Wearing #13: Grizzlies Main Camp Preview

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why we all play this game: for each other

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

See you along the glass. -CC

Grizzlies 2015/16 Year End Wrap Up

With the West Kelowna Warriors now officially crowned as the 2015/16 Fred Page Cup Champions, the time has now come to close the books officially on the past season of the Victoria Grizzlies.  Let's first properly congratulate the Warriors on a BCHL Championship with a special shout out to former Grizzlies forward, Garrett Forster who was traded to the Warriors last June for Brayden Gelsinger.  Now here is a really interesting but probably completely useless trivia question:  Which former original member of The Hands Line has won a Fred Page Cup?  It's not Brett Gruber or Matt Kennedy.  Nope, the answer is of course that third member of The Hands Line, Garrett Forster.  So congrats to Forsy who also just signed a DIV III scholarship with the St. Norbert College Green Knights of DePere Wisconsin. 

Living Room Trivia: "Bubble Hockey #9 Forsy" now has a  Fred Page Cup

And let's not forget about that other connection to Victoria in former Salsa Head Coach Rylan Ferster who of course lead the Warriors to the BCHL Championship this season.  So let's all wish Coach Fertser and the Warriors good luck as they play in the 2016 RBC Cup which at the time of publishing of this blog already had the Warriors 1-0 in the tournament.

A very happy WK Warriors squad after qualifying for the 2016 RBC Cup

Now in this episode we will attempt to dissect the latest season for the Grizzlies and of course I will attempt to discern what I can about the upcoming campaign.  But before I do that, I want to take a final moment and finish off talking about that plucky Jr. B team which made national headlines over the last month, a team which I talked at length about when we last spoke, the 100 Mile House Wranglers of the KIJHL.  Not only did they upset the host Victoria Cougars in the Cyclone Taylor Cup, but as most of you know by now, they went on to win the Keystone Cup the following week.  And they did it in typical thrilling fashion in the Championship Game, a 3-2 OT win over the much favoured Quakers.  What a season of Junior Hockey in BC for 2015/16.  First, West Kelowna wins the Fred Page Cup.  Next, in Jr. B the Wranglers, against all odds, won both the BC Championship and then the Western Canadian Championships.  What a year indeed.

I guess what I am really saying is that if the Grizzlies were ever going to pick a year to fail to qualify for the post season, well maybe last year was as good as any.  What I mean by that is that after the wild post season we just witnessed, not to mention the incredible year in Jr. B, few I doubt will recall that small detail about the Grizzlies non-playoff berth any time soon.  After all of the dust settled, it suddenly seemed to me in both Jr. A and in Jr. B that there were certain clubs with almost preordained destinies.  With that said, let's take a moment and pull out the box scores and review this past 2015/16 season.  For one final time let's look back at what was one of the most unusual and tumultuous seasons of Grizzlies Hockey.

I have tried to remind fans of the Grizzlies to step back and look at the bigger picture when they contemplate the past season and the somewhat disappointing end to the year.  What people often forget is that at this time last year, that the franchise was embroiled in a fairly heated lease negotiation with West Shore Parks and Recreation (WSPR) concerning their tenure at the Q Centre.  There were reports in the media about the Grizzlies possibly "turning out the lights" on the franchise. There was speculation all over the place about the club relocating to Campbell River.  Well as we all know, none of that ever happened.  WSPR came to an agreement on the lease and the Grizzlies now have 4 more years left on the current lease which will keep BCHL hockey in Colwood for the foreseeable future.  Then later in the year, there were some changes in the club's ownership model which would help simplify how the club would be run moving forward.  Best of all was attendance.  In spite of a losing season and a failure to qualify for the playoffs, the Grizzlies averaged over, 1,100 fans/game.   The "So What Factor" in all of this is that the Grizzlies organization averted what could have been certain disaster last season and attendance improved.  Now for the first time in many years they enjoy a much more stable future and steady ownership model.

New Q Centre 5 year lease signed in June 2015, potentially saved the Grizzlies franchise

So let's now talk specifics on Grizzlies hockey.  Losing 10 out of your first 11 games for any club would normally spell disaster.  Despite that, the Grizzlies nearly pulled off the impossible by going a huge winning streak in January.  At one point they had won 8 in a row.  Then on 29 January, the Grizzlies would defeat the Nanaimo Clippers at The Frank Crane for their only win of the season vs the eventual Island Division Champions.  Nobody knew it at the time, but that win would prove to be the Grizzlies' high water mark on the season.  After that however, the team would somehow manage to lose nearly every remaining game in their schedule and miss out on a playoff birth by the smallest of fractions to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.  It would be the first time the Grizzlies had failed to make the playoffs since 2011-2012.

From my perspective, it spite of some great leadership from players like PJ Conlon and Cody Van Lierop, it was a season which never seemed to gel for the Grizzlies.  Now every year you will have a player or two who just doesn't seem to work out. Those players usually move on to other opportunities, sometimes at lower leagues.  But last season it seemed that there was just an unending line of Grizzlies players who played a considerable amount of games, but unfortunately were just not able to remain at the BCHL level.  Here is just a small sample of the names of some of the highly touted players who only played a fraction of the season and were soon to move on.  Sage Fleming, Cal Walker, J.D. Falconer, Luc Soares, Corey Iapalucci and Colby Livingstone were all highly touted new arrivals last year.  Yet each player for one reason or another just were not able to finish the year with the club and ended up moving on.  That's six players who helped to make up the spine of the team but ultimately had to be let go.  In my humble opinion it was one of the key factors which really hurt the club last year.  Frankly, there just were not enough Dane Gibsons, Matt Kennedys or Meirs Moores in last year's Main Camp and it just became too much of a hill to climb for the seven returning veterans to manage.  In retrospect, it was probably just too big an ask of the veterans to try and carry the team throughout the season, a season which witnessed winning records in only the months of November and January.

Then there was the goal scoring.  While it certainly improved, there was a point in the first few months of the year when it looked like the Grizzlies might set new record lows in terms of goal scoring.  Thankfully, Coach Didmon and the staff managed to right the ship in that regard and certainly by the end of the year, the Grizzlies were scoring at a very healthy rate.  But that slow start left a mark on the season unfortunately.  In the end, the multitude of one goal losses spelled disaster; there just wasn't enough room to manoeuvre in terms of points and the club fell short of the playoffs.

With that said, the goals against were well down in 2015/16 and this represented a major improvement from the previous year.  The 210 goals against which the Grizzlies shipped in the run and gun high octane 2014/15 season, were well down this past year.  The team which was anchored by rookie 18 year old goaltenders Matt Galajda and Mitchell Benson were hard to score upon on most nights and the defencemen were all uniformly solid last year.  That figure of 210 goals surrendered from the season before was down to 178 goals against in 15/16, a significant improvement indeed.

When it came to Special Teams this year was really a bit of "A Tale of Two Cities" for the Grizzlies.  Here is what I mean by that.  When it came to the Power Play, the Grizzlies were #1 in that stat in 2014/15.  Fast forward one year and the club sat pretty much rock bottom all season long.  Even with the addition of Dante Hahn mid-way through the year, there was only a modest improvement in the PP percentage.  In my opinion, that was almost entirely a function of the fact that the Grizzlies returned not a single player from their league leading PP from the year before.  The opposite was true of the PK which lead the league for a considerable portion of this past season and ended at a respectable fifth in the league at 83.0%.  It was a PK system with almost all of the 2014-15 PK specialists returning this year, players like Mitchell Barker, Kevin Massy along with Conlon and Van Lierop,   The efficient PK combined with the anemic PP might leave some fans in a state of bewilderment, but for me, I found none of this surprising for the reasons mentioned thus far.  This was a club with tons of experience on the PK and it showed all year long.  But that was not the case when it came to the man advantage; the Grizzlies barely scrapped into second last position by year end at a measly 15.0% PP efficiency.

In summation, I would grade the Forwards with a C+.  It was a case of doing more with less in the early going but the in the end, all the forwards improved and that's what is important.  The defence I would give an A- in view of the major improvement in terms of goals allowed on the season.  Goaltending gets a nice A- in my opinion based largely on the fact that both goalies were BCHL rookies and at 18 years old held up remarkably well while under huge pressure, especially early on with all those one goal losses.  Special Teams gets a C- and that's largely a function of a PP which regrettably just wasn't up to it this past season.  Coaching earns a B+ for me. The big surprise for me was the quality of all of the rookie coaches who really got their first real taste of coaching both behind the bench and on the ice; Coach Didmon will have much more experience to help him in the next campaign.  General Manager and Ownership also gets a B+ on the year.  I liked the restructuring of the ownership model and the infusion of some new blood while selling off some smaller pieces of the pie.  But saving the franchise with the new Q Centre deal was the biggest takeaway on the season as far as I am concerned.  It was a season which might not have been had that deal turned pear shaped last summer.

And last but not least is the future.  Multi-talented forward Nathan Looysen (ex-Victoria Cougars)  who lead the VIJHL in points this past season will be back in his rightful place as a BCHL player next year.  I look to him to lead the offense as a 20 year old.  To me it was a shame he didn't feature in a Grizzlies shirt more than just twice last season.  Another ex-Cougar gifted D-Man, Nico Somerville along with VIJHL Rookie of the Year, Cam Thompson (ex-Peninsula Panthers) will be big pieces for the future and I look to both players to make an impact.  Much like Drayson Pears did last season with a full season of VIJHL hockey behind them, these players could all take big steps in 2016/17. 

A glimpse of 2016/17: from left, Cam Thompson, Nathan Looysen and Nico Somerville. Photograph By BRUCE STOTESBURY, Times Colonist 

As far as returning players go, the Shock and Awe Liners of Keyvan Mokhtari and Tyler Welsh should both have huge sophomore years in Jr. A.  The strong goaltending as we discussed should be stellar and if Coach Didmon can return both Galajda and Benson, the Grizzlies may just possess the best goaltending pair in the Island Division.  But for me the brightest outlook rests with this stalwart defensive corps.  Just listen to the names of these returning D-Men:  Jake Stevens, Cody Van Lierop, Brett Stirling and Drayson Pears.  Those four veteran blue liners, three being 20 year olds, may very well end up representing the very best top two D pairings in the entire league.  With an ultra-strong back end anchoring a more veteran bench in 16/17, this might finally be the year where Coach Didmon can ice a team built entirely by him. This team could have a serious chance of going deep in the playoffs next spring in my humble view.  Until then, enjoy your summer and we will talk to you next as Main Camp approaches in August. -CC

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

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

Why We Play This Game

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

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

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

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

Grizzlies commemoration helmets

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

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

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


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

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

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



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

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

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

Classy Kings Honouring Reid post game

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

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

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

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

A Sherpa's Guide To Plan B Travel: Grizzlies v Kings

After a well earned single point on Tuesday night vs the Nanaimo Clippers, the Grizzlies braced themselves for visit #2 to The Sunshine Coast.  The area's local rink, The Hap Parker Arena, known to some readers of this blog as "The Fortress in The Forrest", is a building which witnessed but a single Grizzly victory in all of last season.

When it was discovered that Tropical Storm Poindexter was barrelling its way headlong into Vancouver Island early Saturday morning, the Grizzlies had to abandon their standard plan to take the Comox Ferry to Powell River and instead reverted to the dreaded Plan B route.  But the ad hoc trek would prove so long, arduous and fraught with bad weather, (not to mention the passing by of several road side accidents) that Sherpa guides will likely be assigned to the team bus should another Plan B be called upon in future visits to The Hap.


Grizzlies players Pickup, Mokhtari, Visconti and Krabben carefully negotiating their way to Powell River early Saturday

With the single ferry and normally five hour trip to Powell River suddenly turned into a three ferry, 13 hour Bataan Death March, the Grizzlies would arrive to face their Island Division rivals eager and ready to play at 7:15pm.  After a spirited first ten minutes which saw the Grizzlies give the Kings everything they had, the dreaded bus legs would soon appear and the Kings took the lead on a Liam Lawson goal near the end of the first frame.

Artist's rendition of Grizzlies arriving at Hap Parker just in time to play Kings on Saturday night 

Periods 2 and 3 would seem no better except for a single Kevin Massy marker as the big D Man who spent the game playing a bit of forward, would find the net and spoil Kings goalie Jeff Smith's shutout bid.  Several near scraps almost occurred during the contest between Kings' forward Nick Halagian and The Undertaker, Chuck Bennis, but incredibly no actual altercations took place.  The game would end 5-1 and the Grizzlies would vow to play another day.

And that moment would come at 2pm on Sunday afternoon, but not after a fully fuelled and replenished Grizzlies squad had an opportunity to sleep and eat a few solid meals.  The food and rest were good, but with Captain PJ Conlon back in the lineup after missing Saturday's game due to SAT requirements, the club would show up with its full complement of forwards, all ready to play.

It would not take the Grizzlies long either to establish their dominance, outshooting the Kings in a scoreless first period 10-5.  Funny enough the period was likely best highlighted by a miraculous Matt Galadja kick save on Liam Lawson. The NHL 94' inspired Kirk MacLean like save was so unbelievable that Powell River fans stood and cheered for the apparent Lawson goal, only to see that somehow the puck had remained outside of the Grizzlies' net.  

In the second period after some fine Tyler Welsh and Chuck Bennis passing, Jake Stevens, on his 19th birthday would dispatch a wrist shot to put the Grizzlies up 1-0.  With more scoring from Dante Hahn on a quick 2 on 1, the Grizzlies were soon up 2-0.  Austin Kamer would reply on a wrap around for Powell River soon enough but the Grizzlies would answer right back late in the 2nd period with Brayden Geslinger's, team leading 11th goal of the season. 

Kirk MacLean in 1989 looking much like #35 Matt Galadja for the Grizzlies on 6 Dec, 2015

The teams would skate hard in the 3rd period when tempers would finally explode between The Undertaker and the Kings' Halagian.  Bennis would land the majority of the connections in spite of the linesmen's interference which caused an early stop at which point Halagian would attempt to re-ignite the battle to no avail.  A long range, empty net goal by Conlon would wrap up the contest 4-1 and see the Grizzlies now 2-1 on the season at The Hap.  The tired but satisfied Grizzlies were exited to soon be boarding a single ferry back to Vancouver Island.

But unfortunately for the Grizzlies, Mother Nature had other plans.  With an approaching winter storm seen only in biblical references, the Grizzlies bus would find itself sitting at the Powell River Terminal, the team painfully hoping against hope that the near 100km/hr winds were not too much for the venerable BC Ferries Corporation to manage.  With a few hours to kill and a nearby bowling alley only yards away, the Grizzlies would bowl away the time.  Meanwhile outside, terrifying meteorological events seemingly inspired by world-wide CO2 levels which might surprise even Al Gore, pounded away at the tiny town famous for its beautiful sunshine and shiny glossy white paper.

Storm #2 on 6 Dec, slams Powell River (Grizzlies bus visible in right corner of storm's eye)

Facing a second Plan B in as many days, the Grizzlies would be stuck for the night in Powell River, trapped in a hotel which was nearly ripped from its foundations but safe in the knowledge that three new facts have emerged about this plucky team from Victoria:

a) The Grizzlies goaltending is as good as any in the league and can win on any night;
b) Avoiding Khumbu Ice Fall travel, the Grizzlies can now win at will at The Hap Parker; and
c) The legend of The Undertaker continues to grow throughout the BCHL.

Photo of Chuck Bennis, The Undertaker, "keeping it real" for the rookies during the "Post Win Team Bonding Session" at a local hotel in PR 

Failing any need for another dreaded Plan B, the Grizzlies will entertain the Alberni Valley Bulldogs tomorrow night at The Q Centre.  Sherpas not required.  Talk to you Tuesday night everybody. -CC







Grizzlies Mid-Term Report Card: B

It is hard to believe that we are already at the proverbial halfway mark on this 2015/16 BCHL Regular Season, so it is time once again to provide you with your Grizzlies Mid Term Report Card.  So let’s get straight to it:

 

The Big Picture: A

 

Six months ago, the Grizzlies were mired in a quagmire of negotiations with WSPR and spent a summer coming very close to turning the lights out on the entire franchise.  Let’s just not forget that not so insignificant point.  That said, with only 6 returning veterans who played in all 58 regular season games last year, you had to know that this year was going to be a rebuild year.  Remember too that among those returning 6 veterans was a 98’ born forward who saw only limited ice time last year.  So to sum up, I will throw down the challenge to anyone reading this blog: try and find me any team in the BCHL this year who returned this few number of veteran players?  Now try finding a team which falls into that category and which currently enjoys the comfort of sitting in a playoff spot?  In short the Grizzlies current league position and their prospects moving forward is no less that astounding in my view.

 

Grizzlies Broadcast Banner (not allowed in some arenas)

Yes, the Grizzlies after 30 games are 11-16-0-3, yes they have scored only 80 goals and yes they own the absolute rock bottom Powerplay in the league.  But try and look at this first term by breaking it down into thirds.  In the first ten games of the season, with Cody Van Lierop and Brett Stirling largely out of the lineup, the Grizzlies were 1-9.  Then Coach Didmon started tweaking his lineup with a few moves and the team went 5-5 over the next ten games.  With the short bout of injuries mostly cleared up, the Grizzlies went 5-5 in the last ten games.  What that tells me is that the club is on the rise.  Now let’s break down each position.

 

Goaltending: A-

 

You know what I notice most about the Grizzlies goaltending this year?  Gone are those 20’-25’ snap shots or slap shots which somehow found the back of the Grizzlies' net.  How many times last season did the Grizzlies lead a game late or go into OT and end up giving up a goal like that?  Plenty.  In fact the playoffs ended on a OT goal from 25'.  With Matt Galajda and Mitchell Benson, you just aren’t seeing that this year.  These guys are flat out the best pair of 18 year old rookie goalies the league has seen in years.  Forget about the Grizzlies organization, the BCHL rarely sees a pair of young rookie goalies on the same team with this amount of upside.  They each own identical save percentages at just over .900 and rarely do either of them let in that soft goal.  Frankly, I think goaltending has been nothing short of excellent so far this eason and therefore they earn a grade of A-.

#31 Benson has been an excellent backup all season (photo: K. Robinson)

 

Defencemen: A-

 

If I had to pick the best D-man on the club in the first half of the year I would say rock steady Cody Van Lierop. But very quickly I would offer Brett Stirling an Honourable Mention as he has become healthy and really found his legs in the last month.  That pair has only to look as far as Kevin Massy's 14 points as the offensive leader on the blue line to see more solid play at that position. And those players are immediately backed up by the D pairing I am starting to call ``Team America World-D``.  The Wisconsin and Illinois born D-pairing of Chuck Bennis and Jake Stevens have been great.  Every night these two punishing defensemen seem to live up to their Hollywood film marionettes personages with their hard hitting and unapologetic style of play.  And much like their marionette doppelgangers, you can almost hear them on the bench after a particularly destructive on ice hit, offer such remarks as:  `Don`t worry everyone, all the terrorists are dead.`` 

"Team America World D" - #4 Jake Stevens (right) and #2 Chuck Bennis (left)

Bennis`s recent maelstrom of flying hay-makers in a 13 Nov fight vs Cowichan Valley`s Ayden MacDonald comes to mind.  The aghast and mouth wide open look of those in attendance in the Q Centre that night after the YouTube busting fight lead one unnamed opposition sports writer to pen: “On what day did God create Chuck Bennis and couldn`t he have rested on that day too?”  The Undertaker has certainly left his mark at the halfway point of the season and with Drayson Pears living up to his billing as perhaps the best rookie #6 D-man in the BCHL, the Grizzlies D Corps easily gets an A-.   And if it were not for a few of the D men earning dubious plus/minus ratings over the first half of the year, the grade may have been higher.

 

Forwards: C-

 

The Top Line, aka the CCM Line of Cole Pickup, PJ Conlon and Mitch Barker are at worst a plus/minus "Even" each night and that says a lot when you consider the opposition they face each game.  Can they score more?  Sure, but none of these players has ever been asked to be anything more than medium level scorers in this league, so asking them to suddenly score 30+ goals is in my view asking too much.  The Smoothie Line of Brayden Gelsinger, Dante Hahn and whomever joins that pair with the departure of Colby Livingstone has been uniformly excellent; this line can flat out score.  But the most interesting line on the club in my view is The Shock and Awe Line of Tyler Welsh, Keyvan Mokhtari and Nick Guiney.  These guys just seem to get better every night and if they continue to grow at this rate, they may become by Playoff time the most dangerous 3rd Line in the league. 

 

Shock and Awe Line's #18 Nick Guiney (photo: K. Robinson)

Then we have a group of forwards who I like to refer to as “The Plumbers” and I don’t mean any reference to Richard Nixon’s incompetent 1972 Watergate Burglars.  The Plumbers are the type of workers who show up with a metal lunch box and a bunch of tools and get down and do all the dirty work, the work nobody else likes to do.  The Plumbers take the necessary penalties, they make the big hit, block a huge shot and they are lead by the young Vermont native, #61, Alex Peck.  Peck’s jersey number alone describes why he is the undisputed leader of The Plumbers as he makes those tiny but oh so significant plays almost every night.  Peck along with other Plumber alumni Joey Visconti, Luc Soares and Spencer Hunter are vital and so long as they do not fall victim to the dreaded giveaway, they will continue to impress.

 

Nixon's Watergate "Plumbers" in 1972 (not to be confused with the 2015 Grizzlies version of Peck, Soares, Hunter and Visconti)

What has been disappointing however is the lack of finish among the twelve forwards on most nights.  In spite of outshooting their opposition nearly every night, there are just far too many shots which help make opposing goaltenders look better than they really are.  That has to change.  No one is suggesting that this Grizzlies club must score 200 goals on the season.  In fact I will be satisfied if they can hit the 160 mark, but the finish must improve.  More quality shots along with more driving hard into the slot to pay the price is what is needed for these young talented Jr.A forwards to get to the next level in terms of goal scoring.

 

The X-Factor moving forward may be two fold.  First there is the newest Grizzlie, #28 Jared Virtanen.  The recently acquired 200 lb Centre and former AJHL player may hold the key to adding some size and scoring punch to one of the top two lines.  But the final piece may be the 10 January Trade Deadline and seeing if there is any appetite in adding another 20 year old to the roster which currently features only five.  Watch this space, but if a 95’ born player is added, my guess is that Coach Didmon will want to add a forward. 

 

Special Teams: C-

 

It is easy to look at a Powerplay which was #1 last year and view its breathtaking drop to its current 17th Place in the league and ask “what the heck is going on?”  I see other fans at The Q Centre also scratching their heads and pointing to the excellent PK currently 3^rd in the BCHL at 86.11% efficiency.  For me, I am neither surprised nor concerned about either statistic nor the reasons for the numbers. 

 

The struggling Powerplay, even with its league leading 9 SHGA is most easily understood.  Not only did the Grizzlies return only 6 full year vets from last year, but out of that group, not one of them saw even a modest amount of time on either the 1st or 2nd PP units.  Why would anyone imagine that you could suddenly take a group of players who have seen almost no BCHL PP time and suddenly transform them into the top PP unit in the league?  That said, the PP is improving and slowly climbing out of the basement.  Since 28 Nov the PP has gone 6 for 34 and is clipping along at a modest 17.64% during that span.  This latest run, while not fantastic is far better than it has been over the first twenty games.  A key reason for that is that Coach Didmon has moved Dante Hahn to the Left Point on the First Unit.  Hahn moves the puck so well and his presence there has taken a lot of the pressure off Gelsinger who at times was being asked to do too much by himself.  These changes have also given Team America World D an opportunity to watch the PP rather than feeling obliged to directly contribute every night.  In other words, the change in roles are proving effective and hopefully come playoff time the team’s PP can sit closer to mid table.

 

Improving crowds at the Q Centre are now often +1000 (photo: K. Robinson)

The PK as mentioned is doing well at 3rd in the BCHL and for reasons quite opposite of what is plaguing the PP.  Specifically almost every player who was a key piece to the last year’s PK has returned to the Grizzlies this season.  That’s right, almost every player from that group of returnees saw major time on the PK last year.  Conlon, Barker, Van Lierop and Massy to name a few were a primary PK unit last year and they are clearly being called upon again this season.  When you add the speedy Welsh and Mokhatari to the mix, along with Team America World D, it suddenly means that Coach Didmon has at his disposal two capable PK units equal to the best the league has to offer.

 

For that reason, in spite of having the league’s worst PK, Special Team gets a mid-term grade of C- and nothing worse.

 

General Manager & Coaching: A-

 

Notwithstanding the aforementioned issues with returning veterans, Coach Didmon also lost his Assistant Coach from last year, Scott Hawthorne.  Hawthorne wasn’t only an exceptionally capable A/Coach, he also was one of the best Video Coaches in the league and could easily have been promoted to a HC job at some point in the next three or four seasons.  Coach Didmon now possesses no less than four brand new, part-time Assistant Coaches to train this season, each with full time jobs of their own.  To describe the Grade 6 teacher and Victoria Grizzlies Head Coach as being "busier than a four peckered billy-goat" would be an understatement to say the least.  But Coach Didmon is not the type of coach who makes excuses and that type of integrity lends itself well to a BCHL Dressing Room.

 

In the booth, Scott Didmon likely wondering: "Does this guy have an off switch?"

In terms of GM duties, Didmon made several small moves and three fairly significant transactions thus far.  With the exception of Livingstone, I agree with all of the moves.  In September, the Grizzlies acquired former USHL veteran, Chuck Bennis.  The Undertaker’s already detailed value to the organization was felt almost immediately. 

Then in October, Didmon made an even bigger splash, acquiring former Grizzlie Dante Hahn from the Coquitlam Express.  The Victoria native returned to his old club with a bit of a “new lease on life” philosophy in many respects. Remember that Hahn, through no fault of his own found his offensive talents under-utilized under the Bill Bestwick/Fitzgerald Triplets era.  Now as a veteran and true “Offensive Go-To Guy”, it is the twenty year old Hahn who now hears his name barked out by the coach during Powerplay or offensive situations far more than when he last played in Victoria. 

But perhaps the biggest splash is yet to be fully realized and that of course was the previously described addition of Jared Virtanen.  While I was not initially pleased to see the solid Plus/Minus +5 of Colby Livingstone depart the club to the OCN Blizzard, the bigger picture of the Dressing Room always wins the day and hopefully there will be immediate effect with a new 200 lb Centreman in Didmon’s lineup.

 

The one critique I would make of the coaching is the fact that there are so many talented coaches such as Tyler Matheson and Greg Smith who regrettably are rarely available for on ice practices due to primary workplace responsibilities.  Perhaps a plan moving forward to leverage their talents in keeping with their respective employer’s needs could be somehow managed?  Time will tell.

 

In summation, for me the Grizzlies as an organization are a B at the halfway mark on the season.  I like the way the club is trending, way up.  Talk to you Tuesday night from The Q Centre - CC