The Secret Formula: Grizzlies 7-0

Ask any hockey coach in any league and the formula is simple.  Combine great goaltending with a strong defence and timely goal scoring and you have the makings for winning hockey.  Throw in solid Special Team play and you pretty much have the whole package.  It is a formula for winning which can take you very far. 

Well guess what?  That's the 2015/16 Victoria Grizzlies.  Well now it is anyway....

The Grizzlies have great goaltending and not only that but it is a very deep position.  Mitchell Benson was likely not expecting to start in Nanaimo last night after getting the nod vs Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday.  But with a precautionary rest to Matt Galajda, the versatile back-up came in and stopped 44 shots out of the 47 he faced and stonewalled the frustrated Nanaimo Clippers for the very first time this season.  Dam Buster Benson as I like to call him did it again.  On 27 Sep he registered his team's first very BCHL win and broke the win-loss dam wide open.  Last night he blew open the dam on the (previously 6-0 vs Victoria) Nanaimo Clippers in front of almost 1,700 screaming fans at the Frank Crane.  The atmosphere there was electric!  Best BCHL game I have watched in years.

Benson, first to register a win vs Clippers this season

One week earlier it was Galajda in a 36/37 stop performance vs the superb Salmon Arm Silverbacks at The Q Centre in a game which gave the net minder 1st Star honours in the come form behind 4-1 win.  I have been saying this all year: for 18 year old goalies, Galajda and Benson are easily the best 1-2 punch in the entire league.  They stack up almost even statistically vs the older and more experienced pair of Brodeur and Driscoll in Penticton. And they do this in spite of being on a Victoria team which started the year 1-11.  Think about how hard that is to do?  That's an incredible turnaround.

Then you add to that formula, the uber strong Grizzlies defensive corps this season and things soon get very tough on opponents. Last night is a case in point.  After retaking the lead for the second time on another patented Kevin Massy walk-in play from the point, the Grizzlies had a problem. Suddenly finding themselves down to 4 defensemen with injuries to Drayson Pears and an ejection to KMass early in the third, the Grizzlies needed help on D.

#2 Bennis and #4 Stevens key to win in Nanaimo

And what did the Grizzlies D-Corps do?  Well for starters, Team America World D, Jake Stevens and Chuck Bennis, they just flat out put the entire Grizzlies team on their back at one point and basically said:  "Don't worry everyone all the terrorists are dead." The D-pair simply blocked shots, made huge hits, cleared pucks and made countless smart defensive plays all night.  At one point in the game The Undertaker, Chuck Bennis on a Lucas Finner breakaway chased the Clipper player so hard that with one hand and that classic 9' reach of his, he managed to dislodge the puck from Finner and send it harmlessly to the corner while avoiding a penalty which 9 times out of 10 would occur to a lesser defenseman in that situation.

Stalwart Defensemen like Chuck Bennis, are a big part of the Grizzlies Secret Sauce in 2016

But it didn't end there.  Brett Stirling who lead all Grizzlies last night with a +4 rating on the evening had no less than 2 back to back solo rushes ahead of his forwards in the third period alone. He did this knowing full well that not only was his team down to only 4 defensemen for the entire 3rd period in a tight 5-3 game on the road but that trusty Equipment Man, Mel Smith had forgotten to bring the team's Oxygen tank on the bus. Cody Van Lierop was equally outstanding with a +2 rating and an assist on Dante Hahn's late first period go-ahead goal.

Could #6 Brett Stirling's "Boy Band Good Looks" and rock hard play soon be signing a deal with Boost Oxygen as their new franchise spokesperson?

Offensively, it was a night of late back breakers for the hapless Clippers.  No sooner would Nanaimo take the lead when an unlikely Grizzlie player would answer.  A perfect example was #61 and red hot Alex Peck, jumping on a lose puck and burying his 4th of the year with just 1.9 secs left in the 2nd period.  Timely goal scoring indeed.  That's been the formula since The Mid Island Meltdown and the forwards are bringing it every night.

I would bet that preparing to face Victoria must be very tough for opposing coaches on most nights.  You just never know which Grizzlies forward is going to step up and hurt you.  Mitchell Barker, who has scored 4 goals in his past 5 games, assisted again last night on Massy's tying goal in the first period.  Barker who unfortunately was later ejected for a Hitting From Behind Minor Penalty has been as good as any of the suddenly white hot 3rd and 4th Liners for the Grizz.



#26 Barker, is just one more veteran getting hot at the right time of the year

And the leaders continue to just do their business night in and night out.  PJ Conlon (+2) sporting what Moe from Slap Shot would have called  "a very deep cut" after getting a stick to the face, just skated back to the bench and let Steph Tamboline patch him up and send him right back out again.  He never missed a shift.  Conlon who is quietly rocketing up the scoring stats with another 3 points last night is leading players like Cole Pickup (also 3 points and +3), Brayden Gelsinger (1 assist and +1) and Dante Hahn (1 goal, +1) with a quiet and understated leadership style which reminds me at times of a younger Brian Skrudland.



PJ Conlon (right), alongside Cole Pickup (left) in the Frank Crane Dressing Room last night after getting repairs

The Grizzlies will take on the Alberni Valley Bulldogs tonight in the hopes of pushing this 7-0 BCHL winning streak to 8 wins tonight in front of what will hopefully be a very big crowd at The Q Centre.  In the meantime, we will await any league supplementary discipline which could get handed out to Massy or Barker in view of the aforementioned ejections from last night. We shall see. 

Regardless, my sense is that this Grizzlies team is starting to seriously turn some heads around the league.  With Alberni HC Kevin Willison and A/HC Adam Hayduk both in attendance scouting the game last night, in Nanaimo, it was clear to me that important people are definitely starting to pay attention.  With a night off, it would not surprise me at all if I saw Clippers HC Mike Vandekamp and AC Blake Clement in Colwood this evening.  I think it is safe to say that a lot of hockey officials and fans are becoming very much interested in this Grizzlies Secret Formula.  See you tonight. -CC

Call The Plumber, Grizzlies On a Roll

How much do you want to bet that when the Surrey Eagles coaches were preparing for the Grizzlies on Sunday, Joey Visconti wasn't a huge part of the pregame speech?  I doubt you would have heard:  "And no matter what, watch out for #17, Visconti.   He is flat out crazy good and he can kill any team, sometimes almost single handed on any given night.  That's Visconti V-I-S-C-O-N-T-I, #17"  My guess is that the Eagles coaches failed to mention Visconti or for that mater, any of the Grizzlies Plumbers.  The truth is that they probably should have.  That's because if they had bothered to read any of the team's recent box scores they would have noticed that as of late, the Grizzlies have had no issue in picking up the phone and calling the plumber.

Caps Killer Visconti has 3 goals this season vs Cowichan

In the span of just 20 minutes of play from the 3:47 mark of the first period, the white hot Visconti, who scored at the ISC last Tuesday would score two goals and set up two more vs Surrey.  That was just for starters.  By the third period Visconti would score his third of the game and give his Grizzlies team its third Hat Trick in 5 games.  Moments later he would make another of his trademark slick moves on the PK.  He would steal the puck and go in all alone on Surrey net minder Justin Laforest, and nearly score his fourth goal of the game.  In the broadcast booth, the Eagles' score keepers were inconsolable, pounding on the table in disgust as Visconti nearly single handedly broke the spirit of their club in front of their home town fans.  Visconti would earn his first ever BCHL First Star of the Game honours in the decisive 7-2 win.  It was a big weekend for The Plumbers.

On Sunday vs Surrey, Visconti was 3G, 2A and a +3

SNL back in the 1970s used to run this great skit where Dan Aykroyd would play the role of this hilarious and incompetent plumber.  Aykroyd would always find the most horribly grotesque ways of bending over in pants and t-shirts which were far too tight to inspect a broken appliance like a fridge or a stove.  "Look at that, an old Nord!  I haven't seen one of these babes quite in a while."  I am sure that through the magic of YouTube you can probably find some of those old sketches, but if not the Grizzlies have a bunch of plumbers themselves you may want to check out.  The difference is that these are highly competent Grizzlies plumbers and they are contributing to recent team success in ways Dan Aykroyd would be most proud of.

Aykroyd in 1976 would have made a fine Plumber for the Grizzlies

It was a big weekend for The Plumbers as I like to call the 4th Liners.  It was a weekend full of offense which came from all sorts of unlikely sources in fact.  On Sunday just two days after finishing off the Prince George Spruce Kings with a long range EN goal, Mitchell Barker would open the scoring for Victoria.  Barker put the Grizzlies ahead leading the attack vs Surrey in the first frame.  Then it was Dante Hahn's turn on the backhand and Tyler Welsh on the PP.  Both players, much more used to scoring, would add 2nd period goals for Victoria and it was 5-0 when play started in the 3rd period. 

Defenseman Cody Van Lierop would exit the game early after laying out one of his patented trademark hits.  Unfortunately as he finished the check he would somehow earn a nasty cut to his lower lip and require a short visit to a local area hospital for repairs.  But the Grizzlies would just keep pouring on the power with a massive shot advantage along with both strong physical and finesse play.  Later Conlon would score his 14th goal on the season from Brayden Gelsinger and Kevin Massy.  But The Plumbers were the story on Sunday night with Alex Peck, a 2nd Game Star earning a pair of assists and Jared Virtanen having a great night himself.  Mitchel Benson would earn his 3rd victory in net turning aside 27/29 Surrey shots.

About 25+ Grizzlies fans travelled to Surrey to cheer on Drayson Pears and the Grizzlies

On Friday night, the Grizzlies were also able to rise to the challenge of a road game with their one and only trip to the Prince George Coliseum in a 4-2 victory.  Tyler Welsh playing well on that top line would score after only 6:34 from a resurgent Cole Pickup and the BCHL's Player of the Week, Captain PJ Conlon.  But it was another night of unlikely scoring for the Grizzlies as Brett Stirling would fire home a hard shot from the point on the man-advantage, tying the game at 2-2.  This would come only moments after the Sprucers had gone ahead in front of their 1,087 fans.  Van Lierop would restore the lead for Victoria late in the 2nd period from what looked like a fairly benign shot from the point which somehow found the back of Liam McCloskey's net.  The goal would come after more fine passing from the Langford connection of Massy and Pickup, both of whom are putting up some serious points since the New Year. 

The always trusty Stirling would be called on late to help hold the 3-2 lead for his goalie, Mitchel Benson with a defensive stand facing an empty Prince George net with just seconds remaining in the contest.  Stirling would help fight the puck off the boards for his centreman, the aforementioned Barker who had just pulled off yet another of his Guy Carboneau like draws and fire home the insurance goal via the empty net. The game would finish 4-2.  Benson, who got the start would earn his 2nd victory in the win.  Benson was solid all night and was 2-0 on the weekend and now sits at 3-10 on the year.

#31 Benson has owned the Spruce Kings (2-0) in 2015/16

Don't look now but the Victoria Grizzlies are 5-0 in the calendar year of 2016 and are now the only team in the league who can boast that perfect record.  So while many fans were obviously disappointed with the cancellation of Saturday's game vs the Chilliwack Chiefs due to a broken bus in Boston Bar and a road closure, one very good thing might have come out of the experience.  With rookies Keyvan Mokhtari and Drayson Pears both down with illness on Friday night vs Prince George, their participation in the Chilliwack game was very much in doubt anyway.  So really, maybe not playing the Chiefs on Saturday wasn't such a bad thing after all, an unscheduled night off may have helped in the big picture.

The Grizzlies are certainly a different team in 2016 and it harkens back to some hopes and predictions which I made a few blogs ago about the prospects for this plucky team.  In the Mid-Year Report Card, I talked about the balanced scoring, the fantastic goal tending along with big but equally mobile and gifted defensemen.  I also talked about the Plumbers.  I discussed the fact that I felt that should they get even a modest amount of offensive support from The Plumbers that the bigger scoring lines would continue to perform well.  That along with the excellent goal tending would prove vital to future success.  I suggested that a combination of all those factors could make the Grizzlies a potential Cinderella in the run up to the playoffs. 

While there are many games left to play, the Grizzlies are very quietly starting to sneak up on their Island Division opponents, the Powell River Kings and the Cowichan Valley Capitals.  Surely both clubs must sense the Grizzlies approaching in the distance.  Just a month ago, there were very few who gave these Grizzlies much respect. Fewer gave them a chance of doing very much in the playoffs, if in fact they even made the playoffs.  But things rarely stay the same very long in the BCHL.  Now suddenly opposition coaches are perhaps thinking about mentioning the names of Grizzlies players in pregame speeches whom you might not have heard a few months ago, names like Virtanen, Peck, Barker and Visconti, The Plumbers.

Chapter 1 Complete: Grizzlies Earn A Victory

At long last the BCHL Bauer Showcase is behind the Grizzlies.  Also done with are the two disruptive components of the early Regular Season.  The first was the Victoria Shamrocks Mann Cup Playoff run which kept the Q Centre floor free of ice until late September.  Gone too is the NHL’s Kraft Hockeyville and all of its various trappings which even included Don Cherry and Coach's Corner.  And of course we should be grateful.  Both of these events were a great boon to the Westshore and even to the Grizzlies.  Heck, the Canucks left enough Gatorade in The Q Centre to fill Commonwealth Pool.  But gone most of all is a four game losing streak which wasn't doing anyone any favours.

 

Grizzlies held a lengthy lead in a hockey game for the first time since March

 

That losing streak ended vs Prince George with just over a minute left to play in Double Overtime on Sunday afternoon at Chilliwack’s Prospera Centre.  And it came by virtue of the player who may be the franchise’s most prolific overtime goal scorer of all time, #11 Kevin Massy.  KMass’s late Double OT goal lifted the Grizzlies to a 2-1 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings and closed the door on the first chapter of the new season, a chapter many would like to forget.

 

#4 - Jake Stevens, a Go-To D-Man for the Grizz 

But gone too is a statistic which was really starting to concern me.  Until Brayden Gelsinger’s First Period PP marker on Sunday, which put his team up 1-0, the Grizzlies had trailed for 355/360 minutes of hockey since 7 March, 2015.  Trailing for that long in that many games is rarely a recipe for success on any team.   But asking a room full of rookies to chase games night in and night out is frankly trying to go a bridge too far.  The Grizzlies just won’t be the prolific offensive powerhouse they were last year and that’s ok.  But that means that getting that first goal this season will be bigger than ever, at least that’s what it looks like after five games.  

 

Thus, in less than 24 hours, the Grizzlies will at long last enjoy their Regular Season Home Opener on Thursday night at The Q Centre.  It could not have come any sooner.  With Prince George winning their first game of the season on Saturday afternoon at the Bauer Showcase, the Grizzlies earned the dubious distinction of being the last BCHL team to register a win in 2015/16. 

 

While the Q Centre distractions and extended road trip are in the Grizzlies’ rear view mirror, not all the team’s issues are necessarily behind them at the moment.  The club has registered only 8 goals scored over the first five games of the season, while surrendering 15 against.  The Powerplay has looked fairly benign for the most part, trucking along at a modest 13.64 % to sit at 13^th in the league.  With that said, the Grizzlies do sport the BCHL’s best PK efficiency at 93.75%.  But best of all is the fact that the Grizzlies have only been shorthanded 16 times (lowest in BCHL) in 5 games and that stat suggests a team with discipline and poise.  That could prove crucial if it keeps up.

 

#11 - Defenceman Kevin Massy continues to be clutch in OT

 

But the worry for me is the scoring, it’s just not there, not yet anyway.  Yes, the team has been on the road for four weeks straight and yes, the Q Centre has been filled with lacrosse sticks, Kraft Dinner boxes and NHL fans during this period of time.  But the fact remains that the only Grizzlies players who have been able to contribute offensively with more than a single point this year are players who wear “A”s and “C”s on their uniforms.  That bodes well for the veteran leadership in the room, but it’s not sustainable over the long term.  Forget the Third and Fourth Lines, the Grizzlies have yet to demonstrate any Second Line scoring whatsoever.  The good news is that The Grizzlies are full of talented BCHL rookies who have loads of upside and promise.  It is also good news to report that the chances have been there and frankly, I can’t remember when I last witnessed this large a number of posts and crossbars hit by a Grizzlies team.  On Saturday night vs Chilliwack, Cole Pickup, Nick Guiney and Brayden Geslinger combined for 4 posts or crossbars.  The Grizzlies can and will score more goals, they just can’t wait much longer to make that happen. 

 

That said, help is on the way and the youngsters look ready to play a bigger role.  #15 Kevan Mokhtari (98’), with his breathtaking speed looks to be just millimetres away from scoring a hat trick on any given night and the same can be said of his line mate, #20 Tyler Welsh (97’).  Add to that mix, the impressive 98’ born D-Man in Drayson Pears who broke up no less than two, back to back, 2 on 1 breakaways on Sunday and you can sleep well knowing that help is right around the corner.

 

#31 Mitchell Benson on his way to a 26 saves on 27 shots performance vs Prince George

Meanwhile after five games, the club has been steeled by the fact that both of the new 18 year old goaltenders, Matt Galajda and Mitchell Benson have been better than good.  They have literally been lights out on certain occasions.  Benson for his part on Sunday made several huge stops in OT which bought his team the time they needed to figure out the Spruce Kings goalie, Liam McCloskey who was impressive in his own right.  The Defencemen have been strong in general and the new face on the roster, American Import #2 Chuck Bennis, has assumed a vital role on the blue line, especially with Brett Stirling out of the lineup for the foreseeable future with what is hopefully not a serious lower body injury.

 

The best news of all was what I saw from the many scouts at the Showcase.  Each appeared to be suffering from various different levels of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome while watching Grizzlies games. They certainly were busy scribbling and taking notes throughout the Grizzlies action from what I saw.  If you think that might just be anecdotal observations on the writer’s part, I can sure the reader that I heard personally from many of the scouts and BCHL officials at the Bauer Showcase, that “the 2015/16 Grizzlies are a very talented and young team with loads of potential”.  In short they were all impressed.

 

The Grizzlies salute the sizeable travelling "Grizzlies Nation" on Sunday

So it’s off to the Home Opener tomorrow night at The Q Centre, game time 7pm.  I hope to see you Thursday night.  Until then, I guess I’ll just enjoy this Orange Coloured Gatorade as I type away up here in the Broadcast Booth while I watch the Westshore Wolves play, there's literally cases of this stuff everywhere!  -CC