Newcomer Nielsen increases Giants’ grit
Tristen Nielsen doesn’t mind playing the heel on the ice.
The 18-year-old forward the Vancouver Giants acquired in a trade last week from the Calgary Hitmen in exchange for 19-year-old forward James Malm has some edge to his game, by his own admission.
Malm is tricky. He has the slick stick skills to get out of your way.
Nielsen, it seems, is content on getting in your way. The Langley Events Centre’s main tenant has apparently added to its ornery content.
“I’m a gritty little physical guy who likes to wheel,” Nielsen said, pointing to his skating abilities.
“I like the offensive side of the game, but I also like getting under people’s skin.”
According to Giants general manager Barclay Parneta, Malm requested a trade. A Langley native, he was leading the club in scoring at the time with 15 points, including nine goals, in 13 games.
The Giants, under new coach Michael Dyck, have a more structured feel this season. There’s more focus on the defensive zone. Malm was one of the players who Dyck got after regularly about that.
Malm, too, was quoted as saying this on the Hitmen website: “Calgary is a great place to live and it’s a new fresh start for me. I get the chance to move away from home, do things on my own and experience what it’s like to play junior hockey away from my hometown.”
Nielsen had asked the Hitmen for a trade as well. He left the team after playing five games with them this season and was waiting at his Calgary home for a deal. Nielsen is from Fort St. John, but he says he’s been living in Calgary for several years after attending the Edge academy.
Nielsen wouldn’t get into specifics on why he wanted to leave the Hitmen. He had 19 goals and 35 points in 49 regular-season games there last season. He missed 20 games with a wrist injury.
“These two to three weeks of not being able to play were taking a chunk out of me,” said Nielsen.
“It was getting harder and harder as the days went by. I was just happy I got a phone call when I did.
“I’ve tried coming out here and having a fresh start and having fun. Hockey’s a lot easier when you’re having fun. It doesn’t seem like a job if you’re having fun.”
Nielsen, at 5-foot-9 and 192 pounds, is a bigger, heavier body than Malm, who is listed at 5-9 and 159 pounds.
Nielsen played for Team Canada White at the word Under-17 challenge in 2016. That team’s coaching staff included Jamie Heward, who is the associate coach with the Giants. Nielsen was also part of the Team Canada entry at the 2016 World Youth Olympics, and Dyck was part of that team’s staff.
The Hitmen made Nielsen the 20th overall pick in the 2015 WHL bantam draft. Vancouver had picked centre Tyler Popowich third overall.
He left the Giants in the pre-season, opting to retire, so Nielsen helps fill a void in that age class for Vancouver.
Dyck had Nielsen playing on a line with rookies Lukas Svejkovsky and Yannik Valenti in his Vancouver debut last Saturday against the Kamloops Blazers at the LEC and he assisted on Valenti’s second-period goal, which stood up as the winner in a 2-1 triumph.
GOING TO THE WALL FOR CUNNINGHAM
The Giants announced Wednesday that former team captain Craig Cunningham will be added to their wall of honour during a ceremony before the Dec. 2 game against the Tri-City Americans at Langley Events Centre.
His story since leaving the Giants is well known. Cunningham, 28, suffered a cardiac
arrest on the ice before an AHL game between his Tucson Roadrunners and the Manitoba Moose on Nov. 19, 2016.
Complications would lead to him having his lower left leg amputated.
He has since joined the Arizona Coyotes as a scout and has also started up the Craig Cunningham All Heart Foundation, which is working to raise awareness and prevent sudden cardiac arrests.
People tend to forget how good a player he was with the Giants. He’s second in regular-season games played (295), third in points (222) and fifth in assists (136).
The Giants will wear commemorative “All Heart” themed jerseys during their warm-up that night.
The jerseys will then be autographed by both Cunningham and the player who wore it and sold via online auction, with proceeds going toward the All Heart Foundation.