Wearing #13: Grizzlies Main Camp Preview

In just a matter of a few hours the Victoria Grizzlies will open their 2016 Main Camp at Westhills Arena in Langford, BC and if any of the anecdotal indications run true to form, I would suggest that this will be one of the most competitive and promising camps we have seen in years.  But more on that in a few moments.

I wanted to first take a quick moment before we begin and acknowledge the sad news concerning the loss of former Salsa player, Eddie Samuels.  Eddie was lost on 6 Aug, 2016 to heart failure at the young age of only 30.  Eddie was a just s fabulous young man and its funny because for reasons which I will soon explain, I remember him so well from that 04/05 Victoria Salsa team.

The first thing I remember about Eddie was that he wore #13, which as we all know is somewhat rare for most hockey players who are about as superstitious a demographic as any you will find.  Eddie was also on a team with teammates who would later become established NHL talents, Tyler Bozak and Jordie Benn.  I used to talk to Eddie on a lot of nights when he really shouldn't have been in that much of a mood to talk and be pleasant.  You see Eddie's jersey number often described in a literal way his position on the team's depth chart.  In many ways, Eddie was that proverbial thirteenth forward for the Salsa that season.

#13 Eddie Samuels, a player who always had a smile for anyone, regardless of his position in the lineup

I would often find Eddie in a business suit leaning against the blue railings along the south end of the brand new Q Centre (known then as Bear Mountain Arena), watching the Salsa warmup.  On night's when Eddie and I would chat, he was usually a healthy scratch and the truth is that he was unfortunately enduring those circumstances about half of the nights he played for the club. And that's hockey.  I always remember that he had tons of time for both me and any of my three sons on any given night and you could always count on him to be open and honest and quick with a smile.  He never once felt sorry for himself for being a scratch and on the contrary he would muse about the joy and honour about being a player in the BCHL.  He was way more than stoic on those occasions, Eddie Samuels was down right dignified.

Almost ten years later, my eldest son would end up playing his first regular season game in the BCHL and I remember thinking of Eddie Samuels when I saw him on the Grizzlies bench wearing the #13 without a name bar. I remember thinking how cool it was that a player of Eddie's skill and dignity would later have his jersey number worn by a local 17 year old who once looked up to #13 as a player and even more so as a role model.  Eddie was very special and he will be missed.  I can only wish his family well in these difficult times and may God Bless.

It's a bit strange, because the theme of the 13th forward is perfect for this Main Camp preview because this season's Grizzlies camp may in fact feature a few forwards in the potential role of that dreaded thirteenth forward.  Obviously there is the depth of this year's core group attending Main Camp.  But secondly and perhaps as no small point is the fact that 98' born forward Spencer Hunter will likely start the season on the IR as he recovers from an injury from last season.  This will allow Coach Craig Didmon to likely leave camp with a 23 man roster until Hunter returns. At least that's what the tea leaves tell me as I dissect this club on paper.

What this camp will see in my view is a very rare thing, a completely established position in goal with two returning 19 year olds in goalies Mitch Benson and Matthew Galajda, both returning in net.  That is a huge advantage for the Grizzlies.  They are backed up by an equally impressive returning core of defensemen in Cody Van Lierop, Jake Stevens, Brett Stirling and Drayson Pears. Add to that mix Nico Somerville of the VIJHL Champions Victoria Cougars and you suddenly have what I think could be the most formidable back end perhaps in the entire Island Division and maybe more.  Just sayin...

What surprises me is what I have read on line in many of the various social media sites about how the Grizzlies may not be rated that high this season.  From what I have read and heard from some fans in the off season, the big questions are around the forwards and there is concern.  Not for me there is.  I think the forwards will be just fine.

From what I can see of the returning group, I think that the often maligned position on forward for the Grizzlies may have an up year in 2016/17.  First off is the big news that Nathan Looysen has decided not to play for his SJHL club after all and has instead decided to complete his junior career back home in Victoria and I for one am very happy to see that is the case. Looysen, with 101 points for the aforementioned Cougars last year had just two call-up games for the Grizzlies, both on the road and he was fantastic in my opinion. With almost zero prep time to adjust to BCHL speed, he played in Penticton vs future 2016 NHL First Round draft picks and I thought he looked just fine. The next day he dominated the Langley Rivermen on the road with a nice tidy two point game.  In short, the return of Looysen in my view is about the best bit of news to come by way of the Q Centre in quite a while.

Looysen lead the entire VIJHL last year with 101 points and lead his club to a league championship in 15/16

Now there is the obvious problem that Looysen is another 20 year old and Coach Didmon suddenly found himself last week with no less than eight 20 year olds in camp.  But as we just saw a few days ago, the Grizzlies elected to move 96' forward Mitchell Barker to the West Kelowna Warriors for futures.  I am a bit sad to see such a great PK expert like Barker go, but room had to be made for squeezing 8 players into 6 spots.  Now there is but a single 20 year-old decision for the GM to make and while tough indeed, one difficult decision sure beats two in this case.

A WK Warrior since the 19 Aug trade, Barker was always a stalwart on the PK for the Grizzlies

Forgive me, but it is probably safe to say that core veterans Cole Pickup, Bret Stirling, Jake Stevens, Cody Van Lierop along with Looysen will all make the club as twenty year olds.  Could it come down to a decision between two solid and gritty forwards from last year's squad, Nick Guiney or Alex Peck?  The local newspaper seems to think so, but I wonder is there another shoe to drop? Could there be another surprise in store before the BCHL start deadline?

I just don't know.  Frankly likely very few know for sure, but one thing is for sure, this year's Grizzlies squad will not be like the team we saw last September which iced only 7 returning veterans from the 14/15 playoff squad.  This season the Grizzlies will be thick with returning vets and frankly I think that any opinion which sees the Grizzlies wallowing down near the bottom of the Island Division is one which is simply ill informed.

With The Shock and Awe Line of Keyvan Mokhtari and Tyler Welsh returning, the question I have is who will be the lucky forward who gets to join those two stellar playmakers for a full season?  I am picking Welsh to finish in the top 5 in the entire BCHL in assists for the season and if anyone cares to lay a wager on it, I drink Tim Hortons Medium Black.

Who will be the lucky forward who will join the speedy Mokhtari in 2016?

I mean here is a serious question:  If you were an attacking forward on an opposition club, how would you like to get a mouth full of Stirling, Stevens, Van Lierop and Pears shift after shift?  And even if you got through those veteran D-men, what shape would you be in and where would the puck be on your stick as you prepared to shoot on either Benson or Galajda?

Could this be the look of opposition forwards after facing 3 straight periods of Stirling, Stevens, Van Lierop and Pears

The newcomers could be very good and even if they take time to develop, I think this year, unlike 2015 will be much easier on the rookies.  Last year the rookies were simply asked to do cross a Bridge Too Far in my modest opinion.  There just was a touch too much pressure for the rookies to score and it hurt the club throughout the year.  Again, my opinion only. 

But this year the fresh faces of 98' (F) Brett Parker (44 points with Hanover High School), Arizona native 97' (F) Sage Eglund (14-6-10-16 Boston Jr Rangers), 97' (F) Lucas Clark (39-16-20-36 Port Perry MoJacks of the COJCHL), Vermont native (F) Adam Peck (26-17-31-48 Selects Hockey and younger brother of Alex), 98' (F) Jett Jaraczewski (19-8-20-28 Notre Dame USHS), 98' (F) Jamieson Rome (31-10-8-18 Calgary North Stars Midget AAA)  along with highly touted (D) Dayne Finnson (24-5-12-17), a former teammate of Brett Sterling form Salisbury School could all have enjoy that coveted "time to gel" and not be thrown directly into the fire on Day 1.  That could be huge in terms of the youngsters' development in the toughest Jr. A league in the country.

Then you have some of the locals and a few of the camp invites who I am really interested in seeing.  Frist there is VIJHL Rookie of the Year in 98' (F) Cam Thompson (45-23-21-44 Peninsula Panthers) .  But then there is the player I like to call "The Greatest Hands in Langford", 97' (F) Cory Hatcher (36-16-26-42 Westshore Wolves) who if it was up to me I would put on the Shock and Awe Line on Day 1 then get myself a big bag of popcorn and just sit back and watch the fireworks.

To sum up, I think the Grizzlies are going to be more than OK.  Yes I do also think that Coach Didmon will have some very tough decisions to make over the next two weeks, full stop.  But these decisions and issues are what I like to call "Quality Problems".  And I will just bet that there are a lot of coaches and GMs from across the league who would like to be in his shoes going into Main Camps which break out all across the league in a matter of minutes, not hours from now.

Why we all play this game: for each other

All I know is that for whomever those players are who are left in Coach Didmon's team by the end of camp, there will almost certainly be a jersey #13 available for name bar stitching from veteran Head Equipment Man extraordinaire, Mel Smith.  And while those days for me are nothing but a distant memory if I still wore the shoes of a seventeen year old hockey player, I think I know exactly what I would say if I was fortunate enough to make the 2016/17 Grizzlies:  "Hey Mel, is that #13 still available back there?  I think I might be able to give it a good home."

See you along the glass. -CC

Nick Jermain and Boston Bar: Improbable Grizzlies Destiny in 2016

In spite of starting the year with a record of 1-10 when this Grizzlies season is finally all over and sports writers sit down to dissect the year, I doubt many will remember the name Nick Jermain. The fact is that this Merritt Centennials forward might just go down as one of the most significant opposition players to have positively impacted a Grizzlies season in quite some time.  Few as well will remember a broken drive shaft bearing under the Grizzlies bus in Boston Bar, BC on a snowy Saturday night in January, but that too could prove to be of equal significance in a year which never ceases to amaze this writer.

 

Last Saturday night as the Grizzlies were travelling over the Coquihalla Connector after losing 5-0 to the Penticton Vees, Connecticut born Nick Jermain was busy just a few kilometers away as his Centennials trailed the visiting Alberni Valley Bulldogs late in the 3^rd period by a score of 2-1.  Had the score stood up, the Bulldogs would have overtaken the Grizzlies in the standings that night and taken over that 4^th and final playoff spot.  It was a massive moment for the Grizzlies and yet few if any Victoria fans had much knowledge of the name Nick Jermain.  With less than two minutes to play, it would be Jermain who would score for the Centennials with his team's net empty in favour of the extra attacker and force overtime.  Then, just moments into the first OT period Jermain would score again, denying the Bulldogs that vital second point of the night.  Alberni would remain tied in points with the Grizzlies at the conclusion of play on what to most would view as just another day in the regular season.  For Grizzlies fans, the moment was simply enormous.

		GP	W	L	OTL		PTS		GF	GA	DIFF	PCT
1	xy - Nanaimo Clippers	56	36	18	1		74		226	183	43	0.661
2	x - Powell River Kings	55	32	19	3		68		208	156	52	0.618
3	x - Cowichan Valley Capitals	56	27	23	3		60		182	191	-9	0.536
4	Alberni Valley Bulldogs	56	21	27	4		50		166	197	-31	0.446
5	Victoria Grizzlies	56	23	29	4		50		163	167	-4	0.446

 

(*even the league's web site shows the Grizzlies in 5th spot in the Island Division Standings which are so tight and confusing even BCHL computers can't get the tie-break formula straight.)

The Grizzlies now enter play in this final weekend of regular season action tied with Alberni Valley in points.  However the Grizz still enjoy the razor thin advantage of the first tie breaker by virtue of having won more games than the Bulldogs on the season.  Had the aforementioned Jermain not scored late in that 3^rd period, the Grizzlies would now trail the Dogs by a single point and no longer be in a position to control their own destiny.  Perhaps at no time in franchise history have the Grizzlies ever been involved in such a dramatic and potentially cataclysmic conclusion of a regular season.  With precisely two games left to play for each organization, the Grizzlies and the Bulldogs will each try and play their way into the 2015/16 BCHL playoffs with the winning prize being a first round matchup against the offensive powerhouse, Nanaimo Clippers.  To some that may seem like quite the underwhelming prize for such a daunting task, but for a Grizzlies team who essentially started the year with a single win in its first 11 games, that will probably suit them just fine.  Call it fate, but it’s just been that kind of a year.

 

This final chapter will all get underway on Friday night as the Grizzlies will host the Powell River Kings, a team with whom the Grizzlies have enjoyed some relative success thus far in 2015/16 with a 5-2 season series lead.  Powell River, secure in 2^nd place and with nothing to play for in terms of playoff position, will come to Vancouver Island with the ability to play the role of either “Spoiler” or “King Maker” for the Grizzlies or the Bulldogs.   The Kings will finish the weekend with two contests in Alberni Valley at the Weyerhaeuser Arena on Saturday and Sunday after they play the Grizzlies Friday night at The Q Centre.  The Grizzlies will travel to Chilliwack on Sunday to play a Chiefs team who have also secured their playoff fortunes and have nothing to play for other than perhaps a little momentum in preparation for a First Round matchup against the Coquitlam Express.  But that 4pm Sunday Chilliwack game if you remember, is only happening as the very last game in the entire league by virtue of a broken bus in Boston Bar.  The Grizzlies were scheduled to play the Chiefs that night, 16 Jan if you recall.  With half the team sick with the flu, plus a few nagging bumps and bruises and coming off the longest day of bus travel in the year after departing Prince George the night before, I for one did not like the Grizzlies chances.  Remember that they lost the previous encounter against the Chiefs in the Bauer Showcase in September by a 4-0 margin.  But as luck would have it, the Grizzlies bus for the first time in franchise history would fail to deliver the team to its game night destination and the game would have to be rescheduled.  We will never know but maybe, just maybe that was a blessing in disguise that broken drive train, that broken bearing.

 

Grizzlies minority owner Mark Wagstaff does not visit the broadcast booth very often, certainly not on the road.  But the following day in Surrey he popped in to the booth during pregame and told me something which I will likely never forget:  “You know, what’s so strange about that broken bus last night?  In all those years that I owned Penticton, the Salsa and the Grizzlies, not one time in over 25 years had any of those teams ever failed to make it to a road game.  Not one time did we ever have to cancel a game.  Not even once, very strange.”   Very strange indeed.  That game could prove to mean absolutely nothing, or it could turn out to be a very useful insurance policy for the Grizzlies come 4pm this Sunday afternoon if things don’t go perfectly on Friday and Saturday.  Is that fate, luck or destiny?  Or is it just a bad episode of Twilight Zone?   

 

The Grizzlies “Magic Number” now sits at just 2.  Any combination of a Grizzlies win and a Bulldogs loss will send Victoria into the playoffs.  But the Bulldogs’ “Magic Number” sits at 2.5 games.  Thank you Nick Jermain and thank you broken bus.  If the Bulldogs lose both games to Powell River this weekend, that too will achieve the “Magic Number” of 2 no matter what the Grizzlies do.  I said three weeks ago, just prior to the Cowichan Valley game that in order to qualify for the post season, the Grizzlies would need to win 3 of its final 6 games or play exactly .500 hockey and that prediction looks like it may run true to form. 

 

With a crescendo of 4 goals in Period #1 last Sunday vs Langley, the Grizzlies held serve in the Island Division standings and got that second vital win of its six remaining games.  The first goal in Langley came by way of The Plumbers.  Crashing the net hard was Joey Visconti, after a Spencer Hunter rush, Visconti put away a goal mouth loose puck and gave the Grizzlies the early lead.  Then it was up to Keyvan Mokhtari who buried a Brayden Gelsinger rebound top shelf to make it 2-0.  It was the young rookie’s first goal since 17 Dec, 2015 but none of that mattered to a Grizzlies bench which erupted in adoration of the BWC product who was helping his teammates see their playoff hopes suddenly restored.  The next Grizzlie goal would come by way of the extra man on a perfectly timed Ovechkin like one-timer by Dante Hahn from an equally beautiful cross-crease pass by Gelsinger.  It was Hahn’s 3^rd PP Goal of the season and it put the Grizzlies up 3-0, all in a weekend devoid of much offense where the Grizzlies had failed to score against Penticton on Saturday night and in a 2-1 loss to Wenatchee on Friday. 

The massive Sunday first period onslaught by Victoria would end with Nathan Looysen of the VIJHL Victoria Cougars, scoring his first goal of the season in a Grizzlies uniform and the rout was on.  Looysen, who won the VIJHL Scoring Championship this year with 101 points, looked fantastic all weekend in Grizzlies white, black and yellow-gold and took his goal well having already picked up an assist on Hahn’s PP marker earlier in the period.  Mitchell Benson would turn away all 24 Rivermen shots and collect his first shutout and fifth win of the season in front of a disappointed Langley crowd of 1,358.  Benson was solid all night and will likely feature in the backup role to Matt Galajda this weekend as the Grizzlies attempt to ice out the 2015/16 regular season and earn that final playoff spot on the island. 

 

The regular season will end at Prospera Centre by virtue of the Grizzlies first ever cancelled game on 16 Jan, 2016

Four games, two for the Bulldogs and two for the Grizzlies and three of which will feature perennial playoff matchup team the Powell River Kings are all that separate an early end to the season or a trip to the big dance.  Call it what you like, crazy, ridiculous and unnecessary or just plain exiting.  No matter what, there won’t be a single true Grizzlies fan anywhere on the globe this weekend who won’t be paying close attention to every second of action in this most tumultuous of final games for the club.  And if the Grizzlies eventually do indeed qualify for the playoffs, likely few will ever remember those strange quirky moments which could end up deciding the team’s fate.   It just may be that the way this season will finish could come down to a couple of very late out of town goals on a Saturday night in the smallest building in the BCHL, the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena in Merritt BC, with goals scored by a Connecticut hockey player named Nick Jermain.  Well that and a troublesome bearing under a team bus in a little place called Boston Bar.  Talk to you all on Friday night from the Q Centre. -CC        

Why We Play This Game

I just happen to be the father of three teenage hockey players.  One of the unwritten rules about raising adolescent young men, especially hockey players is that you should avoid the use of their language, especially their hockey language.  Words like, "sick", "awesome", and "epic" just don't cut it if you are in your mid-forties.  It really falls flat if you try using them around 14-19 year old hockey players who eat meals at your kitchen table.  You run the risk of hearing the proverbial:  "Dad, don't say 'sick' you sound so lame, you don't even know what it means."  Ah the joys of modern fatherhood.

Most fans arriving at The Q Centre Friday night were probably a bit confused as to why only one club came out for the warmup, the Powell River Kings.  The reason for that was of course because the Victoria Grizzlies had much more important business at hand.  They were busy reminding all of us why we play this game.

As the Powell River Kings were skating their warmup and were likely wondering where the home team was, sitting beside each Grizzly player, in each of the Grizzlies' stalls was a member of the Saanich Braves Midget C Minor Team.  And frankly, while no one needed to say it, every one of them would have given anything to not be there on this occasion.  These were the teammates of Reid Kyfiuk.  Reid was the 15-year old Claremont Secondary student who was lost tragically on the ski slopes of Mount Washington in a skiing accident just days before Christmas.  Standing in the middle of the Dressing Room were Reid's parents along with his brother and sister.  The Grizzlies, lead by Team Governor Lance Black wanted to take a moment and pause to reflect upon what is really important in life and to celebrate Reid's life. 

The Kyfiuks along with the Braves wanted to share his life with the Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies in turn wanted to honour Reid by passing on the Captaincy for the game from Team Captain PJ Conlon to Reid.  This was done through Reid's parents who would wear a Grizzlies Jersey with the #20, Reid's Saanich Braves number, and his last name "KYFIUK" stitched into the name bar.   A few words were passed and I will leave that moment private, but I want all the Grizzlies Gazette readers to understand one key piece about this small private ceremony:  at 6:25pm pretty much everybody in that Dressing Room recognized the fact that the Grizzlies were very late for warmup and might not even get a pre-game warmup at all.

Grizzlies commemoration helmets

And nobody, not one player or coach budged or even flinched.  Not one.

As the ceremony ended and the players exited the Dressing Room for a very short 5 minute warmup, I briefly wondered if this would be of much issue for the Grizzlies.  Did they need this now or could this be a problem I thought?  Those questions were quickly dashed as I walked past the C5 Saanich Braves players, Reid's teammates, who were by this time all standing along the Grizzlies bench.  They were enjoying the opportunity of doing something which almost no Midget Team would ever get a chance to do: stand on a BCHL bench during warmup.  They watched these same-aged young men warm up in preparation for a league game, a league which all of them probably wished that they too could have maybe one day had a chance to have competed in.  Reid's teammates weren't feeling sad at that point or acting like they had just had their hearts' ripped apart.  No, at that point they had something else going on I thought.  They were enjoying the game we all love and they expressed it in that way which only adolescent males do in today's vernacular.

As I walked past the all of the Saanich Braves players on the bench on my way up to the Broadcast Booth, I heard the sounds you would hope to hear from kids who were truly celebrating the life of their lost teammate and the game he loved:  "Pickup and Guiney are pretty sick man, I played with them you know?" , "Check out the size of Bennis and Sterling, holly #$@t!  Epic man." , "Look at Mokhatari's hands man, they're unreal"  , "Benson and Galajda, frickin pros dude" and  lots of "This is f^%$ing awesome!"


#6 D-Man, Brett Stirling just one of the many Grizzlies who impressed the Saanich Braves on Friday

The game was even better.  It all started midway through the first period with Dante Hahn stealing the puck off Powell River's Chris Protopoulous who was trying to exit the defensive zone with the puck.  Hahn's steal soon found line mate Brayden Gelsinger in the crease.  The brand new Lake Superior State University committed forward made no mistake, quickly firing the puck over the shoulder of Kings netminder Jeff Smith to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead and put the Q Centre on its feet.  That one was for Reid.  I could almost hear the Saanich Braves players who were sitting below:  "Holly crap, did you see that steal and pass?"  "Yeah.  Did you see that F^%#ing roofer?"  "That was so sick!"

The 2nd period would see more of the same with Cole Pickup scoring quickly to make it 2-0.  Then moments later, Gels would score his second of the night and you were thinking it was going to maybe be a laugher for the Grizzlies in spite of a truncated pregame warmup.  Not so fast.



Lake Superior State committed #22 Gelsinger is lighting the lamp lately. (Photo credit: Bruce Stotesbury)

Just 11 seconds apart the Kings scored two quick goals by Kyle Betts and Liam Lawson respectively and by the end of the 2nd period it was an edgy 3-2 lead for the Grizzlies.  Huge saves by Matt Galajda, plus a second marker by Pickup would see the Grizzlies enter the final minutes of the game up 4-3 with the Powell River net empty.  And after a "No Panic" approach to D-Zone coverage by Cody VanLierop and Brett Stirling, the puck would be head-manned up to Gelsinger who would score on the EN and register the club's first Hat Trick of the 2015/16 Season.  The 1,206 fans in the Q Centre went wild.  As I looked down at the Saanich Braves C5 Midget team, they were all on their feet.  I could only imagine what they were saying.

But the best was left for the end of the game and it was the classy visitors, the Powell River Kings who deserve a ton of props in my humble view.  After losing a tight 5-3 game vs a club they have struggled to beat all year (now 1-5 vs Victoria), the Powell River Kings all stood on their blue line to commemorate one last time the memory of Reid Kyfiuk.  It seems that during the game, someone came up with the idea that each team should sign a stick and present the two respective sticks to Reid's family at the end of the game. 

Classy Kings Honouring Reid post game

You know I get to work with one of the best Play-By-Play guys in the business and Scotty Didmon always knows just what to say but even he had trouble getting the words out.  At that moment I was so proud of the Grizzlies, I was proud of the Kings and I was proud of the BCHL.  "Smart hockey folks, that's why they call the BCHL Smart Hockey" was how Scotty captured the moment, we were both struggling to keep it together, that is all I can tell you.  As I was leaving the building later, I walked past a bunch of Kings players who were stretching post game down in the south end of the Q Centre, a part of the building visitors rarely visit, especially after a loss.  I took a moment to thank them for what they did.  I told them something like "That's why you guys are playing in this league, because it takes special young men to have the character to do something like that after a tough loss, well done.  You reminded us all of why we play this game, thank you."  Trust me you don't need the details, but it is safe to say that the sense of occasion of that moment was not lost on any of those Kings players.

The Grizzlies would double down 48 hours later in the Q Centre on Sunday afternoon with another huge win, a 5-0 victory over the Langley Rivermen.  Galajda registered his 3rd Shutout of the year backstopping 22 shots.  He now sits one half-decimal point out of 3rd place in BCHL in Goals Against Average.  The Captain, PJ Conlon got the game winner and the red hot Gelsinger had another two goals himself.  Gels would have probably earned another Hat Trick on the night after being slashed hard on a last second breakaway, but referee Trevor Nolan decided that with tempers flaring a bit, it was probably wiser to just send both clubs to their respective rooms and avoid the Penalty Shot with the score 5-0 and almost no time left on the clock.

After Sunday's game, the Grizzlies announced the signing of the final and 22nd member of the 2015/16 Grizzlies, 96' born Forward, Brayden Cross from the MJHL OCN Blizzard.  Cross who lead the Kerry Park Islanders in scoring last season in the VIJHL with 61 points signed with the Grizzlies just hours before the Sunday night 8pm roster freeze deadline in the BCHL.  Cross will hopefully add a little bit of 2nd or 3rd line scoring to a Grizzlies team which is really starting to find its stride as the playoff stretch quickly approaches.

Now the Grizzlies will head off on its first major road trip of the 2016 calendar year for four big games:  Cowichan Valley, Prince George, Chilliwack and Surrey.  It will be an honour to watch this amazing group this coming week on the road.  I wonder what special moments are in store?  It is certainly a tight group of young men, these 2015/16 Grizzlies, now finally 22 in number and set for the remainder of the season.  They are a team who reminded us all over the weekend of why we play this game and why there are so many things much more important than hockey.  While I can't quite put my finger on precisely what that thing is that they play for and why they do it, something tells me that it has to do with the descriptive words often used by young, fifteen year old hockey players who simply just love the game.  Young players like Reid.  They are contained in the words which I am really not allowed to use, especially in my own house.  Words like "epic", "awesome" and "sick".  - CC

Flying Under The Radar, Grizzlies Saga Continues

Before we start this BCHL Grizzlies blog I have just one thing to say:  The CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders (I will never call them the Renegades or the Red Blacks or whatever they are supposed to be called these days) are going to the Grey Cup next Sunday!!!  OK, I am done now, back to the Grizzlies.



Could a repeat of the 1981 Grey Cup avenge #77 Tony Gabriel's outrageous, "Triple Offensive Pass Interference" call?

As this Grizzlies Club approaches the halfway mark of the 2015/16 season, if I had to sum up the season in one word I would say: "under the radar".  OK, fine, that's technically three words but you get the idea.

I recently noticed something which may prove my point.  Have you seen the latest Subway Poll on the BCHL Web Site?  The latest poll asks BCHL fans to decide whom they think is the BCHL's fastest skater. I enjoy these polls and I never, ever pass up an opportunity to cast a vote. But Keyvan Mokhtari didn't even make the list for some reason.  That tells me that the Grizzlies are literally flying at tree top level at this point in the 2015/16 season.  Nobody is paying any attention to this team and that suits me just fine. 

So why is that?  Why are the Grizzlies off of everyone's radar?  With all due respect to any Eagles fans reading this blog, if your team starts the year 1-10 and one of your losses is at home vs South Surrey and your "1-10 team" also sports the league worst Powerplay with the most SHGA, chances are that you won't be turning too many heads.

Nope, as we approach the halfway mark on this season, I think it is safe to say that the Victoria Grizzlies may be the least talked about team in the league by BCHL pundits.  And that also suits me just fine.

But here is what is really interesting to me:  the Grizzlies are now 6-3-0-1 in their last ten games, which makes them the hottest team in the Island Division over that period of time.  Remember too that during that stretch, the Grizzlies lost twice to the Trail Smoke Eaters for reasons which still elude even the most knowledgeable BCHL experts.  In short, the Grizzlies are doing just fine for a team which returned only 6 veterans who played for all of last season.

Alleged designer of Grizzlies 2015/16 Schedule

What is also pretty impressive is that due to a Machiavellian designed schedule, the Grizzlies have played no less than two straight 3 game back to back sets in 8 days and five of those six games were on the road.  Its not a season, its more like an ancient saga.  They are accomplishing all of this with a Powerplay which has surrendered a league high 9 SHGA and is running at 7.81% efficiency on the road.   That is pretty unbelievable and when you think about it.

So how is this possible you ask?  here is how:

Nov 10 - Grizzlies 5 at Powell River 2. The Grizzlies, after nearly vomiting their entire way across the Strait of Georgia in one of the worst storms since Hurricane Katrina lead by Alex Peck, (Miley Cyrus's inspiration to the song "Wrecking Ball") and owner of the most sick jersey number in the BCHL, scored a SHG and an assist, an act which single handily doubled his season's offensive totals in one game.  He, along with his billet buddy, Brett Stirling on D, lead the club in breaking the collective spirit of the Kings to see the Grizzlies enjoy the first Regular Season win at The Hap Parker in almost two years.

Nov 13 - Grizzlies 3 at Coquitlam 4 (OT 2). Coming from behind, the Grizzlies force OT at the "Poirier Pin-Ball Palace" lead by the Smoothie Line of Gelsinger, Hahn and Livingstone along with the young and speedy Tyler Welsh and Keyvan Mokhtari, two players who also lead the league in "most hours spent in deep REM sleep" while travelling in a BCHL team bus this season.

Captain PJ Conlon with D-Day Veteran in Coquitlam on 13 Nov

Nov 14 - Grizzlies 3 at Merritt 2.  While playing in the league's smallest ice surface, towering 6'5'' forward Spencer Hunter's 2nd period blistering wrist shot from the top of the circle would find the net. The shot and ensuing goal which would normally have measured at 30' in most arenas but was closer to 10' at the Nicola Valley, would be credited to rookie phenom Welsh.  Welsh who was somehow confused by the referee with the "somewhat taller" Spencer Hunter, was not only on the bench at the time of the goal but was to his credit, like his line mate Mokhtari, wide awake and out of any REM sleep at the time of the go ahead marker by his more vertically endowed team mate. But the club would neither care nor complain about the box score or win and instead travel all night, arriving in Trail like frat house students at 7am the following morning to sleep about 3 hours before playing the Smokies at 3pm.

Grizzlies @0630 posing upon arrival at their Rossland BC chalet on 15 Nov

Nov 15 - Grizzlies 1 at Trail 2.  After team +/- leader, Dante Hahn (+11) would give the Grizz a first period 1-0 lead, the Grizzlies would suddenly realize in the second period that they were playing on about 15 minutes of sleep and fail to hold on, surrendering a crushing SHGA in the second and lose a squeaker at the oldest rink in the BCHL (Cominco Arena 1949).  They would then travel all night and look far worse than anything National Lampoon could ever conjure boarding a BC Ferry the next morning at Tswassen.  All the while knowing that they would be facing the Clippers at The Frank on Wednesday.

Nov 18 - Grizzlies 1 at Nanaimo 5.  Trailing 3-1 with one minute to play, the Grizzlies would give up the puck on  a bit of late high risk play in an effort to come back vs the always offensively powerful Clippers.  The good news was that the Grizzlies PP went 1 for 3 on the night on the strength of Cole Pickup's 8th goal on the season from Conlon and Massy.  The Grizzlies would outshoot the Clippers 31-27 in a game much closer than the score would indicate.

Nov 19 - Trail 3 at Grizzlies 2.  With a first period PP goal by Pickup and a short handed maker by Mokhtari (possible Goal of the Year candidate), the Grizzlies would squander a 2-0 lead and lose the game to a Smoke Eaters team who had apparently seen the movie Animal House and instead chose to travel the day prior in order to save bus legs. Trail would outlast the travel weary Grizzlies team who were running on less fumes than a Chrysler Cordova during the Carter Administration's 79' Oil Crisis.



#15 - Mokhtari's 19 Nov SHG vs Trail on Goal of The Year?

 

Nov 20 - Capitals 2 at Grizzlies 6.  In front of a season high nearly 1,200 fans at the Q Centre on Military Appreciation Night and with Coach Didmon completely changing around his line combinations, the Grizzlies would have a coming out party in a number of areas. Brayden Gelsinger would net 4 points on the night while Mokhtari would earn 3 himself.  But the story of the night was Chuck Bennis's impression of the WWE's "The Undertaker" as he gave Ayden MacDonald every reason to suddenly "come down with the flu" on the morning of 12 Jan, 2016 for the teams' next scheduled meeting.  The fight was so one-sided and primordial in nature, after breaking the internet on Saturday morning, YouTube put out a new directive forbidding the posting of any hockey fight videos containing the words "Chuck Bennis", "The Undertaker" or "This video hurts my eyes" until further notice.



BCHL pundits have suggested that this image may be the source of an expected flu epidemic at the ISC on 12 Jan, 2016

By the way, I never did cast a vote in that BCHL poll.  How do you vote in a poll which was missing the correct answer?  Go Renegades! -CC





       





 

Is There a Most Improved Award? Grizzlies On a 4-0 Roll

It never seemed to matter what year it was for me, I always loathed the moment.  Nearly every year it was the same thing, winning the dreaded Most Improved Student Award. The school would even phone my parents to make sure that they were in attendance.  The whole student body would be sitting in the auditorium and all the smart kids and all the athletic kids would get trophies and awards.  Eventually near the end of the ceremony, they would present a blue ribbon for the student who showed the most improvement for that year. And each year they would call up this awkward looking idiot savant to collect his ribbon.  And trust me back then, there was way more "idiot" than there was "savant".

The Victoria Grizzlies in my humble opinion may just end up at the end of the year being the BCHL's most improved team.  And while there are no blue ribbons, that team more often than not is the one that goes on a nice playoff run.

When we last talked, the Grizzlies had gone 1-2 on a very average road trip to the Interior.  There was improvement, but it was hard to spot.  The team were being called Team Ikea by some of the young people and fans I talk to outside the Q Centre after games.  "I tell ya Clay they're Team Ikea, all hard work and fine craftsmanship but no finish."

Then the Grizzlies travelled up to Nanaimo two weeks ago and experienced what I will refer to as "The Mid Island Meltdown".  Even after Scotty Didmon's stirring and motivational pregame speech as the bus unloaded at The Frank, the Grizzlies still lost.  Leading 4-3 with 35 seconds to play, they would somehow end up losing 5-4 in regulation.  It may have been one of the worst losses in franchise history.  In many ways it was the Grizzlies' Chernobyl.



Frank Crane Arena as seen from the air on 28 Oct, 2015

What was missed however was how well the Grizzlies played in the first 59 minutes and 25 seconds of the game. I saw an offensively challenged team suddenly erupt with 4 goals over one of the best teams in the entire league.  Sure it was a bad loss, but I saw it as a positive sign in many respects.
The following night back at The Q Centre the Grizzlies outplayed and outlasted the Powell River Kings.  They won 3-1 on the strength of an early lead, great team play and outstanding goaltending by Matthew Galadja.  The next night and it was the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Once again it was a nice tidy 3-2 win with only two unfortunate short handed goals to blame on an otherwise picture perfect night of balanced hockey.  Then on Friday the Grizzlies would win a 2-1 squeaker at The Q Centre on Parents Night.  Suddenly the Grizzlies were 3-0 since the Mid Island Meltdown.

And just hours ago, the Grizzlies blew away a very frustrated Prince George Spruce Kings team 7-3 and it is now 4 wins on the bounce.  What is going on in Grizzlies Land?



Parents Weekend pre-game ceremonies for The Grizzlies on Friday

Before I answer that, I want to explain why I used to dislike so intensely that award for Most Improved Student in Middle School.  Even as the Principal read out the award, it always translated in my head like this:  "In September this young man was without question the #1 worst student in school.  This student was an absolute grease fire when it came to math, English and science.  In fact, this student was so bad, many on the faculty wondered if maybe there wasn't a village somewhere looking for its requisite idiot."  Then they called my name and I walked past Barb Graham who used to like me when I was the class clown, but not so much since I changed into Dudley Do Right.  I climbed up on the stage to receive that blue ribbon from our school Principal with my parents snapping photos and looking so proud.  To me the whole thing was a humiliating episode.  I remember secretly promising myself that one day, I would burn the ribbons.  Remember, I was only 12 and I had a crush on Barb Graham at the time.

The Victoria Grizzlies are doing a lot of things really well at the moment and that starts in goal.  I believe that the Grizzlies possess the best "One-Two Punch" in goal in the entire league.  While Matt Galadja is universally excellent, Mitchell Benson is perhaps the best kept secret in the BCHL.  I think he may even be the most under-rated player in the entire BCHL.  On the nights when he starts, he is flat out fantastic in net.  The Grizzlies are also playing very well defensively.  Van Lierop, who at times can keep the puck in the zone by simply using the back of his trailing skate, has been outstanding.  But so too has the rest of the D-Corps who are now all beginning to add a goals and helpers from the point.

Cody Van Lierop high fives his adoring fans at The Q Centre

Maybe best of all are the forwards.  Everybody is contributing now.  "The Senior Line" of Pickup, Conlon and Barker are routinely +1 each night.  "The Smoothy Line" with Hahn, Gelsinger and Livingstone score goals and cause fits in the offensive zone.  Then there is the fan favorite "The Shock and Awe Line" of Welsh, Mokhtari and Guiney.  The line has quickly become one of the most fearsome line combinations in the league and they seem to improve each night.  There are PGA golf balls which fly through the air slower that Mokhtari when he gets going.

In short the Grizzlies have made a serious turn on their season.  With three lines capable of scoring and doing so on a regular basis, suddenly the pressure is coming off the leaders in the Dressing Room.

But much work is still left to be done.  To say that the Powerplay has issues is a bit like saying that Dr. Phil's guests may need to "do a little work on themselves."  The Grizzlies PP is currently dead last at 17th in the league with a 12.24% efficiency rating.  But if you calculate in the 8 Short Handed Goals Against, that stat drops to 4.081% in terms of overall effectiveness.  The good news is that the PK is second only to that of the Penticton Vees.  The PK is solid and was a big part of the recent 4 game win streak.

Dr.Phil recently discussing the Grizzlies Powerplay and SHGA

So while they don't hand out little blue ribbons at the end of the season for "The BCHL's Most Improved Team Of The Year", the Grizzlies can take solace from the fact they are slowly pulling themselves out of a very deep hole. This slow improvement could pay off huge come playoff time.

One last word about those humiliating "Most Improved Student" blue ribbons.  You know those little boxes/chests people keep usually in their garage or attic with mementoes and pictures from days gone by?  Well I just went downstairs to have a look at mine. 

There's a whole pile of report cards in there and some high school football pictures.  At the bottom are these three blue ribbons and you will never guess what they say?  There's even a picture of me and Barb Graham at the Grade 8 Graduation Dance.  I guess sometimes even Dudley Do Right can get a second chance.  Talk to you in Powell River on Tuesday Night. -CC