Music: {allcanada} HAY PICKS UP 500TH WHL COACHING WIN AS GIANTS EDGE BRUINS

Sunday, December 5, 2010

{allcanada} HAY PICKS UP 500TH WHL COACHING WIN AS GIANTS EDGE BRUINS

VANCOUVER - Don Hay recorded his 500th Western Hockey League coaching victory Saturday night as the Vancouver Giants beat the Chilliwack Bruins 2-1.

The milestone win was a long time coming as Hay had to endure two straight weeks of losses.

"I didn't think it was ever going to come," Hay said. "You get tired of asking that question – when is it going to come?"

Hay, 56, became only the fourth WHL coach to record 500 regular-season wins, joining Ken Hodge, Ernie (Punch) McLean, who coached Hay with the New Westminster Bruins and was present at Saturday's game, and Pat Ginnell.

"I owe it to a lot of good people, a lot of good organizations, ownership, managers (and) assistant coaches," said Hay. "When I finish (coaching), I can look back at it. But right now, I come here and I love doing this job. This job is getting the team prepared to play well."

Neil Manning and Brendan Gallagher, with the winning goal early in the second period, scored for the Giants (14-11-4) as they ended a four-game losing streak before a crowd of 6,156 at the Pacific Coliseum.

Robin Soudek replied for Chilliwack (13-11-3).

The Bruins outshot the Giants 32-26. Vancouver converted one of six power-play chances while Chilliwack went 1-for-3.

By the first intermission the Bruins led 1-0, but the Giants rallied to take a 2-1 lead after the second and held on during a scoreless third.

It was the fourth of 10 meetings between the teams this season. The Giants had lost two straight to the Bruins after taking the season opener.

The game got off to an ornery start as Vancouver's Brett Lyon and Chilliwack's Curt Gogol at the eight-second mark after tangling during the opening face-off.

Soudek opened the scoring on a power play 2:01 into the game as he capped a three-way passing play with a one-timer over Vancouver goaltender Mark Segal's shoulder. It was only Chilliwack's second shot of the game.

But the teams generated few chances afterwards as the Bruins outshot the Giants by a modest 7-5 count.

Tempers flared at the end of the first as all players became involved in a melee in the Bruins' end. Chilliwack's Brandon Magee dragged a linesman during a tussle with James Henry. But Magee was not penalized and Gogol received a 10-minute misconduct along with Henry.

At the start of the second period, Gogol argued with a referee and Magee skated over to the penalty box in an attempt to clarify the situation. But Gogol went into the penalty box and Magee remained in the game.

Manning created a 1-1 tie on a power play at 2:55 of the second. The goal came only 12 seconds after Chilliwack's Kevin Sundher was penalized for high-sticking.

Gallagher gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead midway through the second as he ripped in a high slap shot from the top of the face-off circle. After combining for just 12 shots in the first period, the teams produced 31 in the second.