The Vancouver Giants are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Langley, British Columbia, and playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Founded in 2001, the Giants won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions in 2006 and the Memorial Cup as Canadian junior champions in 2007. The team was based in the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, the former arena of the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks, until moving to the Langley Events Centre in 2016.
History British Columbia-based businessman Ron Toigo was granted a WHL expansion franchise for the city of Vancouver ahead of the 2001–02 season. In the following years, the club's ownership group would grow to include Sultan Thiara, former Vancouver Canucks head coach Pat Quinn, the estate of Hockey Hall of Fame member Gordie Howe, and singer Michael Bublé. The team was first based out of Pacific Coliseum, the former Canucks arena in east Vancouver; in 2016, after 15 seasons, the team moved to the Langley Events Centre.
After a dismal inaugural season, typical for an expansion team, that saw the Giants win only 13 games, the team rapidly improved. In 2002, the Giants selected Gilbert Brule first overall in the WHL Bantam Draft—Brule would go on to become the team's first major star player, beginning with winning the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL's rookie of the year in 2004. That season, the team won its first playoff round, defeating the Kamloops Blazers before losing to the Everett Silvertips in the second round. Along with the Giants' improving play, the 2004–05 NHL lockout led to a boost in attendance for the club—nearly 9,000 fans attended the team's season-opener, and the team averaged 8,400 spectators that season; Toigo later stated that the lockout was a definite factor in "putting us on the map". The Giants capitalized by putting together a string of successful seasons that saw the team capture five consecutive B.C. Division titles between 2005 and 2010.
The run of success began with the hiring of former NHL coach Don Hay as head coach, replacing Dean Evason. Then, in 2005, general manager Scott Bonner acquired a number of key players including Kenndal McArdle, Wacey Rabbit, and goaltender Dustin Slade, who, along with Brule, would lead the team to its first championship. In 2006, the Giants captured their first league championship, defeating the Moose Jaw Warriors in the league final in four games, with Brule earning most valuable player honours. The win advanced the Giants to their first Memorial Cup tournament, in which they were eliminated in the semifinal by the host Moncton Wildcats. Despite the loss, Brule recorded 12 points in the tournament, the highest total in the tournament since 1997 and enough to secure the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as the leading scorer.
With the breakthrough of second-year forward Milan Lucic helping to make up for the off-season loss of Brule, the Giants returned to the WHL championship series in 2007 in a playoff run that also featured the debut of future star Evander Kane. In the final, they faced the Medicine Hat Tigers, narrowly losing the series in the second overtime period of game seven. However, the Giants were selected to host the 2007 Memorial Cup, which secured them a berth in the tournament despite their championship series defeat. The Giants secured a spot in the tournament final with an 8–1 semifinal win over the Plymouth Whalers, setting up a rematch with the Tigers. In the final, the Giants avenged their WHL title defeat with a 3–1 victory over the Tigers to secure the team's first Memorial Cup championship. Lucic was named tournament MVP. In 2023, the 2007 Giants team was inducted into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Giants would set franchise records with 57 wins 119 points in 2008–09 and make consecutive runs to the Conference finals in 2009 and 2010. However, after the 2010, the team failed to win another playoff series until they returned to the championship final in 2019. During that stretch, Bonner stepped down as manager after 15 seasons, replaced first by Glen Hanlon and then, in 2018, by Barclay Parneta, who hired Michael Dyck as head coach. In the 2019 final, the Giants faced the regular season champion Prince Albert Raiders; the Giants fell behind in the series three games to one before forcing a decisive game seven in Prince Albert. In game seven, the Raiders won 3–2 in overtime, marking the second game seven overtime defeat in the finals in Giants history.
In 2022, the Giants made history by selecting Chloe Primerano in the thirteenth round of the WHL prospects draft, making Primerano the first-ever female skater selected in a Canadian Hockey League draft.
In 2023, when Michael Dyck left the organization to join the professional ranks, the Giants hired Manny Viveiros as their new head coach.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties OTL = Overtime losses Pts, SOL = Shootout losses Pts, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs 2001–02 72 13 49 6 4 198 365 36 5th B.C. Did not qualify 2002–03 72 26 37 5 4 217 292 61 4th B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2003–04 72 33 24 9 6 215 196 81 2nd B.C. Lost Western Conference semifinal 2004–05 72 34 30 4 4 212 205 76 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2005–06 72 47 19 0 6 252 156 100 1st B.C. Won Championship 2006–07 72 45 17 3 7 245 143 100 1st B.C. Lost final; Won Memorial Cup 2007–08 72 49 15 2 6 250 155 106 1st B.C. Lost Western Conference semifinal 2008–09 72 57 10 2 3 319 151 119 1st B.C. Lost Western Conference final 2009–10 72 41 25 3 3 267 211 88 1st B.C. Lost Western Conference final 2010–11 72 35 32 1 4 236 251 75 2nd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2011–12 72 40 26 2 4 255 234 86 2nd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2012–13 72 21 49 2 0 197 299 44 5th B.C. Did not qualify 2013–14 72 32 29 7 4 234 248 75 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2014–15 72 27 41 2 2 189 251 58 5th B.C. Did not qualify 2015–16 72 23 40 5 4 199 273 55 5th B.C. Did not qualify 2016–17 72 20 46 3 3 183 296 46 5th B.C. Did not qualify 2017–18 72 36 27 6 3 233 257 81 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2018–19 68 48 15 3 2 228 162 101 1st B.C. Lost final 2019–20 62 32 24 4 2 189 166 70 3rd B.C. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2020–21 22 12 10 0 0 71 59 24 2nd B.C. No playoffs held due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021–22 68 24 39 5 0 185 254 53 4th B.C. Lost Western Conference semifinal 2022–23 68 28 32 5 3 188 238 64 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2023–24 68 32 32 4 0 222 249 68 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2024–25 68 34 26 8 0 252 246 76 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2025–26 68 25 39 2 2 196 282 54 6th B.C. did not qualify
Championship history
Memorial Cup Canadian Hockey League champion 2007 – Champions 2006 – 3rd place
Ed Chynoweth Cup Western Hockey League playoff champion 2019 — Finalists 2007 – Finalists 2006 – Champions
Western Conference Champions 2005–06, 2006–07, 2018–19 B.C. Division Champions First place in regular season 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2018–19
WHL Championship series 2005–06: Win, 4–0 vs Moose Jaw Warriors 2006–07: Loss, 3–4 vs Medicine Hat Tigers 2018–19: Loss, 3–4 vs Prince Albert Raiders
Memorial Cup finals 2007: Win, 3–1 vs Medicine Hat Tigers
Players NHL alumni List of National Hockey League (NHL) alumni:
Ring of Honour List of players on the team's Ring of Honour:
Brett Festerling (inducted on December 7, 2010) Andrej Meszaros (inducted on December 27, 2010) Mark Fistric (inducted on January 23, 2011) Gilbert Brule (inducted on January 28, 2011) Milan Lucic (inducted on February 25, 2011) Cody Franson (inducted on February 17, 2012) Evander Kane (inducted on March 7, 2012) Brendan Gallagher (inducted on February 15, 2014) Lance Bouma (inducted on November 20, 2015) Craig Cunningham (inducted on December 2, 2018)
NHL first round draft picks List of first round selections in the NHL entry draft:
Year # Player NHL team 2004 28 Mark Fistric (D) Dallas Stars 2005 6 Gilbert Brulé (C) Columbus Blue Jackets 2007 23Jonathon Blum (D) Nashville Predators 2009 4 Evander Kane (LW) Atlanta Thrashers 2019 4 Bowen Byram (D) Colorado Avalanche 2023 16 Samuel Honzek (LW) Calgary Flames 2026 21 Ryan Lin (D) San Jose Sharks
Team records Team records for a single seasonStatisticTotalSeasonMost points1192008–09Fewest points362001–02Most wins572008–09Fewest wins132001–02Most goals for3192008–09Fewest goals for1832016–17Fewest goals against1432006–07Most goals against3652001–02
Individual player records for a single seasonStatisticPlayerTotalSeasonMost goalsTy Ronning612017–18Most assistsCasey Pierro-Zabotel792008–09Most pointsCasey Pierro-Zabotel1152008–09Most points, rookieKevin Connauton722009–10Most points, defencemanKevin Connauton722009–10Best GAA, goalieTyson Sexsmith1.792006–07 Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Giants player
Franchise scoring leaders Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G Brendan Gallagher RW 244 136 144 280 1.15 Adam Courchaine C 241 126 147 273 1.13 Craig Cunningham LW 295 86 136 222 0.75 Ty Ronning RW 285 127 91 218 0.76 Mitch Bartley LW 280 107 107 214 0.76 Jonathon Blum D 248 49 155 204 0.82 Darren Lynch RW 213 81 121 202 0.95 Jackson Houck RW 268 91 107 198 0.74 Gilbert Brule C 165 87 98 185 1.12 James Henry LW 281 62 122 184 0.66 Tyler Benson LW 190 61 123 184 0.97
Awards
WHL
Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy Rookie of the year Gilbert Brule – 2003–04
Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy Defenceman of the year Jonathon Blum – 2008–09
WHL Plus-Minus Award Regular season plus-minus leader Paul Albers – 2005–06 Jonathon Blum – 2006–07
Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy Humanitarian of the year Ty Ronning – 2017–18
Bob Clarke Trophy Regular season scoring champion Casey Pierro-Zabotel – 2008–09
Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy Coach of the Year Don Hay – 2008–09
CHL
Ed Chynoweth Trophy Memorial Cup scoring leader Gilbert Brule – 2006 Michal Repik – 2007
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy Memorial Cup MVP Milan Lucic – 2007
CHL Defenceman of the Year Jonathon Blum – 2009
See also List of ice hockey teams in British Columbia
References
External links Official website