Over on the KotG message board I noticed a topic running that had fans debating and listing their all-time worst five Giants players. It’s thrown up some interesting names as different people have varying opinions on who didn’t impress in the teal and white. Some obvious names have come up though for every couple of obvious candidates there have been some strange choices. Someone even named Mark Dutiaume and another Matt Reid. But, anyway, to round up every Giants player with all their different positions, styles of play, attributes and rolls on the team and pick the worst five is not easy and can only really be done by deciding which players least lived up to their own individual roll within the team. The easy choice for many was the enforcer types like Angelstad and McMorrow but I haven’t included them because within the roll assigned to them, they did well enough.
McMorrow cannot be judged as bad because he didn’t score much, just as Kory Karlander cannot be judged as bad because he couldn’t fight. If we’re going to call Terran Sandwith bad because he could only score a goal against the British team in a friendly, then we have to call Ed Courtenay awful because he never blocked a shot. (Note: He may well have blocked a shot, but you get what I’m trying to say).
Sheffield lost tonight against Hull giving the Giants a wonderful opportunity to get right back into the title race with a victory over Newcastle. Unfortunately two ex-Giants players came back to haunt their old team in the worst possible way as the Vipers beat Belfast 6-3. Our old player-coach Ed Courtenay picked up 2 goals and 2 assists while one time winger Jeff Hutchins grabbed a hat trick.
Mark Morrison put in the best performance for the Giants picking up two goals as well as their man of the match performance. Although the game passed off more peacefully than some might have expected there was still a few donnybrooks when Jason Rushton and Andre Payette squared up in the pre-game warm-up before Rushton picked up two fighting majors against Chris McAllister and Derek Campbell. Rushton also scored an assist in the game but missed the entire third period due to a hand injury. It is not yet clear how serious the injury is.
Jason Rushton will have to be on the top of his game tonight as the Giants travel into Newcastle to play the Vipers for the first time since the double header in the Odyssey last month when fights broke out all over the place. The Vipers were furious the way things went down, never mind the fact they lost both games. They have promised pay back and have promoted the game as the Giants circus coming to town. The odds on Rushton and Payette fighting again are tiny and the chances of their being more fights than goals are good as well.
I don’t mind. So long as the Giants come home with the two points and without injuries then I am all for us beating them up along the way. It is going to be entertaining but unfortunately I am not going to be able to watch it. Oh well, I am sure the fight videos will surface sometime after the game.
All the goals, fights and big moments from the big game last night in the Odyssey. The stand out thing for me aside from some very nice goals was the size of the crowd and the noise it was making — it was a throwback to the days of yore. Some have called the Odyssey a graveyard for atmosphere lately, but this certainly changed that. Enjoy and pay up for tonight’s re-match at giantslive.tv
