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

Survive and Advance: Grizzlies v Kings Games 1 & 2

A couple of years ago the surviving members of the 1983 North Carolina State Wolfpack were getting together to have a 30 year reunion from their National Championship season and it occurred to ESPN Films to make one of those 30 for 30 documentaries about the iconic event.

If I was ever asked, I would often say that the only thing which could ever instantly bring me to tears was the final 15 minutes of To Kill A Mockingbird.  Well in 2013 when ESPN 30 for 30 released Survive and Advance, I had to add that film to my short list.  It's still the finest documentary I have ever seen.

The Wolfpack's Head Coach in 1983 was a funny and outgoing young Italian American from Queens New York named Jim Valvano.  Jimmy V was a lot of great things, but what he was most known for was his ability to trust his convictions and lead his team in the only way he knew how, by being himself.

Literally against all odds, the 83' Wolfpack won College Basketball's most coveted prize, the NCAA Men's National Championship.  The 30 for 30 Episode which commemorates that moment talks about the highs and the lows of that entire 82'/83' season, but most of all it captures Coach V's constant pre-game message during that Final Four:  "Survive and Advance".

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart ISN

Just survive the next game and then advance to the next one.  That was his message.  Just find a way to win and we will advance, somehow, some way and we will worry about the next game when it comes.  That 83' Wolfpack team saw him invent tactics in the spur of the moment.  He called timeouts and issued instructions for his players to commit intentional fouls.  It was done only to get the ball back and put pressure on the opposition.  It had never been done before.  Yes Coach Jimmy V invented the intentional foul.

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart ISN

The Grizzlies in many ways are right in the middle of their very own "Final Four".  Well actually the BCHL somehow managed to invent a "Final Three" but I think you get what I am getting at.

After a miserable 7-2 opening game loss in front of a sparse crowd at the Q Centre on Tuesday night, the Grizzlies looked like a truly emotionally beaten team.  Nothing went right.  Pucks bounced off sticks, passes went wide or were too long and ended up in an icing call, shots were deflected into the Q Centre netting by the dozens all night.  With only 6 games left in the series and the Grizzlies needing to win 4 out of the 6, the task was looking tall going into the Hap Parker Arena for three straight games this weekend.

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart ISN

And that's when I started thinking about Jim Valvano.  After a one year fight with cancer, Coach Valvano would die in 1993 shortly after the 10th year anniversary of the 83' Championship.  On Tuesday night I started to think about what he would if he were alive to the Grizzlies during this treacherous road to the Fred Page Cup.  I started to think long and hard about Survive and Advance.

Down early in Game 2 on a Powell River Johnny Evans goal, the Grizzlies looked like they were on their way to another long night.  But before the period was out, Ayden Macdonald, fresh off a two game suspension, would tie the game at 1-1 on a beautifully crafted play by Kevin Massy.  Best of all, the tie game held firm as both goalies turned away shot after shot.

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart ISN

With less than 3 minutes to play last night and with the score all knotted up at 1-1, I literally saw first-hand the principles of Survive and Advance.  Michael Stiliadis faced Brent Lashuk literally 5 feet in front of his crease, alone with the puck. One shot, a save, a second shot up higher, another save, a Grizzlies defenseman to the rescue, a sudden clearance and the danger had passed.  Or so it seemed.  Only moments later another wide open blistering shot, this time from the left D man and another huge stop by Stiliadis.  Survive and Advance.

With overtime looming the Grizzlies went to their Dressing Room with a 32-25 shot advantage.  No matter what happened in OT, the players would be able to look in the mirror with the full knowledge that they could do it, they could compete and play with the Kings.  The chances on net, not only the shots were far more in favour of the Grizzlies.

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart ISN

The Overtime literally played out almost in slow motion. Three minutes in, facing the Kings top line of Keats, Lashuk and Lukosevicius and under serious pressure in the Grizzlies end, Cole Pickup would tip a pass to the point and through the legs of Tony DeVito.  The play would see Pickup stretched at arms length and sprawled on the ice in a full extension to knock the puck free.  Using every inch of his 6'1'' frame, the Langford native would get just enough of the puck to send it down the right side of the ice and down towards the Grizzlies bench.

Seizing the moment, PJ Conlon who had been stymied numerous times in both games would sprint down the ice at full stride and beat the Kings defenseman Colton Sandberg to the puck.  After battling to retain possession, Conlon would pass the puck back to the point to Pickup who had re-joined the play.  It was at that moment that Chris Harpur would power his way into the offensive zone and yelling for the puck, Pickup would oblige the Niagara On The Lake born defenseman with a smooth saucer pass.  Taking his time, Harpur would quickly fire off a trademark left handed wrist shot high and over the left shoulder and glove of Kings goaltender Brett Magnus.  The puck found the top right corner of the net.  It was the biggest goal of not only Harpur's career but the biggest for the hockey club all season.

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart ISN

The Q Centre erupted and the series was tied 1-1.  Survive and Advance.

With Games 3, 4 and 5 all set for this weekend, the Grizzlies will travel to the Hap Parker in an attempt to accomplish something which they have not done all series and that of course is lead.  Heck the Grizzlies have yet to actually lead in an actual game.  Yes, the Grizzlies have not yet won a game this year at The Hap, but that's OK, they seem to have a new mentality going and it is serving them well.

Survive and Advance.  Jimmy V would be proud. -CC