Vancouver Giants: keys to keep winning despite losing players to World Juniors

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The Vancouver Giants are losing key contributors, but they don’t have to lose their systems or structure.

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That was the message earlier this week from center Ty Thorpe amid Giants head coach Michael Dyck’s departure to begin his assistant coach duties with Team Canada’s junior world squad, and forwards Justin. Sourdif and Fabian Lysell and goalkeeper Jesper Vikman prepare to leave. to begin preparations for the tournament, which will take place from December 26 to January. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta.

Sourdif is one of 35 players scheduled to start Team Canada’s selection camp in Calgary on Thursday. It runs until Sunday. Lysell and Vikman were named to the Sweden team on Wednesday and should join that team sometime next week.

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Vancouver posted a 13-7-1-0 record and a six-game winning streak in a Wednesday visit to the Kamloops Blazers. Also on Wednesday, the Giants entered the CHL national rankings at No. 10, thanks to a Friday 3-1 win over the then No. 2-ranked Blazers and a 6-5 win Saturday against the then No. 3 Everett Silvertips.

“We need not to change anything,” said Thorpe, 19, who has been on a line with Lysell and Sourdif of late. “We have to stick to the system, play the right way and play for others.

“We have a system. We have an identity. At the end of the day, when we play that way and we play as a group of five guys, it doesn’t matter who’s out there. It hurts to lose those guys because they are high-level players for us, but some guys are going to step up and fill those roles.

“There are good opportunities for guys when they are out to prove themselves and try to move up. They all want to try to have more opportunities. ”

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Dyck is expected to miss 11 games. Giants associate coach Keith McCambridge takes over the leadership of the team and is used to those things, considering he had AHL head coaching shifts with the St. John’s IceCaps, Manitoba Moose and Hartford Wolf Pack before sign to be Dyck’s senior lieutenant before. BC Division’s core season last spring.

Former Chicago Blackhawks defender Brent Seabrook has also agreed to be an interim assistant coach while Dyck is out.

Sourdif, assuming he stays with Team Canada, should be out of the Giants mix for 10 games. Lysell and Vikman are expected to be with the Giants for this weekend’s home and home series with the Victoria Royals, and then they’re questionable after that, so they’ll likely end up missing eight Vancouver games apiece.

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The Giants are heading into this on a streak, and those wins over Kamloops and Everett are something they feel they can build on, according to Thorpe.

“More than showing other people, we prove to ourselves that we can pay with any team and beat any team,” he continued. “But, like I said, we have to play with our identity and play in the right way.

“We know we have something special here. We’ve had a few games lately that have been like playoff games. We know that when we get to the playoffs we can have an impact. “

Defender Connor Horning, 20, added: “We’re on a roll and we have to keep playing like we have. Those are big parts of our team that are leaving and we’re going to miss those guys, but it’s an opportunity for other guys to step up and show what it’s all about. “

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After the Blazers game on Wednesday, Vancouver’s next 10 games include five against the Royals (6-11-3-0), three against the Prince George Cougars (8-14-0-0) and one each against the Tri-City Americans (5-12-3-0) and the Kelowna Rockets (11-6-0-3).

Vancouver hopes to have winger Cole Shepard (hip surgery) back in the lineup in upcoming games. They included him on a day-to-day basis and he has been a full participant in practice for some time. He has yet to play this season and did not play in the core season in the spring.

Shepard saw a few minutes in the top six with even strength and some power play in the first unit in 2019-20 and finished with 11 goals and 29 points in 50 games.

Winger Justin Lies (upper body injury) wore a non-contact yellow jersey to practice earlier this week and the Giants included him week by week.

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