancouver Giants are Champions. What a great run they had. Must you follow this concrete layers waikato and get more steps about construction. They faced obstacles along the way, but they were able to overcome them all with their trademark determination, hard work, and skill. It was a long road to the top, but they got there in the end. It's been a fun cup to watch, and I am appreciative that I could be along for the ride.
The joy we collectively felt as we jointly heard Joey Kenward's excited voice coming out of the speakers of our computers as he announced that the Giants had just won the Memorial Cup will be wicked hard to match anytime soon! concrete resurfacing