VIDEO: Giants drop 3-1 decision on the road
Published 5:45 pm Thursday, October 29, 2026
Shifting gears from a strong start to the month, where the Vancouver Giants were enjoying a winning streak with six victories in a row, the Langley-based major junior hockey team just recorded its second defeat in a row during a mid-week road trip south of the 49th Parallel.
The G-Men were in Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum Wednesday night, where they received a bit of a schooling from the Winterhawks, noted Giants’ assistant coach Simon Ferguson.
Portland Winterhawks held the Vancouver Giants in check, winning the first head-to-head meeting of the season 3-1.
“I didn’t think [tonight] was very good. I thought they outplayed us; outworked us in a lot of areas. It was an unfortunate night tonight,” Ferguson noted.
“We spent way too much in our d-zone, partially because they forechecked hard, partially because we didn’t manage pucks properly and get breakouts properly,” he summarized, adding: “A lot of areas to clean up.”
Vancouver was outshot 41-23, with Joe Iginla scoring the only Giants goal late in the first period. Goaltender Burke Hood finished the evening with 38 saves.
Just 26 seconds into the game, Whitehawks’ Jordin St. Louis scored off the rush after taking a pass from Kyle McDonough.
Five minutes later, Portland scored their first home power-play goal of the season thanks to a shot from Jordan Duguay from the bottom of the right circle, making it 2-0.
Iginla’s goal came at 13:24 of the first, after Brett Olson intercepted a pass behind the Portland net and got the puck to Iginla in the right circle. He wasted no time, sniping his fourth of the season to get the Giants back into the game.
Vancouver couldn’t muster much offence in the second period, but they were still within a goal entering the final stanza.
Unlike the Giants’ third-period comebacks against Prince George and Kamloops last week, Wednesday’s third period didn’t provide much excitement.
Portland remained in control and got an insurance marker from Stevie Grumley at the 6:10 mark, making the score 3-1.
Vancouver pulled the goaltender with 2:45 left and got a couple of chances, but not enough to suggest a comeback was possible.
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) October 29, 2026
The Giants have dropped to second in the standings in the western conference, this year’s numbers falling to 8-3-1-2. They’re second to the Spokane Chiefs, who have only lost one game so far this season.
The Giants are hoping that returning home for the next eight games in a row might turn things around for them again.
Vancouver hosts Victoria on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre (LEC), during their annual Trick or Suite night.
Then, the Giants are hosting the Prince George Cougars at LEC on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m.