Vancouver Giants - History

History

Led by majority owner and British Columbia-based businessman Ron Toigo, the city of Vancouver was granted a WHL franchise for the 2001–02 season. In their inaugural campaign, the Giants compiled 13 wins, 49 losses, and 6 ties. The first goal in franchise history was scored by Tyson Mulock in a loss to the Kamloops Blazers.

The following season, the Giants went 26-37-5-4 (fourth in the B.C. Division) and made their first playoff appearance, but lost in the first round to the eventual President's Cup champions, the Kelowna Rockets, in four games. Second-year forward Adam Courchaine led the team in scoring with 85 points. His 43 goals stood as a single-season franchise record for six years until second-year forward Evander Kane broke it in 2008–09.

In the 2003–04 season, the Giants continued to improve, posting a 33-24-9-6, which marked their first winning season. After defeating the Kamloops Blazers in the first round, the Giants lost in the second round to the expansion team Everett Silvertips in six games. Adam Courchaine led the team again in scoring, finishing ninth overall in the league. Hometown rookie Gilbert Brule, the first overall pick in the 2002 WHL Bantam Draft, scored 60 points and earned the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the league's best first-year player.

In the 2004–05 season, the Giants went 34-30-4-4 and Brulé emerged as a WHL star, finishing third in league scoring with 87 points, which remained a franchise record until overager Casey Pierro-Zabotel snapped it in 2008–09. Courchaine tallied 78 points and finished seventh in league scoring, marking the first and only time thus far that the top ten league scorers would feature two Giants players. In the playoffs, the Giants lost in the first round to Kelowna. Despite the early exit, the Giants drew many fans to the Coliseum that year due to the NHL lockout; game six against the Rockets drew 16,183 fans.

The 2005–06 season featured the Giants' most significant improvement in the standings, becoming one of the WHL's top teams. They finished the season 47-19-0-6, first in the B.C. Division and third in the league overall. In the first round of the playoffs, the Giants beat the Prince George Cougars in five games, then the Portland Winterhawks in the second round, also in five games. In the third and final round, they won eight straight, sweeping both the Everett Silvertips and Moose Jaw Warriors en route to their first ever President's Cup. Gilbert Brulé had returned to the team midway through the season after starting 2005-06 with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and earned the airBC Trophy as the playoff MVP after scoring 16 goals and 30 points in 18 post-season games, including 5 goals and 12 points in the finals.

By winning the WHL league title, the Giants earned their first Memorial Cup appearance in Moncton, New Brunswick. The Giants finished the round-robin tied for third, then defeated the Peterborough Petes in a tie-breaker in order to move on to the playoffs, but lost to the Moncton Wildcats in the semifinal. Brule scored 12 points in 5 games, earning the Ed Chynoweth Trophy, as tournament leading scorer. He was also named to the Memorial Cup All-Star team with Giants defenceman Paul Albers.

The Giants were chosen by the CHL prior to the 2006 Memorial Cup, to host the 2007 Memorial Cup. They finished the season, once again, atop their division, fourth in the league. The season featured a goaltending controversy, in which starter Dustin Slade would begin the season splitting time with emerging goalie Tyson Sexsmith. Slade, frustrated with having to give up his starts, would leave the team in November to pursue a pro-hockey career. With Sexsmith (who finished first in the league in GAA) as their starting goalie, and a balanced offence that included Milan Lucic, Michal Repik and mid-season acquisitions Wacey Rabbit and Kenndal McArdle, the Giants made their way once again to the WHL final. The series went the distance against the Medicine Hat Tigers, but the Giants lost the seventh game in double overtime, failing to win their second consecutive league title. However, because of their automatic bye into the Memorial Cup as hosts, the Giants avenged their seventh game loss against the Tigers, defeating Medicine Hat 3-1 in the final, capturing their first Memorial Cup title. Lucic earned the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as tournament MVP, while linemate Michal Repik led the tournament in scoring (edging Lucic by one goal) to capture the Ed Chynoweth Trophy. Defenceman Cody Franson also joined Lucic and Repik on the tournament All-star team.

As defending Memorial Cup champions the following season, the Giants won the B.C. Division for the third consecutive year and posted a franchise record 106 points (49-15-2-6), third in the league. Third-year forward Spencer Machacek, named team captain after expected captain Lucic would stick with the Boston Bruins of the NHL, led the team in scoring with 78 points, fourteenth in the league. On defence, Jonathon Blum, also a returnee from the Memorial Cup winning team, finished second among league defencemen in scoring, tallying 63 points, a single-season franchise-record among defenceman. In goal, Sexsmith once again led the league with a stellar 1.89 goals against average. The Giants' run for a third consecutive Memorial Cup appearance was cut short; after sweeping the Chilliwack Bruins in the first round, the Giants were stopped by the Spokane Chiefs in six games.

A dominant 2008–09 season has established several records for the Giants. The club set a WHL record by clinching a playoff berth just 46 games into the season. The mark was previously set by the Everett Silvertips, who clinched a berth after 48 games in 2006–07. Individually, overager Casey Pierro-Zabotel broke the team marks for single-season assists and points, surpassing Darren Lynch and Gilbert Brule respectively, while second-year forward Evander Kane bettered Adam Courchaine's single-season goals total. Team captain Jonathon Blum also surpassed Courchaine to become the franchise's all-time assists leader. Finishing the season with a franchise-high 57 wins and 119 points, the Giants came within 3 points of their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the top regular season team, behind the Calgary Hitmen.