Giants get a push toward playoffs from Thrower
The Vancouver Giants took a flyer on Dalton Thrower last May and now they are flying high with the defenceman wearing the ‘ C’ and leading the way.
Thrower is a throwback. He’s skilled and tough and he’s made the Giants a taller team. There is a joke in there somewhere — you know, tall giants — but Thrower’s impact has been no laughing matter.
The Giants were the worst team in the Western Hockey League last season and won just 21 times. This season, with 27 games remaining in the regular season, they’ve already won 22 times, a nice feat considering they started with just one victory in their first 10. They stand seventh in the Western Conference, 12 points up on ninthplace Prince George and just five points behind fourth- place Spokane.
Giants GM Scott Bonner surrendered a second- round bantam draft pick to obtain Thrower’s rights from the Saskatoon Blades.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from Dalton,” Giants head coach Don Hay said Wednesday. “I didn’t really know how much of an impact he would make.”
Thrower, a second- round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2012, is 20 and was eligible to play in the American Hockey League this season. But the Habs opted not to keep him on their Hamilton Bulldogs farm team and returned him to junior.
The Giants have been the big winner. They even dispensed with a long- held belief their captain should be a ‘ homegrown’ player. With Thrower still in the Habs’ camp when the WHL’s regular season began, the Giants had to wait. The Squamish native joined them Oct. 4, five games into the campaign.
“Dalton was at our training camp before he went off to Montreal and he just really stood out as the best candidate,” Hay said. “When we heard he was coming back to us, we all thought he was the right choice. Yes, we do like it when we can have a homegrown captain but, in this situation, we just didn’t want to put any pressure on younger players. We wanted a more mature guy and it’s worked out really well.
“He came back from Hamilton with lots of confidence, which is contagious,” continued Hay. “He’s got some bite to his game and he’ll stand up for himself and for his teammates. He’s been in the league for five years, he’s seen a lot and nothing intimidates him.”
At six- foot and 195 pounds, Thrower isn’t particularly big but his numbers are. He has 37 points in 37 games since joining the Giants and his defence partner Brett Kulak, a Calgary Flames’ draft pick, has blossomed, collecting 46 points in 45 games. The Giants’ special teams have also improved dramatically over last season with Thrower in their lineup.
“Nobody was really sure, after the season the Giants had last season, what kind of team they would be this year,” said Thrower. “I mean, their slogan was ‘ Champions Under Construction.’ Obviously we’ve turned a couple of heads and we’re proud of ourselves but we can’t be too satisfied considering what’s in front of us. We’ve shown we can play with both Kelowna and Portland ( league powerhouses) so we’re not afraid of who we would have to take on in the playoffs, although they are obviously still a couple of months away.”
Thrower wasn’t certain whether he would remain a Giant for the entire season. Had things gone south, as they did in 2012- 13, he would have been an attractive addition for a bonafide contender. As it turns out, the Giants are contending with him. The WHL’s trade deadline was Jan. 10.
“I wasn’t sure how the season was going to go,” conceded Thrower, whose family now resides in North Vancouver. “I was just looking forward to coming back to Vancouver and playing in my hometown. I wanted to come in here, play my game and help lead the guys. My goal is to play in the NHL one day and the further the Giants go, the more it will help me, too.”
Thrower’s immediate goal is to overcome an ankle injury he suffered in Sunday’s 5- 4 shootout loss to Portland. He has been kept off the ice this week but hopes to be ready for the Giants’ game, Friday in Kamloops.
Vancouver’s next victory will be Hay’s 600th in the WHL.