The Saddest Win I Ever Saw

The weekend could not have gone any worse, so I won't take a long time describing it in painful detail for you Grizzlies fans out there.  Most of you reading this saw it first hand.  But for the fans of the other teams who read this blog and probably enjoy a sense of schadenfreude over such a tough ending, I will do my best to provide you with the facts as I saw it from the Broadcast booth.

You know the weekend started with such promise, with the Grizzlies hosting Powell River on Friday night, a team the Grizzlies had played very well against all year entering play with a 5-2 record.  Well it only took 14 seconds for the Grizzlies to surrender the first goal and to find out that Powell River wasn't going to roll over and play possum.  And it kind of went downhill from there. 

With nothing to play for, some fans felt Powell River might not ice a very strong team.  As for the Grizzlies and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs however, all three of the Kings' weekend matchups would have tremendous impact in how the Island Division Playoffs were concerned.  The last thing the Grizzlies wanted to do on Friday night was to hand Head Coach Kent Lewis and the Powell River Kings the keys to the Grizzlies' Playoff Bus.  Soon both teams skated off the Q Centre Ice with the Kings enjoying a relatively easy 6-2 win over a February struggling Grizzlies squad.  Sadly those playoff bus keys were placed squarely in the hands of Kent Lewis and his Kings, arguably the most consistent Island Division team over the second half of the regular season.

The Kings consistency was the one bit of hope held by Grizzlies fans leaving the Q Centre on Friday night, that and Powell River's goal tending and skill level.  I even had a few fans say to me:  "Well look Clay, Powell River are so much better than the Bulldogs, there is just no way that they are going to lose both games in Alberni on Saturday and Sunday, back to back.  No way, it won't happen!  They are just too good.  They are 4-1-1 vs the Bulldogs, there's just no way they will lose two games to Alberni Clay."  I had about five or six fans remind me of those facts on Friday.  I too was more than hopeful.

And as everyone reading this knows, in less than 48 hours the Bulldogs would in fact win two back to back games over the powerhouse Kings.  To many with whom I spoke, it was as though it was written in the stars.  I actually went up to Alberni Valley on Saturday night with the night off just to watch it myself. I wanted to see if any of the conspiracy theories which I had heard about over the course of the past couple of weeks from a large number of folks could have any validity.

Frankly, I just didn't believe any of that nonsense. For the record, I have never prescribed to conspiracy theories.  I don't believe in Bigfoot or UFOs.  I once met Buzz Aldrin and I can tell you that I do believe firmly that 12 Americans walked on the moon between July 1969 and Dec of 1972.  I also believe that Oswald acted alone.

You only have to talk to Buzz Aldrin for about 5 seconds to know that on 20 July, 1969 he was there. 

Call me old fashioned, call me what you want, but I just don't buy into to any of that malarkey.

What I saw in Alberni that night was a Powell River team who looked like they were mailing it in.  That's sure what it looked like.  I mean the shots were close, but the Kings were outplayed in every aspect of the game.  At one point in the first period, Kings' Backup goalie, Stephan Wornig (.914 season save percentage) had given up 4 goals on 12 shots before the refs called one back due to an Alberni crease violation.  On Sunday Wornig faced 61 Bulldog shots which is obscene, but he stopped 59 of them on that day.  Now does any of that constitute a second gunman at the Grassy Knoll?  Probably not.

Grassy Knoll?  Likely Not.  Kings' goalie Wornig was well off on Saturday, but solid on Sunday

I did see Kent Lewis standing at the top of the East Side Stand throughout the game talking to a few of his scouts.  In my view, letting his ACs run the show on the bench late in the season and playing a few APs is not unusual.  He never once ventured into the Kings Dressing Room from what I saw.  To that I would say by all means, it's the last couple of games of the season, no problem.   It's the perfect opportunity to let your young rookie coaches, get some experience in their first BCHL game.  What better way to help an AC learn how to coach a BCHL bench than to give that coach the keys to the team for a night?  I have little issue with any of that.  The game would end 6-2 and the Bulldogs found themselves back in a playoff spot with the 2 points on the win.

So those keys to the Grizzlies' Playoff Bus which I was talking about after the Friday loss to Powell River were most definitely not only out of the hands of the Grizzlies, they were now firmly in the hands of the AV Bulldogs.  Suddenly a single point on Sunday for Alberni would be all that would be required to secure a post season berth for the Bulldogs and complete the miraculous comeback from being down 8 points to the Grizzlies with less than three weeks to play.



I can confirm that there were no Bigfoot sightings on that long disappointing drive home from Alberni on Saturday night

And as we all know, that's what happened.  About halfway through the Grizzlies first period in Chilliwack we would find out that the Bulldogs game had gone to OT.  They would end up winning in OT vs a Powell River team who were outshot 61-25 in the contest, but by then the die was cast.  The stats didn't matter.  The automatic point for making it to OT was all that mattered and as they say, that's all she wrote.  The Bulldogs were in the playoffs and the Grizzlies were out.  No sour grapes, the Bulldogs earned 8 points in their final 5 games and the Grizzlies over the same number could only muster 4 points.  Them's the breaks.

But the players didn't seem to take much notice of the results in Alberni and quickly dispatched the Chilliwack Chiefs by a score of 8-5, enjoying their highest goal output of the entire year.  Cole Pickup had 4 goals and Captain PJ Conlon added 4 assists himself on his last game in Junior Hockey.  It was an inspiring performance by every Grizzlie player and while it was indeed the saddest win I ever saw, it was one of the proudest moments I ever had calling any game I can recall.

But what I appreciated all weekend was watching the Grizzlies support each other.  I enjoyed watching the vets take a moment in Chilliwack and just soak it all in.  Yes it was emotional and yes, for the 20 year olds especially, it was a season that ended several weeks too early.  But in the end I kept thinking about the big picture and about the 7 returning veterans and the 1-10 start, both of which haunted the Grizzlies all season long.  For me it really was just a bridge too far.

I am so proud of this fine group of young men and the effort they put in to come back from the worst start in franchise history and how close they came to making life very hard on the Nanaimo Clippers in Round 1, but alas, it just wasn't meant to be.  So I will talk to you all in a few weeks to properly dissect the season and share my thoughts about this brave, tight and plucky team. It was a team remember who in spite of everything, raised average attendances at the Q Centre from 881 per game last year to 1,161 in just one season.  And they managed all that with a .448 winning percentage, so they must have been doing something right.

This team may have lost the final battle, but they ended up winning the war.  They may not go down in history as the best team the Grizzlies/Salsa ever iced and no they didn't win The Fred Page Cup.  But they may just end up going down as the team that saved the franchise.  Well done Grizzlies, well done. -CC

A Plan Is Only a Plan, Grizzlies Hit a Wall

Years ago when I was overseas in the Zhari-Panjway I heard this thing I never forgot.  At the end of a briefing concerning an upcoming offensive, the senior officer commanding the whole thing looked at us and said: "Now let's remember here folks, we all know that a plan is only a plan until first contact with the enemy, OK?  Remember that the enemy also gets a vote in how this whole thing rolls out, so let's stay focussed on the task at hand."

The enemy sure has had a vote in how things have been going for Victoria Grizzlies over the last while.  In the span of just a single week, the Grizzlies have suddenly and rather dramatically lost 4 straight games.  But it gets worse.

The Grizzlies have lost half of the club's No. 1 defensive pairing in Brett Stirling to what looks to be a fairly serious injury.  They have suffered serious injuries to upstart rookie forward, Tyler Welsh and veteran Centre Mitchell Barker as well.  For two games due to suspension, they lost the services of 6'3'' D-Man, Kevin Massy.  Meanwhile Captain PJ Conlon, who now looks a bit like Count Choclua, is sporting a bubble mask due to a Clippers high stick on Sunday which resulted only in a two minute minor.  And while he won't get any of his teeth back, he is forced to play the game in constant pain and with limited vision. There are other players with a raft of issues.  At least one is presently having severe difficulty in shooting the puck.  

In the 1970s we used to give kids pure sugar for breakfast.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the team is suddenly allowing the most SOG for its two rookie 18 year old goalies to deal with each night. Frankly, that's not going so well either if you catch my drift.

And that sums up for me what we seem to have forgotten during the club's 7-0 start to 2016.  The enemy also get a say in how this whole thing rolls out.

Just 24 hours after the biggest win of the season in Nanaimo on Friday, the Grizzlies were simply not ready to host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and were quickly defeated 6-3 in front of a speechless crowd at the Q Centre.  Shots were 41-19 for AV.  With no Kevin Massy it wasn't even close and the Grizzlies were man handled by the Bulldogs.  Then, late in the 3rd, Brett Stirling went down in the south end of the arena and you were thinking, "Oh God not Sterling, not now."

Then on Sunday afternoon, without the services of Barker and Welsh, it got worse when Nanaimo rolled back into Colwood and promptly reminded Victoria fans why Sheldon Rempal is the best 20 year old in the BCHL. Suddenly the Grizzlies were on a two game slide since their improbable January run.  The game ended 7-2 and the Grizzlies were outshot 44-30 by the Clips.

Jared Virtanen now wearing #19 jersey in Salsa retro jerseys in the 7-5 loss to the Vees on Thursday

But the moment which said it all was Thursday night vs mighty The Penticton Vees on Salsa Jersey night.  After assuming the risk of travelling on the same day as a game, the Penticton Vees rolled into the Q Centre and proceeded to surrender the puck for two periods straight to seemingly every Grizzlies player who was fit enough to play in the contest.  Five straight unanswered 1st and 2nd period goals to Brayden Gelsinger (2), Braeden Cross, Cole Pickup and Alex Peck saw the Grizzlies enjoying a commanding 5-1 lead over the Penticton Vees.  At that point you were suddenly thinking that the Grizzlies were about to defeat the top Junior A team in North America.  It was the loudest I have heard the Q Centre since Game 7 in the 2014 Playoffs vs Alberni Valley.

I suspect that Fred Harbinson, (Vess Head Coach) may have been suddenly remembering indeed that the enemy has a vote in how this whole thing was to roll out.  Well it didn't take him long to remember that philosophy and by pulling his goalie late in the second period on the PP, the Vees struck and it was suddenly 5-2 over a very wobbly Grizzlies team.  You could have heard a pin drop.

In the 3rd period the Grizzlies were outshot 23-4 in the most lopsided period of hockey the team has suffered in several years.  A fan said to me after the game that it was like watching a train wreck, you didn't want to look but you could not help but stare in amazement at two hockey teams going in totally different directions.  On the one hand you had the injury depleted Grizzlies up 5-1 and trying valiantly to hang on to a large lead.  On the other bench though you had two future NHL First Round Draft Picks, Tyson Jost and Dante Fabbro who were frothing at the mouth every time Victoria made a mistake.  The game would end 7-5 for the Vees.  The Grizzlies after being outshot this time 47-33 were less than 24 hours away from facing Alberni Valley with equal froth spewing from the mouths of the Bulldogs at the prospect of playing such a wounded team in the Grizzlies.

And last night, you could almost feel it after the first goal with that Hudson Bay Train locomotive whistle blowing all the way to Bamfield on a Garrett Halls marker just 4 minutes into the contest.  It just wasn't going to be the Grizzlies night.  Outshot 35-24 this time, the Grizzlies really could not mount much of a fight and the Bulldogs skated away with a 4-2 win.  More importantly, they now sit just two points short of the 4th and final playoff spot in the Island Division.  With the tie break formula favoring the Bulldogs, a win tonight vs Penticton would vault the Bulldogs back into a tie for 4th spot overall. They would then need only another singular win in their remaining final 8 to take the final spot in the playoffs should both teams finish even in wins.  And this has all transpired in less that 7 full days time.  It is quite unbelievable. 

At the risk of crying over spilled milk, had the Grizzlies beaten the Bulldogs last Saturday, they would have extended their lead to 10 points on AV.  It would have put the proverbial nail in coffin for the Bulldogs' playoff chances.  Alberni's season would have been effectively over.  Now the Grizzlies will scoreboard watch and pray that the NHL Draft replete Vees can hand the Bulldogs a loss tonight in their final regular season visit to Vancouver Island.  Hopefully the Bulldogs enemy will get a big vote in this contest.

So now the Grizzlies will rest up, heal, likely watch Superbowl 50 and go to bed early on Sunday night.  Because when they board the 6am bus on Monday morning to head off to "The Rock" to face the nearly impossible to beat at home Powell River Kings, they will want to have a say in what is certainly a must win for this suddenly shaken club from Victoria.  I will look forward to talking to you at 2pm Monday from The Hap Parker in a game which could very well tell the tale of the tape for the Grizzlies playoff plans for 2016. -CC







     

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.

The Value of Momentum

It was a wet and cold night going over the Malahat on Tuesday night, but that didn't seem to worry the Grizzlies who were playing in the rubber match in a season long series vs the Cowichan Valley Capitals which was tied 3-3 at the time.  In less than three hours, the Grizzlies bus would be on its return trip, this time flush with two points on the road after a commanding 7-1 win over the Capitals who frankly looked shell shocked after suffering such a significant loss a home.

The game surprised everyone, but not the first period.  In spite to a pair of penalties against the Grizzlies, shots at the end of the Period #1 were 15-5 in favour of the visitors.  The Grizzlies had plenty of chances but the key moment in the entire game for me was a curious decision by Coach Craig Didmon to use up his timeout with only 51 seconds left in the period.  After an icing call which left his charges gassed, Didmon recognised the strategic significance of what it would mean to suddenly give up a goal so late in the period after dominating it so well.



The ISC, sight of the 7-1 Grizzlies victory on Tuesday night

The timeout worked and moments later the Grizzlies and Caps retired to their respective rooms tied at 0-0 but with Victoria still enjoying the full balance of momentum.  In my humble view, it was the turning point of the contest.

Just a minute and a half into the second period, that momentum would prove vital as the Grizzlies would score off a beautiful half spin move by #17 Joey Visconti.  The Ontario native found himself parked at the right side of Cowichan goalie Storm Phaneuf's crease after a long pass from Illinois D-Man, Jake Setvens who spotted Visconti heading through the slot.  Visconti, waited out Phaneuf and fired the puck over the former QMJHL goal tender and the Grizz were in front for the first time.

Late in the period the Captain, PJ Conlon, who was +5 on the night, would score what looked like a PP goal but with time expiring on the penalty to the Caps, Brayden Gelsinger would make a beautiful cross ice pass from the slot and feed Conlon who was beavertailing for the pass at the far right of Phaneuf.  Conlon dispatched a picture perfect one-timer and suddenly it was 2-0 Grizzlies on the road versus a team who won all three of the first meetings between the two clubs.

The PG Coliseum at -11 without wind chill will host the Grizzlies Friday night

But the bigger story of the game to that point however was Matt Galajda, once again turning back shot after shot and when necessary halting play when he felt pressure.  This goalie is starting to now garner the attention of the whole league.  His GAA numbers are now in the top 3 and his win-loss record in the last two months is as good as any goalie in the league.

But it was the third period which saw what is really interesting about this year's Victoria Grizzlies.  This team is truly a team of redemption.  After suffering through the worst start in franchise history, the Grizzlies now seem to have shaken off the past and are scoring at will on most nights.  They are also defending with a fierce determination.

Saturday night will see the Grizz return to Chilliwack, site of the team's frist win of the 2015/16 season

With two more quick goals, Conlon would earn a natural hat trick early into the third period which would be his first as a Grizzly but more importantly would represent the team's second hat trick in three games after witnessing Gelsinger's 3 goal performance on Friday night versus the Kings.  The period would continue to go all Grizzlies with Pickup scoring a goal along with his three assists but only after Gelsinger (my pick for BCHL Player of the Week BTW) would score his 6th goal in three games.  The game would end with a Nick Guiney unassisted goal on a breakaway created by the Langford native who timed a wayward interception in the neutral zone perfectly.

Sunday, the Grizzlies will close out the 4 game road swing on the Olympic size surface in Surrey

The Grizzlies now get set for three big games on the road in the longest road trip of the year in Prince George, Chilliwack and Surrey.  In PG, the Grizzlies will see A/HC Tyler Matheson behind the bench for the very first time as the Acting HC with Coach Didmon back in Victoria with school teaching duties.  We will now see if this surging Grizzlies club, the only BCHL team without a defeat in the 2016 calendar year can keep this theme of redemption and its incredible momentum on the rise as the month of January reaches the midway mark.  Talk to you from the Prince George Coliseum on Friday night everybody. -CC