Interior Road Swing #1: C- Report Card

An Interior Road trip which featured, one win in three may be nothing to brag about but I almost want to Grade it a C-.  It’s not an excuse, but the old days of team travel are long over and that was an issue on Friday for the Grizzlies. Think about it.  The Grizzlies started their Friday at about 6:00am and they travelled for nearly 12 hours before their game time at 7pm that night.  In the old days, the team would have left on a Thursday with a road practice in somewhere like Hope, BC.  With a full night’s rest, the team would have arrived in Salmon Arm on Friday night and much more ready to take on the Silverbacks. 

 

But that was the old days.  In the old days, owners never thought twice about the costs associated with an extra day’s travel.  But in the old days an extra day’s travel budget wasn’t the $4,000/day like it is now.  In the old days that’s how you did things, heck clubs in those days were averaging 1,500+ fans.  But it’s no longer the old days now is it?  Today most teams suffer from lower attendances and they all suffer from much higher costs.  Teams simply can’t afford that extra day on the road.  Now teams have to do more with less.  And that’s what happened Friday night in Salmon Arm.  The Grizzlies faced a somewhat superior opponent at home and the visitors were forced into a 12 hour bus legs start.  Oh well, welcome to the fiscal realities of the BCHL in 2015.

 

 

But before I go on any further, let me take a quick moment and applaud the fans of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.  That Shaw Centre they have there is absolutely fantastic.  Its not just the building, it’s the home town feel and love of their team which I respect.  So I went out for a short walk between periods and what I saw almost blew me away.  It was a total Home Town Friday Night Party.  It felt like everybody in town was at that game.  There were only 1,100 fans in that little building but it felt like way more. Almost every single one of them was decked out in either a Silverbacks t-shirt, ball cap, or jersey.  There was even a huge lineup to get into the club’s team store “The Backs Shack”.

   

 

Those not dressed in Silverbacks gear all had a souvenir program or something Silverbacks in their hand.  Plus, as you may know, The Shaw Centre has this cool gimmick whereby they hang a Silverback Gorilla stuffy on a zip line and whenever the Silverbacks score, guess what happens?  The Gorilla goes for a ride along the zip line and the fans all go nuts.  It was all very impressive, so I wanted to take a moment and give some props to the Silverbacks franchise and their fans on what I would argue was the best hockey atmosphere I have encountered thus far in this season.  So well done to Salmon Arm.  And come on Victoria, you can do it too!

 

Now back to “The Good The Bad and The Ugly” of the weekend.  The good, the Grizzlies beat Vernon 2-0 on Saturday night and Matt Galajda earned his first career BCHL shut out, so well done to the whole team on road victory #1 of the season.  The bad, the Grizzlies Powerplay went 0/18 on the weekend and dropped to dead last in the BCHL at 10.26% in PP efficiency.  The ugly, with only 5 goals all weekend and with the Grizzlies firing 126 total shots, the team allowed opposing goalies to post a .960 save percentage and neither of the three opposition net minders were that good.

 

Now with all that bad news, here is something to lighten your spirits, the arrival of another talented forward into Grizzlies camp, this time former Grizzlie Dante Hahn.  Hahn, no longer in his #13 will now wear Eric Lindros's old #88, a true classic.  (full disclosure, I didn't even know that we had an #88 in the kit room)  Hahn arrived via futures from the Coquitlam Express on Thursday.  He got one practice in and then travelled with the team early Friday.  He was the Grizzlies best forward on the road trip in my opinion.  He played Centre with #22 Brayden Gelsinger on his left side and #19 Colby Livingstone on Hahn's right, all of which worked rather well. 

 

Dante Hahn in action vs the Bulldogs in 2013, wearing his old #13

Hahn had a goal and an assist on a weekend which featured only 5 Grizzlie markers. Furthermore he was +1 over the three games which included a 5-1 loss to Salmon Arm.  So overall I would say that the 20 year old provided an immediate and much needed impact on the Grizzlies roster.  But here is the problem:  Hahn fits into the 22 man roster in view of #21 Spencer Hunter being placed on the 30 Day Disabled List.  But with Hahn playing so well and being an established BCHL 20 year old, there is little chance that he is going anywhere soon.  That means that on 10 Nov, Coach Didmon will be in a tough spot.  He will have to make a hard choice by that date, being forced to move a player off the roster, once he loses that 30 Day DL card and returns his club to a 22 man roster.

 

So since most of you missed all the action and offence on the road trip, here is a quick re-cap.

 

On Friday night, in the 3^rd period vs SA, Livingstone, got on the end of a Dante Hahn pass after a Hahn recovered his own rebound. Settling it onto his stick, Livingstone fired off an easy shot into an open net beating Silverbacks goalie, Brandon Kelger to make it 4-1.  On Saturday, #18 Nick Guiney finished off a nice #20 Tyler Welsh rebound to beat goalie Andrew Shortridge under his extended right pad after it looked like Shortridge had made the initial save.  In the 3^rd period, after a series of slick passes from #26 Mitchell Barker and #12 PJ Conlon, picking up the puck was #14 Cole Pickup who split the D after Conlon's long lead pass and went in on a breakaway and scored on his own rebound.  On Sunday vs the West Kelowna Warriors #22 Brayden Gelsinger scored his 2nd of the year off a perfect Livingtone backhand pass during a harmless looking 2 on 3 rush.  The final goal of the weekend was Barker's Shorthanded goal off an innocuous long range wrister after crossing the blue line. Conlon would be robbed of an assist, even though he clearly won the draw to the escaping Barker. 

 

The Grizzlies play three games in a row starting Thursday night when they travel up to The Frank Crane to take on the Clippers, game time 7pm.  That will be followed at home with Powell River on Thursday and Friday with Cowichan Valley.   Let's hope for an A.  Talk to you Wednesday at The Frank. -CC

The Long Trip Home: A Recap of the Three-Game Interior Road Swing

     We have all experienced that strange feeling after a long trip. That sensation of not enjoying nearly as much the return journey as the outbound leg. There is just something a bit more special about any trip anywhere, whether by plane, train or automobile when its the first day. The car smells fresher, the clothes feel better, even the flight attendants seem nicer on the trip to London rather than the flight home. And no matter how much fun we had on the vacation, business junket, or Junior Hockey Road trip, that final leg home is always the least memorable. It just is. Well I didn't travel with the team this past weekend, so I can't say for certain, but my bet would be that the trip down the Coquihalla tonight for the Grizzlies will be an extremely quiet one as they try to make that last ferry to the island.

     Trust me, that is what a team bus sounds like after it has been outscored 18-7 in three straight road games, while the team collects 48 mins in penalties including 3 Game Misconducts and your leading scorer gets a two game suspension. Those bus rides are not very fun. They rarely feature team pranks with players being forced to sing Ariana Grande songs out loud at the front of the bus, in front of giggling fellow team mates and coaches. You know those fun acts of good natured personal humiliation in support of adding to the growing sense of high team morale, those ones? No, my guess is that the only Ariana Grande tunes on the bus were being played very quietly in a headset.

     It would have been so much better a trip home had the Grizzlies found a way to pull out a win or even a tie in Vernon today, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. 5-1 to the Vipers was how the final score read at the Kal Tire Place today before that aforementioned homeward journey began for the Grizzlies. Even the skate sharpening machine feels heavier than usual as you load it under the bus after a weekend like that.

     So what happened on a weekend of nine periods of hockey whereby the first period in Trail on Friday night ended with the visiting Grizzlies holding the home team to only two shots on net? If you asked me to assess how it was going at that point on Friday evening with the score at 0-0 in Trail and with the Grizzlies up 5-2 in the shot count, I would have told you that I thought the Grizzlies were on their way to having one heck of a great road trip. That's what I would have told you.

     But something funny happened on the way to a great road trip this past weekend and it happened right when everything was going just ducky too. That would be the moment that referee Ward Pateman put Cody Van Lierop in the box for a minor penalty for Holding after only 27 seconds of play in the 2nd period. The ensuing penalty kill for Victoria wasn't good enough but neither were the next twenty minutes of play, easily the worst period of hockey for the organization this campaign. It was a period of collapse for the Grizzlies, ending with a score of 8-2 for Trail and one which featured an Ayden MacDonald 5 minute major penalty and a Game Misconduct for a Blow To the Head.  Not what the coaches drew up in the game plan to be sure.

     The Trail game was effectively over at the end of the second period and while the contest included another inspiring Matt Kennedy shorthanded goal for the Grizzlies, it was little consolation for a team which was facing an opening night of a road trip with an ugly 10-4 loss on the books. The other long term issue though was Storm Wahlrab. He would not play on Saturday night vs West Kelowna or feature on Sunday vs Vernon due to an apparent injury picked up during a on ice hit in the Friday loss. So the plan was to get to bed, call it a night, shrug off the loss and look to West Kelowna on Saturday.

     A push back effort indeed was not only what the doctor ordered but what the Grizzlies delivered early on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place. The Grizzlies opened the scoring, just a minute and a half into the game with a beautiful Dane Gibson stickhandling no-move play in the crease to beat West Kelowna goalie Andy Desautels. The lead was soon extended to 2-0 by Jake Emilio. Fresh off two points in Trail on Friday night, the 20 year old defenseman scored after a long but accurate point shot on the Power Play, a shot which somehow found the back of the net. The Grizzlies were rolling after the first period, up 2-0 on the Warriors. And just like Friday night after one period, all looked well.

     But it would not last. The Grizzlies would once again get into penalty trouble in the second frame. By the end of the period in spite of 21 minutes of Grizzlies penalties and Game Misconducts to both Dane Gibson and Chris Harpur, Sean Cleary would turn away all 15 of West Kelowna's shots and the score would remain intact at 2-0 Grizzlies.

     However, the third period was better than the last time these two teams met on 26 Oct at the Q Centre. That was the day when West Kelowna stormed back to steal a win after being down 3-0 early. The 3rd period in West Kelowna on Saturday night would not see a home goal until almost 14 minutes into the final frame. At that moment Jordan Masters would strike after a scramble in front of Cleary. Masters who was victim to the previous Chris Harpur Checking From Behind penalty, had recovered from an apparent knee injury from the hit to grind out the 3rd period goal and put West Kelowna in a position to tie the hockey game.

     Sadly, with the net empty and only 20 seconds left on the clock, an away win in regulation was denied to Victoria as Jonathan Desbiens managed to beat Cleary with yet another mad scramble goal. So off to OT once again were the Grizzlies. In the first OT, after a hopeful P.J. Conlon rush was stopped, West Kelowna would end the contest when former WHL player and Team Captain Andrew Johnson repeated what he did to Victoria on that fateful 26 October home loss. He scored the game winning goal, this time in OT and for the second time in less than three weeks, he broke the hearts of the Grizzlies. But the performance as a whole was inspiring and Victoria could easily say that they deserved better, especially after the debacle in Trail the night before. In all honesty, even a heartbreaking OT loss, did not seem that bad, the Grizzlies played with heart.

     So off to Vernon on Sunday afternoon and a chance for the Grizzlies to face former players and Victoria natives, Mitch Meek and Brandon Egli, now dressed in the bright bumble bee yellow and blue 3rd Jerseys of the Vipers. Yuck! But remember, by then the Grizzlies were without the services of power forward Dane Gibson who had been handed down a BCHL 2 game suspension for his Blow To The Head penalty from the night before on Warriors forward Kylar Hope.

     Without the services of both Gibson and Wahlrab, the Grizzlies suddenly were facing a quick skating Vipers team without both its leading scorer and one of the team's primary Penalty Kill experts. And it didn't take long to notice the two big missing Victoria forwards. Not only did Vernon score first on a first period Power Play goal by TJ Dumonceaux, but earlier in the period two big hits on Grizzlies players Matt Kennedy and Jay Mackie went largely unchallenged and really set the tone for the rest of the game.

     Then in a scoreless second period, at the 14:40 mark, Colton McCarthy in a Vernon jersey for the very first time since being picked up off the Prince Albert Raiders, showed no signs of rust despite not playing in a competitive hockey game for over a month. McCarthy would make it 2-0 Vipers on a rebound off Michael Stiliadis from a Mitch Meek point shot. The goal would stand up as the only scoring in the period and the game still hung in the balance with the visitors only down 2-0 after two periods.

     But any question of a Grizzlies comeback was soon dashed early in the 3rd period as the Vipers would score just minutes in by way of a Trevor Fidler tally with a totally defensive Stiliadis off his feet in the crease. That would make it 3-0 and effectively finish off the game. But Vernon wanted more and they very soon added another, this time by Luke Shiplo at the 4:10 mark. After all five Grizzlies skaters found themselves at one point on the left side of Stiliadis's left face off dot, each chasing down Liam Finlay and Mitch Meek, Shiplo suddenly found both the puck and loads of room. He moved in from Stiliadis's undefended right side to pull off a toe drag move which launched Jake Emilio's stick into the crease and the ensuing goal put the Vipers up 4-0. Then just seconds after the faceoff, recent acquisition and former Penticton Vee, Finlay, would score as the "3rd man in" on an easy 2 on 1 after a Grizzlies giveaway in the Vipers end. The rout was on again.

     The Grizzlies would at least deny Vipers goalie Jarrod Schamerhorn his second shutout in as many games, with a tap-in back door goal by Brett Gruber. The goal would be Gruber's team leading 10th goal of the year after a nice bit of passing in the offensive end by PJ Conlon, Zach Dixon and Meirs Moore. But it was a case of too little too late and while the goal would make the score 5-1, that would be how it would eventually end. Incidentally, the Grizzlies went 0 for 6 on the PP on the night, which dropped the team out of 1st place in PP percentage and all the way down to 5th in the BCHL on the man advantage.

     So now you know how the weekend went, not good obviously but what trends and what lessons can the Grizzlies learn from this sour Interior swing? Three Game Misconducts in as many games and a two game suspension to anyone, let alone your top point getter is simply unacceptable. But what was more worrisome was that aside from a single Zach Dixon assist on that final Brett Gruber goal on Sunday, all the offence this weekend came from only 7 Grizzlies players. Each of those 7 players enjoyed multiple points over the three game stint, so that might be a positive and it is of course. But just remember that one of those players was Dane Gibson who had two goals and an assist, which is very good but he only played in five periods of hockey due to his Saturday ejection and follow-on suspension.

     So what does all this mean?  Well Homer Simpson once famously remarked: "You know Flanders, you can use statistics to prove any point you want, heck 3 out of 5 Americans know that", but the fact remains that no less than 12 Grizzlies skaters failed figure in any of the weekend's scoring. More to the point, none of those players were able to contribute offensively themselves and that must improve. And that is my point. 7 goals in 3 games averages out to only 2.3 goals/game. And yes, while it is a small sample size and all occurring during an Interior Division road swing, that kind of offense, just won't get the job done.

     So that sounds pretty bad, what's the good news coach? 

     The good news is that the road trip revealed the fact that this Grizzlies team has a short enough memory to quickly let a 10-4 loss go. They did that well and were able to get on with playing hard against a statistically superior opponent the very next night. That is good news and leaves me with lots of hope. The fact is that this team is vastly better than what they demonstrated this past weekend. But the lapses of self discipline must stop immediately. The Grizzlies simply cannot afford to lose points leader, Dane Gibson for any length of time. In only one and a half games this weekend, he figured in 43% of the team's offense. And guess what, he still has one game to sit for his suspension and you'll never guess who we play next?

     Which reminds me, I kind of glossed over a pretty major point. The road trip we just finished, well it isn't really over yet. Don't forget we play the powerhouse Nanaimo Clippers up at the Frank Crane on Wednesday night. And that's a Clippers team who just posted a score of 10-2 today on the strength of no less than 6 PP goals against an "Honourable Mentioned" Chilliwack Chiefs team in this past week's CJHL National Rankings.

     So one more bus ride on this road swing and a crucial Island Division matchup to boot. What the heck, Wednesday is the 19th of November and its also this sports writer's birthday. I do get one wish for my birthday don't I? So maybe after they shake off this weekend (remember they are good at that) they can beat the mighty Clippers Nation and I can enjoy a good singing of Happy Birthday here at home from my kids. And speaking of singing, maybe after the win, the Grizzlies can demand that Dane Gibson serenade the whole bus on the ride home to Victoria with some embarrassing rendition of an Ariana Grande song. I hear its good for team morale. -CC
 
 

    

Showing Up: A Preview of the Grizzlies Upcoming Interior Road Swing

Woody Allen once famously said that 80% of success is just showing up. Meaning with most things in life, well over half the battle is usually won if you simply show up on time and in the right place. After that, everything else just seems to sort itself out. The Grizzlies could have benefitted from those words of wisdom this past Saturday night before they emerged from the team's Dressing Room almost five minutes late, receiving an ensuing Bench Minor for Delay of Game and going down 1-0 early as a result. Oh well it was Parent’s Weekend after all and my guess is that there may have been one too many “Good luck out there tonight sons” in pre-game speeches but in the end the Grizzlies won 4-2 on the night.  No harm no foul.    

Funny enough though, I found myself thinking again on Tuesday about the famous New York comedian’s musings, at least so far as it pertains to the Grizzlies, when I stood as I do every November 11th, in my Canadian Navy No.1A dress uniform at the Langford Cenotaph. There right beside me, appearing in groups of ones and twos, stood each and every Grizzly player. Each were turned out smartly and on time for that hour long and usually cold ceremony, which we as Canadians have grown accustomed to every November. I had Meirs Moore, Jay Mackie and Chris Harpur near my immediate vicinity. I also noticed that there was nobody taking attendance, no coaches or training staff.  Likely that detail was left up to the Team Captain, Shawn McBride to manage and properly so. So there they all stood, each one cold but ever respectful of the occasion, even the "unnamed rookie player" who showed up in a shirt and tie and nearly froze to death. Ah the folly of youth. And they all asked good questions, especially those who were likely new to this Canadian tradition. Woody Allen would have been pleased. I certainly was impressed. 

And that got me thinking about success, meaning the team’s success over this coming weekend.  The Grizzlies departed the Q Centre Thursday to make their way to Trail for Friday night’s first game against the Smoke Eaters and follow that up with a visit to Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna on Saturday night to face the mighty Warriors. Then, thanks to the crazy schedule they head east again for a Sunday Matinee game vs the Vernon Vipers to round out the weekend's action. Three big games in three nights vs the dreaded Interior Division. Aside from the short trip to Prince George in January, it will mark the Grizzlies last major trip to the interior of the province this regular season.

So I thought, let's spend a quick minute or two here and go over the match-ups one by one:

Trail – Friday 7pm – Cominco Arena

Next to the hapless Surrey Eagles, the Smoke Eaters are coming off the BCHL’s longest current losing streak at five games coming into the contest. But the Smokies played hard at home on Tuesday night in a 2-1 loss vs the tough Merritt Centennials and with a large number of returning players from last year, the team features 8 players already committed to NCAA schools.  Third year forward, Jake Lucchini leads the Smokies in points this year with 23 points and 4 PP goals. He is supported by rookie 20 year old, Charlie Zuccarini and his 11 goals and 21 points along with Bryan Basilico’s 18 points in 18 games. The Smoke Eaters move the puck well and from what I saw of their game on Tuesday night, I expect a tight checking game with net minder Adam Todd and his 3.48 GAA.

 

Prediction: 4-3 Grizzlies

 

West Kelowna Warriors - Saturday 7pm - Royal LePage Place

 

Don't look now, but suddenly and in spite of one of the biggest trades of the season, (the acquisition on 3 Nov of Brayden Gelsinger from the Capitals), the Warriors have lost 2 of their last 3 games.  They will be ready for Victoria Saturday night for sure. But the Grizzlies won't forget the Warriors storming back from that 3-0, first period deficit to outscore the Grizzlies on home ice back on Sunday 26 Oct. That heartbreaking loss left a mark and I suspect  the Grizzlies will want major pay-back.  They will check much tighter the likes of Micheal Buonincontri, Liam Blackburn and Jonathan Desbiens, but even with what I sense will be a somewhat lower score this time, I feel this one will end in a tight Warriors 2OT win.

 

Prediction: 5-4 Warriors (2OT)

 

Vernon Vipers - Sunday 2pm - Kal Tire Place

 

This will be the game I am most interested in seeing this weekend, in part because we get to see Mitch Meek and Brandon Egli face their former team. But also because it is the end of a road trip to the interior and I want to see if we can close games out a little better than we did a month ago when we lost late in OT to Merritt. With a modest Vipers two game winning streak coming into this weekend's action, no matter which Vipers goalie gets the call, the Grizzlies will be in tough. The Grizzlies will be tired after four days on the bus and I worry this will be too much for them and the huge crowds the Vipers usually draw at The Kal. But I am going to go for a Grizzlies win in this one, with the kids digging deep on the road setting up for a fun and relaxing post game bus ride to Tswassen Ferry Terminals and on home to Victoria late Sunday night.

 

Prediction: 3-2 Grizzlies

 

So I am going for 5 points out of a possible 6 on the weekend and while that may seem a bit ambitious, especially vs Interior Division foes, I think the team is now primed for a nice big tough road trip. After the positive week they had last week with that win up in Alberni followed by a single but equally impressive OT point vs the powerhouse Vees, the week was complimented by that huge 4 goal comeback vs Powell River on Saturday. This well rested Grizzlies team is pulling on the leech just bit at the moment I feel. While almost all teams have hit the 20 game Quarter Pole on the season, the Grizzlies at 17 games played, won't be there until the end of the Vernon game. So as strange as the BCHL schedule is once again this year, my bet is that the team needs to go on the road now and build on many of the positives from the many team building events they have enjoyed in recent weeks. 

 

Finally, I read CFAX 1070's Steve Duffy's Blog from a few days ago about failing attendance numbers this year at the Q Centre. I like Steve Duffy, but what he said scared the hell out of me. He is as puzzled as any of us about, (let's face fact folks), the really obvious meager crowds we are seeing this season at home games. I get the fact that the high flying Triplets are now gone, I get the fact that there have been a large number of recent changes in ownership and management, but this team plays with one of the most dramatic styles of hockey I have seen in years. So I am calling on all West Shore fans, heck all Victoria fans to get out from behind your 70" TVs, to get away from your Canucks games and come down to the Q Centre next Friday night to welcome the boys back to our barn as we face the Nanaimo Clippers. After all, Woody Allen's famous words don't just apply to the fine young men in those Grizzlies uniforms, they apply to all of us.  If we want to enjoy that coveted 80% of success, we all need to just show up.