Drama Kings Return On Teddy Bear Night: 8-7 Grizzlies Over Cents

On the bus ride home from Cowichan on Friday night, there was a moment where I though that my Drama Kings narrative was perhaps dead. If you read this blog, you know the narrative well: big leads become small leads or tied games, late goals force Overtime situations, huge Grizzlies comebacks which don't seem possible end up happening, shutouts and EN goals are few and far between, coaches lose hair or they turn prematurely grey and lost of goals, lots of constant high drama.  That's been the narrative this season. And I gave it a name: I call them the Drama Kings.  They are literally the Kings of Drama.

But late on Friday night as the Grizzlies Team Bus Driver Jason leaned hard on the bus horn exiting The Island Savings Centre I had other thoughts. Jason of course was doing this as a point of formality and ceremony to inform any living soul within miles of The Big Stick that the victorious Grizzlies were leaving town. Right then as the horn finally stopped blaring, to the shock and horror of the local townsfolk, but to the school boy giddy delight of the twenty-one young men in the back of the bus, I suddenly though: 6-0 Grizzlies? This isn't the Drama Kings? This isn't the narrative?

No, this was supposed to be Game #1 under returning Head Coach, Craig Didmon and clearly, Coach Dids was having no part in all of this Drama Kings nonsense. Apparently the game plan going in featured Five Big Points and each and everyone was fully met. Oh well, I thought, I will never complain about a win and it sure was nice to see Michael Stiliadis pick up his first Shutout of the year. It was in fact the team's first Shutout on the season as well. Far less dramatic teams usually have more than a few Shutouts by the mid season mark, but not the 2014/15 Grizzlies. Maybe it will just have to be ok if the Grizzlies develop a new identity and if it involves less drama and a few dominant performances, well that's ok.

But last night after the Merritt Centennials visit to the Q Centre, as I stared down at the ice and watched the Grizzlies pour over the bench to mob a celebrating Garrett Forster, after his incredible OT game winner, I started thinking about the Drama Kings again. Because there if there ever was a word to describe the hockey game I had just witnessed, dramatic would certainly be the word.

In a fifteen goal game, its kind of tough to describe all the scoring but I will do my very best. Here is a quick synopsis of how the game went: Grizzlies score and teddy bears rain down from the rafters, Cents answer, Grizzlies retake the lead and Merritt ties it up, Grizzlies score again and Merritt comes back again with a couple more to take lead for the first time. And that was just the first two periods! You didn't know it at the time but that was only half of the scoring you would see in this wild barn burner down at The Q. Seven more goals would be scored in the 3rd Period. It short this game was nuts, absolutely crazy.

This hockey game witnessed three lead changes and seven game tying goals including a shorthanded goal by Merritt forward Gavin Gould with no less than 9 seconds left in regulation time to force the OT. The game was a wild firebrand style of hockey which if word gets out, could soon restore the typical 1,300-1,400 fans you tend to see on normal game nights in the Westshore. You kind of knew something was up when Cliff Lequesne missed his "One Minute Left In The Second Period" call at the end of Period #2. He never does that. Who knows, maybe he was a little busy down there in the Centre Broadcast Room.

You think?

Yeah, I think I am going to give my buddy Cliff a bit of a Hall Pass on this one. He was very likely just as busy as myself and my Play-By-Play partner Scott Didmon up top. You might say that we had a little bit on our minds at the time. We actually ran out of room to write, there was that much game information flying around. On several occasions in the third period, we both looked at each other in total disbelief about what we were seeing. As for Storm Wahlrab and Cody Van Lierop both in the Press Box on the evening, those players, powerless to affect the outcome, were simply beside themselves throughout the game. I kind of felt bad at times to tell you the truth, they're both just great young men. By the time of the OT it was almost cruel.

Here are some stats which tell the tale: This game featured no less than 16 of 18 Grizzlies players registering at least a point, both opposing goalies with nearly identical save percentages at around 76%, 13 different goal scorers in the hockey game and can you believe it, four goals scored within 60 seconds of one and other.

This game had everything. I say that because I am usually one of the last people to leave the building on game nights. It comes with the job. And I am pretty sure I saw the Q Centre Zambonie driver, Tom, clearing up a kitchen sink which had somehow managed to find its way onto the playing surface during the melee after Garrett Forster finally dispatched the visitors with his eventual game winner in OT.

With the Grizzlies competing with the Westshore Santa Truck Parade in full force outside and all along the Old Island Highway, the 945 fans who did make their way into the Q Centre on the night, certainly left the building happy as the noise in the arena was certainly the loudest of the season thus far. The Q Centre was rocking all night. And as for The Teddy Bear Toss, well it didn't take too long to rain down. Just 38 seconds in was when #8 Brett Gruber would score on the PP and get the building rocking. If you were paying attention, that early goal might have been a harbinger of good things to come on the night. Two and a half hours and 12 goals later, the fans would be on their feet in elation as the Grizzlies found their figurative Drama King crowns just in time and wore them with pride.

The Grizzlies will now get seven days off and likely enjoy the break before they are back in action next Saturday night at the Q Centre as they host the Powell River Kings. Three nights later on Tuesday 16 Dec, will be the team's first "Toonie Night" as fans can get into the building for only a Toonie. Now if you will excuse me, I would write more, but I just talked to my doctor and she wants me to come in for a quick blood pressure checkup. Apparently long term exposure to The Drama Kings is not so good for emotionally invested people like myself who have bought in hook, line and sinker on this amazing hockey team out in Colwood.

Do check out this great video by Roy Anthonisen and our crack Grizzlies Video Team at: youtube.com/watch?v=NJdS6k2ESxg&feature=youtu.be …

Oh and if any of you see Tom around the rink this week, tell him I will grab that kitchen sink off him if he still has it. I am in the middle of a kitchen reno at the moment and wouldn't mind saving a few bucks. See you next Saturday everybody. - CC

Home & Home Sweep Complete: Grizzlies 3-2 Over Clippers

Five games vs the same Nanaimo Clippers in less than 2 months may seem to some people as an unbalanced and unfair layout of the BCHL schedule is you were a Grizzlies fan. But from the detached and unbiased view of a hockey broadcaster I view it more as an unbalanced and unfair layout of the BCHL schedule.

Nevertheless the Grizzlies were completely ready to face the BCHL goal scoring leaders and high flying Nanaimo Clippers last night as the Clippers bus sailed into the Q Centre for no less than the third time this young season. And it was the dauntless Grizzlies who stood victorious at Centre Ice saluting the 700+ fans last night to thank those who braved a rainy Colwood evening for their support, each witness to a 3-2 comeback win by the home team.

It was the second game of a quick two game Home and Home Series with the Clippers before the Grizzlies kick off a three game weekend with Powell River on Saturday night and the Trail Smoke Eaters on Sunday. The Grizzlies had already won the first half of the series with a dramatic 5-4 win thanks in large part to a late Power Play goal off the stick of a defenseman, Zach Dixon on Wednesday night. Two days later it would be another dramatic win for Victoria. Once again the victory would come at the hands of a defenseman on a late Power Play, this time 20 year old Jake Emilio. And the veteran D Man would make no mistake wiring a point shot into the back of the Nanaimo net, past a lunging Jakob Severson after a set up pass by teammate Kevin Massy.

The win, in conjunction with Wednesday's remarkable comeback at The Frank Crane Arena would vault the Grizzlies back into the conversation in the island standings. Heading into tonight's matchup in Powell River, the Grizzlies now sit only 3 points behind both Powell River and Alberni Valley, with a game in hand on the former. A Victoria win tonight would place the Grizzlies just a single point behind the two Island Division Clubs and create a virtual log jam of teams all fighting for that 2nd Place position in the division standings.

Dane Gibson, back in the lineup last night was a key piece of the comeback after tying the game on a beautiful wrist shot which beat Severson over the left shoulder and drew both teams level after a painful Nanaimo goal put the boatmen up 1-0 with only 0.3 seconds left in the 1st period. Most teams could crumple and panic after going down 1-0 so late in a period, but no these Grizzlies, they literally thrive on this kind of  a challenge.

The night's #1 Star however was net minder, Michael Stiliadis, who stopped  30 of 32 shots he faced and only allowed two goals against the "103 Goals so far this season" Clippers. The Victoria goalie may not have been solely responsible for the win but without some of his dramatic late sprawling saves, the score would likely have been very different. Brett Gruber scored Victoria's second goal of the night off an incredible display of hands, batting down a Garrett Forster pass mid-air to score his team leading 11th of the campaign.

"The Kings of Drama", but hopefully not too road weary Grizzlies take their potent #1 Power Play on the road at 5pm Saturday to take on Powell River at the Hap Parker Arena and then return that evening on the late ferry to the island as they prepare to return to the Q Centre Sunday to face the Trail Smokeaters who will also be in action on Saturday night in Nanaimo. Game time sunday at The Q Centre is 2:00pm.  - CC

Subtle Change or Hardly Subtle? The Grizzlies 5-4 Road Win Over Nanaimo

There is only one true constant in life, and that constant is change. I can't remember who said that first, it might have been Albert Einstein, but frankly I am too tired to Google it, so there you go. But its a famous saying nonetheless and most will agree with its accuracy. What is lost on most people however, is how subtle that change is most of the time. Oh we have terrible and often watershed, defining moments like, Pearl Harbour, the Kennedy assassination and 9/11. Events where at one moment we were one thing and seconds later we were something else. But most change comes in small little doses, like the little pills we often are prescribed by doctors take to ward off illness or disease. The change they tend to produce is often very slow and can be hard to notice. In a word, change is usually quite subtle.

I have been thinking that way about this year's Grizzlies for a long time now. I have been thinking about how this band of mostly rookies is very slowly changing and growing into something very special, but more to the point about how slow they are changing their narrative. That changing narrative is at times is almost imperceptible to the naked eye. But today I also thought about it in my own circumstances in that today also just happens to be my birthday. Yes, I know, its a problem we all have once a year I am afraid. Well tonight I got my birthday present, which I may have mentioned the last time we spoke. So thanks there boys, but let's get down to what you read this blog for, not about a sportswriter's birthday plans: let's talk about tonight's game and what I think it all means.

You know here is why I just love the BCHL. Only in this league do you get a team like Victoria to come into a building like the Frank Crane Arena, fresh off a 3 game losing streak and while on the last game of a very tough 4 game road trip, you see the underdog Grizzlies pull off an away win to hand the mighty Clippers a 5-4 loss. That doesn't happen in many other leagues anywhere, but it happens in the BCHL. And why? It is because this game is played by brave young men from the ages of 16-20 and they are each about as hungry for success as a pack of starved dogs are for a bite to eat.

What league can see the Grizzlies with their #1 Power Play go 0 for 6 on Sunday, drop to #5 and only three days later, they score 3 on the PP and move right back up to #1 in Special Teams?  And they do it all during that stretch without power forward and PP specialist Dane Gibson. Instead they do it with heart and they do it with a total team first approach.  I will tell you what league sees that kind of madness, it is the British Columbia Hockey League.

And what kind of team does it take to give up two late goals in the 3rd period against a statistically superior opponent like Nanaimo and set themselves up for, let's be honest, yet another heartbreaking loss in a season with too many so far?  No its not the Grizzlies, its the "Drama King Kids From The Q!"  I just like the way that sounds and kind of jingles off the tongue, Drama King Kids From The Q, lots of great "K" sounds in there. 

The Drama King Kids, just keep turning a page and somehow, just when the naysayers are starting to say that they can't get the job done, they go ahead and score a Power Play goal in the final minutes of the 3rd period. Watch out BCHL fans, the Grizzlies are changing the narrative on the season, one page at a time. Yes, they have given up a lot of leads and lost games late this year, but they keep getting better. They don't lose games and then subsequently fail to learn from the experience. They give up leads from time to time and then learn how to avoid doing that, maybe not the very next time, but eventually.

But its very subtle you see. You really have to read between the tea leaves to see it.  Here let me try and give you an example.

Sunday 26 Oct, the Grizzlies give up a 3-0 lead at home and lose to a "better on paper" West Kelowna Warriors team. They lose 6-5 and the team is incredulous at the prospect of what had just occurred.  Then, a mere eighteen days later, this past Saturday, they hold off the same team with a narrow lead until the 60th minute of the contest when the Warriors score to tie it with 20 seconds left and force an unfair OT where the Grizzlies lose yet again. Subtle improvement?  I can see it, but just barely. Can you?

Now look at how subtly they are closing in on the #1 offense in the league, the powerhouse Nanaimo Clippers. This same Grizzlies team loses no less than 3 straight, one goal contests vs the Clippers over a two month period, coming into tonight's game in Nanaimo. 27 Sep, Grizzlies lose 4-3 at the Crane, then 4-3 again on 11 Oct this time at the Q Centre. Then one week later another 5-4 loss, this one again at the Q Centre. All regulation losses to a dreaded and powerful divisional opponent. Tonight, they go down a goal and everyone is thinking, oh boy, here we go again, we have no Dane Gibson, its curtains.  But change can be subtle sometimes remember.

And the Grizzlies answer back.  They get a break on a routine Chris Harpur point shot for his first of the campaign and its 1-1. Then they go down 2-1 and you are thinking, its the Clippers, put a fork in it, this game is over. But before the period is out, Jay Mackie scores on the PP. The Power Play?  I thought we were 0 for 6 or something in Vernon and dropped out of the league lead?  We did, but change can be very slow and deceiving at times. Game tied 2-2 at the break.

Period #2 starts and before you know it, Zach Dixon scores his first of the night on the PP no less. Then Ayden MacDonald with King Kong on his back scores a sublime marker to record his first goal in the BCHL. Funny, I never saw anybody grab him the puck. Oh well, I wouldn't worry about it #26, there will be many more where that came from. So the Grizzlies are up 4-2 and for me, what occurs next is the most subtle moment in this season long series so far: Nanaimo coach Mike Vandekamp, elects to pull Goaltender, Guillaume Decelles after Ayden MacDonald's 4-2 marker. As he does this, the Joliette Que native throws his stick down the Clipper's tunnel with words and epitaphs that would make a sailor cringe and trust me, I am a sailor and I was cringing. And so in goes his back-up, rookie Jakob Severson. OK, maybe not all change is that subtle.

But the Grizzlies would not be the "Drama King Kids From The Q" if they didn't have a little drama would they? The Clippers claw 2 goals back in the 3rd period and half way through the frame you are thinking, its either going to be another OT loss or we just cave late. Sorry but that's what you're all thinking, I know it. But the Grizzlies are one day at a time, one period at a time, one Special Team's play at a time, slowly evolving into that team you just pray you don't have to face in the playoffs.

First hint of Nanaimo trouble: Nanaimo hits a post late and then Clipper's Forward, Ryan Forbes (who is a Penalty Killer Expert but wait for it) gets a misconduct call by saying a naughty word or two/nine to the referee. Subtly getting under the Clippers' skin are these Grizzlies, they just keep getting a little better. Every game, every period. Oh they are so infuriating these Grizzlies! And those uber loyal visiting fans! Good grief shut it would you!

And then it happens, Nanaimo's Sheldon Rempal, with his team leading 29 points, loses his head and hits Meirs Moore hard from behind. Referee Jeff Eden has no choice but to call a minor for Boarding with just under 3 minutes to left to play. Brett Gruber then does what he and the other Centres have been doing all night, he wins the draw cleanly back to Meirs Moore and with a soft neat pass over to Zach Dixon, the right handed Dixon, playing on the left point no less, fires home his second of the night and 3rd on the season and the Grizzlies are up 5-4. Significant improvement, subtle, yes, but unmistakably there for all to see.

And that's how she would end folks, the Grizzlies finally shake off the Clippers in what I am calling the best overall win of the year so far. Ayden MacDonald and Chris Harpur each score their first goals of the campaign. And now, after removing the large primate which had been residing rather uncomfortably on Big Mac's rear loins, he enters the Grizzlies Rookie Forwards Goal Scoring Race with the likes of teammates Spencer Hunter and Quinn Thompson. 

And here I stand on my birthday, looking into the mirror, one year older than I was last year, brushing my teeth before bed. Just a middle aged man, reflecting on another glorious Grizzlies win at The Frank Crane Arena. But all the while, ever mindful of that little fact which I like to hide in denial just a little bit. That would be the fact that my "Movemeber" mustache this year has one or two more grey hairs in it compared to how it looked the last time my calendar read the 19th day of November. Oh well, I guess its a good thing after all, that most of the change we tend notice in life, is thankfully rather subtle. -CC