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

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

 

Flying Under The Radar, Grizzlies Saga Continues

Before we start this BCHL Grizzlies blog I have just one thing to say:  The CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders (I will never call them the Renegades or the Red Blacks or whatever they are supposed to be called these days) are going to the Grey Cup next Sunday!!!  OK, I am done now, back to the Grizzlies.



Could a repeat of the 1981 Grey Cup avenge #77 Tony Gabriel's outrageous, "Triple Offensive Pass Interference" call?

As this Grizzlies Club approaches the halfway mark of the 2015/16 season, if I had to sum up the season in one word I would say: "under the radar".  OK, fine, that's technically three words but you get the idea.

I recently noticed something which may prove my point.  Have you seen the latest Subway Poll on the BCHL Web Site?  The latest poll asks BCHL fans to decide whom they think is the BCHL's fastest skater. I enjoy these polls and I never, ever pass up an opportunity to cast a vote. But Keyvan Mokhtari didn't even make the list for some reason.  That tells me that the Grizzlies are literally flying at tree top level at this point in the 2015/16 season.  Nobody is paying any attention to this team and that suits me just fine. 

So why is that?  Why are the Grizzlies off of everyone's radar?  With all due respect to any Eagles fans reading this blog, if your team starts the year 1-10 and one of your losses is at home vs South Surrey and your "1-10 team" also sports the league worst Powerplay with the most SHGA, chances are that you won't be turning too many heads.

Nope, as we approach the halfway mark on this season, I think it is safe to say that the Victoria Grizzlies may be the least talked about team in the league by BCHL pundits.  And that also suits me just fine.

But here is what is really interesting to me:  the Grizzlies are now 6-3-0-1 in their last ten games, which makes them the hottest team in the Island Division over that period of time.  Remember too that during that stretch, the Grizzlies lost twice to the Trail Smoke Eaters for reasons which still elude even the most knowledgeable BCHL experts.  In short, the Grizzlies are doing just fine for a team which returned only 6 veterans who played for all of last season.

Alleged designer of Grizzlies 2015/16 Schedule

What is also pretty impressive is that due to a Machiavellian designed schedule, the Grizzlies have played no less than two straight 3 game back to back sets in 8 days and five of those six games were on the road.  Its not a season, its more like an ancient saga.  They are accomplishing all of this with a Powerplay which has surrendered a league high 9 SHGA and is running at 7.81% efficiency on the road.   That is pretty unbelievable and when you think about it.

So how is this possible you ask?  here is how:

Nov 10 - Grizzlies 5 at Powell River 2. The Grizzlies, after nearly vomiting their entire way across the Strait of Georgia in one of the worst storms since Hurricane Katrina lead by Alex Peck, (Miley Cyrus's inspiration to the song "Wrecking Ball") and owner of the most sick jersey number in the BCHL, scored a SHG and an assist, an act which single handily doubled his season's offensive totals in one game.  He, along with his billet buddy, Brett Stirling on D, lead the club in breaking the collective spirit of the Kings to see the Grizzlies enjoy the first Regular Season win at The Hap Parker in almost two years.

Nov 13 - Grizzlies 3 at Coquitlam 4 (OT 2). Coming from behind, the Grizzlies force OT at the "Poirier Pin-Ball Palace" lead by the Smoothie Line of Gelsinger, Hahn and Livingstone along with the young and speedy Tyler Welsh and Keyvan Mokhtari, two players who also lead the league in "most hours spent in deep REM sleep" while travelling in a BCHL team bus this season.

Captain PJ Conlon with D-Day Veteran in Coquitlam on 13 Nov

Nov 14 - Grizzlies 3 at Merritt 2.  While playing in the league's smallest ice surface, towering 6'5'' forward Spencer Hunter's 2nd period blistering wrist shot from the top of the circle would find the net. The shot and ensuing goal which would normally have measured at 30' in most arenas but was closer to 10' at the Nicola Valley, would be credited to rookie phenom Welsh.  Welsh who was somehow confused by the referee with the "somewhat taller" Spencer Hunter, was not only on the bench at the time of the goal but was to his credit, like his line mate Mokhtari, wide awake and out of any REM sleep at the time of the go ahead marker by his more vertically endowed team mate. But the club would neither care nor complain about the box score or win and instead travel all night, arriving in Trail like frat house students at 7am the following morning to sleep about 3 hours before playing the Smokies at 3pm.

Grizzlies @0630 posing upon arrival at their Rossland BC chalet on 15 Nov

Nov 15 - Grizzlies 1 at Trail 2.  After team +/- leader, Dante Hahn (+11) would give the Grizz a first period 1-0 lead, the Grizzlies would suddenly realize in the second period that they were playing on about 15 minutes of sleep and fail to hold on, surrendering a crushing SHGA in the second and lose a squeaker at the oldest rink in the BCHL (Cominco Arena 1949).  They would then travel all night and look far worse than anything National Lampoon could ever conjure boarding a BC Ferry the next morning at Tswassen.  All the while knowing that they would be facing the Clippers at The Frank on Wednesday.

Nov 18 - Grizzlies 1 at Nanaimo 5.  Trailing 3-1 with one minute to play, the Grizzlies would give up the puck on  a bit of late high risk play in an effort to come back vs the always offensively powerful Clippers.  The good news was that the Grizzlies PP went 1 for 3 on the night on the strength of Cole Pickup's 8th goal on the season from Conlon and Massy.  The Grizzlies would outshoot the Clippers 31-27 in a game much closer than the score would indicate.

Nov 19 - Trail 3 at Grizzlies 2.  With a first period PP goal by Pickup and a short handed maker by Mokhtari (possible Goal of the Year candidate), the Grizzlies would squander a 2-0 lead and lose the game to a Smoke Eaters team who had apparently seen the movie Animal House and instead chose to travel the day prior in order to save bus legs. Trail would outlast the travel weary Grizzlies team who were running on less fumes than a Chrysler Cordova during the Carter Administration's 79' Oil Crisis.



#15 - Mokhtari's 19 Nov SHG vs Trail on Goal of The Year?

 

Nov 20 - Capitals 2 at Grizzlies 6.  In front of a season high nearly 1,200 fans at the Q Centre on Military Appreciation Night and with Coach Didmon completely changing around his line combinations, the Grizzlies would have a coming out party in a number of areas. Brayden Gelsinger would net 4 points on the night while Mokhtari would earn 3 himself.  But the story of the night was Chuck Bennis's impression of the WWE's "The Undertaker" as he gave Ayden MacDonald every reason to suddenly "come down with the flu" on the morning of 12 Jan, 2016 for the teams' next scheduled meeting.  The fight was so one-sided and primordial in nature, after breaking the internet on Saturday morning, YouTube put out a new directive forbidding the posting of any hockey fight videos containing the words "Chuck Bennis", "The Undertaker" or "This video hurts my eyes" until further notice.



BCHL pundits have suggested that this image may be the source of an expected flu epidemic at the ISC on 12 Jan, 2016

By the way, I never did cast a vote in that BCHL poll.  How do you vote in a poll which was missing the correct answer?  Go Renegades! -CC





       





 

Interior Road Swing #1: C- Report Card

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

 

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

 

 

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

   

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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