These Are Not The October Grizzlies: Two More Big Wins

I wrote in a blog back in October 2014 about my theory of what the Victoria Grizzlies would look like in the month of February.  There were signs back in the Fall that this club possessed a lot of raw talent and potential. After leading by a sizable margin early in an October game, the Grizzlies lost a heart-breaker vs the West Kelowna Warriors on a Sunday afternoon.  I wrote at the time, that the game revealed to me a lot about the Grizzlies’ character and self-belief.  I felt that by the time of the playoffs, they would be more self-assured as a hockey club and that they would trust themselves to close out games much better.

 

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart - ISN

Well, don’t look now, but it’s almost March and the Grizzlies have just won 4 games in a row and are 7-2-0-1 over their last ten games.  Those games included a comeback (4-3 OT win) vs Alberni Valley last Wednesday and then a major triumph over the Powell River Kings.  Remember, they have managed to do all of this without Matt Kennedy, Garret Forster and Thomas Gobeil.  The Grizzlies of February 2015 are a very different team.

 

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart - ISN

If you were writing this up as a script on how to arrive at the Playoffs in top form, this is how you would do it.  I pointed out last week why I believe this team is the “#1 Most Dangerous Team” heading into the 2014/15 BCHL Playoffs.  The Grizzlies are that prototypical team you just don’t want to meet in the playoffs.  I was speaking to several unnamed opposition team officials over the last few weeks and several pointed out to me how much they hoped that the Grizzlies would end up playing the Clippers in the First Round.  They believe that probably no team in the Island Division is more capable of a First Round upset of the Clippers than the Victoria Grizzlies.  But now we all know that the Grizzlies will not face the Clippers in the First Round.

 

So where then does that leave the Grizzlies with one week left to go before the playoffs?

 

First of all let’s look at the bad news.  Matt Kennedy is still out of the lineup after only two weeks post surgery.  The good news is the fact that he will have a third straight week to convalesce prior to the playoffs.  The next bit of bad news is Garrett Forster being out of the lineup with another bothersome upper body injury.  But unlike Kennedy, his return is likely for Game 1 of Round #1.  Next is the issue are the minor injuries at this time of year. The Grizzlies no doubt have a few players who could certainly use a break.  The good news there is that quality AP players are available if needed.

 

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart - ISN

Now the good news: The Grizzlies just won a game in OT and while that should not be cause for a victory parade down Goldstream Avenue, it is a big psychological plus for the club.  Goaltending which has been good all year is actually becoming excellent down the stretch and Michael Stiliadis in the last several games has been impressive.  What is most remarkable for me is the team's goals against average in the 3^rd period over the last 4 games, a grand total of 4 goals, thus averaging out to a 1.00 GOA over the last four 3^rd periods.  Stiliadis and the defensive corps have been great at locking down the defensive end as of late. Saturday night vs Powell River was a prime example.

 

That brings me to the defensive core of the team.  You may have noticed a bit of swagger in the team around a small but equally tight group of defensemen, who have recently given themselves the moniker of “D Corps”.  D Corps and more specifically the play of D Corps has been impressive all year but now this group of players has begun to identify themselves as something of a key piece of the team’s overall identity.  D Corps is confident, loose and less inclusive than a group of Grade 9 girls in the school cafeteria.  In short, these 6-7 players really have each other’s back and it shows.

 

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart - ISN

Next there is the recent play of the supporting cast.  Coach Didmon recently called upon his 3^rd and 4^th line players to step up their play in view of the loss of the aforementioned players.  Ayden MacDonald has scored 3 goals in the last four games.  Cole Pickup has scored a pair himself in that span of games.  Add to that is the play of defensemen Zach Dixon who has amassed no less than 2 goals and 3 assists.  There is the support play of D-man Jake Emilio who has himself been on a tear over the last few weeks, with a clutch goal vs Powell River on Saturday and overall stalwart defensive play.  Meanwhile, Captain Shawn McBride has been a “Steady Eddy” type of leader throughout.

 

Next is the Penalty Kill.  Not only has it been excellent all year, but it was able to withstand a sustained period of 5 on 4 and then a 6 on 4 Kings Powerplay over the final half of the 3^rd period during Saturday’s incredible 3-2.  This was accomplished while key PK specialists like P.J. Conlon and Zach Dixon were serving the very penalties in question.  That final portion of the game demonstrated team resilience and depth, not to mention guts.

 

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart - ISN

Then there is the play of the “Hands Line Modified”.  Dane Gibson at 84 points is flirting with a 90 point season this year.  With 3 games left to play, Gibson has already earned the distinction of being the highest scoring Grizzlies player since Tyler Bozak and his 128 points in the 06-07 Season.  Gibson at +19 along with Brett Gruber at +18, have lead the team in +/- since 1 Dec, 2014.  Linemates Jay Mackie, Matt Kennedy and Garrett Forster have all contributed to playing on this line throughout the year and each have been key.

 

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart - ISN

Finally there is the ultimate Wild Card and possible “Ace In-The Hole”, Thomas Gobeil.  Not since Steve Sigaty of the Fred Page Cup Champion 2000/2001 Victoria Salsa has there been a more impactful January Trade Deadline acquisition as Gobeil.  With no less than 10 goals in 14 games as a Grizzlie player, Gobeil has amassed this amazing goal scoring record in spite of two games in which he was ejected early.  To put it plainly, Gobeil is a lights out offensive dynamo.  He has a pro shot and hands which has seen him make countless BCHL defensemen look foolish at times.  His play has been remarkable and he could be the difference in a close series.

 

Photo Credit - Christian Stewart - ISN

In conclusion, I really like the look of this February Grizzlies team.  Now I wonder what it might look like at the end of March.

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.

Grizzlies vs Warriors 26 Oct 2014: Can You Handle The Truth?

     Well I for one had some mixed feelings after calling the game yesterday afternoon at the Q Centre.  Sure, you could look at the 6-5 loss after that huge three goal outburst by the Grizzlies in the first five minutes of the game, and say: "Well that's a shame, they had it won."  But that's not how I felt as I took off my headset and loosened my tie after the final horn.  And its not how I felt as I drove off the JDF property and up the steep approaches surrounding the rink at about 4:30pm yesterday.  No, not me.  I kept thinking about what that game would have been like if it were played four months from now.  What would that game have been like if it were February 2015?

     Call me a "Homer", call me a "Glass Half Full Kinda Guy", call me all those things if you must, but just remember, I have been watching and studying this league for almost 25 years.  And if there is one thing I have noticed over my time enjoying the BCHL it is this simple fact: teams change over the course of the season.  Some grow strong while others experience atrophy and fail, but few stay the same.  So how much and at what rate do they usually morph?  Well that's always up to the players and coaches to decide.  And while they might not feel like it on Monday morning, this Grizzlies team has a choice.  They can let that loss on Sunday afternoon drive them nuts and allow it to own them the rest of the season.  Or they can look at the film, get back on the ice and figure out what they could have done differently.  That would have been my message in the dressing room anyway.  Well, most of my message.

     You see I saw a 3-0 first period lead yesterday, where it was pretty clear to me that "The October 2014 Grizzlies" were not yet entirely capable of holding that lead down for 55 more minutes.  You could almost conjure up an image of West Kelowna Warriors Head Coach Rylan Ferster, standing in a US Marine Corps dress uniform, just like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men.  You could almost see him looking up at that scoreboard with a minute to go in Period #1, starring menacingly over at the Grizzlies bench.  At that moment you could almost imagine him yelling at the Grizzlies home bench with that iconic line from that great 1992 Rob Reiner film:  "YOU WANT THE TRUTH?  YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

     And that is the sad truth about yesterday's loss in front of a somewhat sparse Sunday matinee crowd of only 634 fans at the Q Centre.  Sorry folks, but the team at this stage of the season, is not quite prepared to handle that kind of truth.  The truth that you can indeed score a quick 3 goals on an offensively gifted team like West Kelowna, a team with obvious bus legs and still win the hockey game.  You can, if you set your collective minds to the task, actually hold them off for another 55 minutes.  That is the truth.  But Rylan Ferster knew it, heck he has coached this Victoria team before, way back in the old 05/06 Salsa days with Tyler Bozak and Jordie Benn.  He knew that a young team like Victoria, only 13 games into a fresh new season, missing major pieces of their offence from last year, were maybe, just maybe, not entirely ready to hold off the likes of Liam Blackburn and the high flying forwards of West Kelowna.  Yes Blackburn, with his BCHL league leading 26 points coming into the contest.

     So there he stood, Coach Rylan Ferster and just like Jack Nicholson, he tried to intimidate and get in the head of his opponent.  And with only :49 seconds left to go in the First Period, he did just that.  Ferster unleashed his Captain and former WHL player, Andrew Johnson on the Grizzlies.  At that moment, the former Swift Current Bronco scored his second goal in only five games since joining his team and donning the "C" for the Warriors.  Sure it was only a single goal.  But on the Grizzlies bench it must have felt like "The Shot Heard Around The World."  That is of course, if you have trouble handling the truth.

     You could just sort of feel it at that moment.  The nearly silent building actually got a little quieter for a second or two, with maybe the odd gasp in the crowd.  3-1 Grizzlies at the first intermission. 

     So I won't labour you with the rest, we all know how it ended.  Yes it was a tough and painful loss for the Grizzlies.  But what will not be remembered so well was how hard the Grizzlies fought at times.  Most will forget how Cole Pickup scored two beautiful 2nd period goals, not only restoring the Grizzlies' two goal leads on both occasions, but rekindling the young forward's confidence in a season which has been a bit of a slow start for #14, let's be honest.  Remember we are talking about the truth you know?  And I don't care what any other sports writer wants to say about that last minute and a half in the game, with the Grizzlies net empty and the crowd on its feet.  Well I was on my feet anyway.

     Here is the truth:  Meirs Moore, Brett Gruber, Garrett Forster, Dane Gibson and that whole batch of players swarming around the Warriors net put on one heck of a performance as they almost pulled of a miraculous tying goal on no less than five or six separate occasions in those dying seconds.  So my hat is off to all you Grizzlies. You showed the heart of a lion, right till the end.

     And there ends the lesson.  The Grizzlies do have and will have in the months ahead all the skill, compete level, energy and willpower to hold off teams like the Warriors, whether they are off to a quick three goal lead, or trailing.  The Grizzlies have what it takes.  The Grizzlies can indeed "handle the truth."  And come next February, when those sorts of games turn into victories, maybe you'll remember that rambling article you read one day in October 2014 about........ wait what was that again?  Rylan Ferster was an actor in A Few Good Men?

     Oh and by the way:  you want to know how that movie ends?  Colonel Jessup, (Jack Nicholson's character) ends up admitting that he ordered the Code Red.  He loses his cool in court and perjures himself and then goes to jail.  And why?  All because a smart young lawyer, played by Tom Cruise stands his ground by trusting himself, trusting his skill and remaining confident in his abilities as an attorney ultimately proving to everyone that he can indeed "handle the truth."  Roll credits.

     And that's the Grizzlies team in February of 2015 which I can't wait to see.  A team that can handle the truth. -CC