Talk isn’t cheap with these Giants
Current Vancouver forward Ronning one of the notable quotable players in franchise history
There is some positive talk coming out of the Vancouver Giants’ camp these days. The Western Hockey League squad scored a 3-2 shootout road win against the Western Conference-leading Prince George Cougars on Wednesday, ending an eight-game losing skid in the process.
In honour of the upbeat words, we present the 10 most quotable Giants of all-time:
1 Tyson Sexsmith
The 2007 Memorial Cup-winning goaltender was always a low, quiet talker, but exactly what was on his mind usually came out of his mouth, too. The fact that he was such a key contributor to so many successful Vancouver teams from 2005-09 (his 26 career regular-season shutouts remain a WHL record and he had a 1.83 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 49 league playoff games) made him a frequent interview request.
Here’s what he said about Patrick Roy, his idol growing up who he felt ignored him when both were taking part in the top prospects game during the 2006-07 season: “Maybe it’s because I’m from the West, maybe it’s because he thought we were still in Memorial Cup competition then. It doesn’t bug me. I just thought he’d be a better guy than that. I thought he’d be more of a warm guy, an open, willing-to-talk guy.”
He was in his 17-year-old season when the Giants won the national title on home ice. It’s rare for a goalie that young to backstop a championship team. Sexsmith always came off as being sure of his ability.
He talked about that during the Memorial Cup run, explaining: “There’s a fine line between confident and cocky. People can say I’m cocky. But I’m really not. When Patrick Roy retired, he was asked if there was one guy he wouldn’t want to face in the shootout, who would it be? He said he wouldn’t care who it was because he was confident in his ability. As a goaltender, it’s a different gig.”
2 Tim Kraus
Kraus, a stylish centre with Vancouver from 2003-07, was good with insight with the media, explaining how and why things happened. He was always reasoned in his responses.
When it was suggested during the 2007 playoffs that the draw opened up for the Giants when Prince George upset the heavily favoured Everett Silvertips in the Western Conference semifinals, Kraus reported: “They didn’t make it and we did. We play who we have to play. We control what we can control.
“People can say what they want, but they weren’t good enough to make it. We wanted them, but they probably wanted us even more. We’re just happy we played the way we played and we’re going to the final.”
3 J.D. Watt
Watt, another member of those Giant teams that had so much success, had a way with the language. How can you not appreciate a guy who would drop a “brouhaha” into an answer?
The big right winger also pushed the envelope quote-wise during his stay with Vancouver from 2004-07.
Watt was a central figure in the messy end to that 2007 opening-round playoff series against the Chilliwack Bruins, getting into a scrap with Partik Bhungal just after the final buzzer sounded. Watt had words with Chilliwack’s Donnie Glennie just before the fight.
“It’s surprising. Usually when you talk, you should be able to back it up. There’s not many guys who talk and don’t back it up, but I don’t think Donnie Glennie backed it up this series,” Watt said following that series.
“Glennie talked a lot and, to say the least, we didn’t like him. He’s part of the reason that brouhaha ensued.”
4 Ty Ronning
The current team’s leading scorer (43 points, including 21 goals) has seemed right at home with interviews since the day the Giants picked him in the first round of the 2012 WHL bantam draft.
You get the feeling that the diminutive right winger paid attention to his dad — former Canuck Cliff Ronning — and his dealings with the media.
The younger Ronning told a story leading up to last summer’s NHL draft about a scout asking him what two things would make him an NHL player. Ronning said there were three, in fact, and pointed at his head, his chest and his groin.
Smart, heart and gumption.
Ronning continued: “As a small player, you need to out-compete people and I love competing.”
5 Craig Cunningham
Cunningham was always good with the analysis. In his stay with the Giants from 2006-10, he played 295 regular-season games, the second-most in franchise history. (Neil Manning played 310 from 2006-12.)
Cunningham also went from not scoring a goal as a 16-year-old to putting up 97 points as a 19-yearold and shifted from right wing to centre during his time in Vancouver, so he could see events from various roles.
Cunningham, talking early in the 2008-09 season, explained: “I still think about that first year. I never take scoring a goal for granted. When I get a chance, I want to bear down.”
6 Milan Lucic
His quote game is top shelf now. The left winger showed some glimpses of that when he was with the Giants from 2005-07.
Lucic said this when teammate Garet Hunt broke his leg midway through the 2007 Memorial Cup host campaign: “When I saw him tear up because he can’t play in the Memorial Cup, it almost got me tearing up, too.
“It didn’t really all sink in until we saw him. He’s in rough condition and he’s got tears coming down his face because he wants to play so bad and he’s not going to be able to.”
7 Brendan Gallagher
Gallagher was shy and quiet as a 16-year-old, but steadily improved with the interviews.
He was with Vancouver from 2008-12 and finished as the team’s all-time leader in points (280) and goals (136). He explained the record in this way: “I know my name will be the one that goes beside the records, but, to me, a lot of people played a big role.”
8 Evander Kane
Kane was confident on the ice and confident with interviews from the time he showed up with Vancouver as an underage call-up.
The left winger, who was with Vancouver from 2006-09, had this to say during his first full season with the club: “It’s definitely different hanging out with older guys. We enjoy it. I don’t know if the 20-year-olds are as excited to hang out with a 16-yearold, but it’s fun for us.”
9 Tyler Benson
Benson, Vancouver’s current captain, has been the face of the franchise during a difficult stretch and deserves credit for how he’s handled it. The left winger is always accommodating, even when it comes to talking about his injury problems.
“I’m a competitive person,” Benson said leading up to last summer’s draft, where he was a second-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers. “I would have liked to see how things would have went. It would have been fun to prove myself out there.”
10 Jon Blum
Blum, another guy from the glory years, was always thoughtful when it came to answers. The defenceman was with Vancouver from 2006-09.
Blum, in the midst of missing games with a shoulder injury in the 2008-09 season, explained: “I got here at the rink at the normal time and I had no idea what to do. I was just pacing back and forth, watching TV. I really had no idea what to do. It’s different, for sure.”