New Season Game 1: Nothing Shawshank About It At All

OK, straight up, this blog has nothing to do with the movie The Shawshank Redemption.  You hear me?  Nothing! 

 

But here is the strangest thing:  I recently learned that if I mention that movie even one time in my writing, my readership goes up five times its normal rate, all thanks to the magic of the internet.  Five times!  And if I can get 500 English Lit students in Germany to suddenly read about the Victoria Grizzlies, well all I can say is: Zihuatanejo. 

 

 

 

OK, now that we have established the fact that I am a complete shill, let's talk about the first game of the 2015/16 Regular Season.

 

Game 1 is in the books, a 3-2 road loss to The Cowichan Valley Capitals on Friday night at The Island Savings Centre (aka The Big Stick).   Frankly, even though it was a loss, there were a lot of positive signs for Grizzlies fans to take away from the night.

 

Oh, and BTW, if I have already lost you with my selfish Shawshank nonsense, you can watch this cool Youtube video by our amazing Video Guy Roy Antonisen (best in the BCHL) which shows the night's action and pretty much tells the whole story:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQsmC5fFqJ4

 

In the first period the Grizzlies were outshot 11-7 in what I thought was a bit of a scrambling opening frame.  At the halfway mark of the first, the Grizzlies surrendered the first goal on the night to the Capitals Matthew Hudie after he broke in on Matt Galajda.  What stung on that goal was the assist to Chris Harpur, who the Grizzlies lost in the off season in compensation for the January 10 Thomas Gobeil trade.  In spite of the Caps early lead, a late PP goal by Cole Pickup provided a window of insight into what the team may become this year.  

 

Grizzlies newcomer but long time BCHL veteran Brayden Gelsinger really got things going on the goal by moving the puck with authority and finding Pickup alone in the slot which the Langford native quickly dispatched past Storm Phaneuf, the Caps goaltender.  The Grizzlies showed that they definitely have the parts necessary to compete on the man advantage with fluid puck movement on the PP.  The point men of Brett Stirling and Jake Stevens were impressive anchoring the PP all night.  The first period ended all tied up 1-1 and things were looking pretty solid in “Grizzlies Land” while on the road on the opening night in the BCHL.

 

Photo Credit - Kevin Rothbauer - Cowichan Valley Citizen

 

The second period started even better for the Grizzlies as none other than Cole Pickup put his team ahead with a shot banked off the light blue coloured left pad of Phaneuf, still sporting his equipment from his last QMJHL club the Chicoutimi Sangenuees.  That goal was set up by a solid Grizzlies forecheck and a battle behind the Caps net which included Gelsinger again, along with new team Captain, PJ Conlon.   It was looking like Pickup might collect his first ever BCHL Hat Trick on the night, but the goals dried up pretty quick after the Grizzlies took the lead as Phaneuf started to show why he played 80 games in the QMJHL over the last four years.  With Phaneuf showing his Major Junior form in net, the Grizzlies struggled offensively in spite of a number of quality scoring chances throughout the game.

 

But the story of the night unfortunately devolved into rough and perhaps even dirty play as a number of scrums broke into fights or near fights.  Queue the turning point on the night, late in the second period after a scoring chance in the Caps crease came up empty, far away from the play a melee broke out involving Gelsinger and former Grizzlies player Mitch Meek.  Meek was playing in his first game as a Cap since he was picked up in the 2012 Supplemental Draft by this very Capitals organization. 

 

What actually occurred in the bottom of the pile may never be known, but one thing is for certain, Brayden Gelsinger needed assistance to get off the ice in order to have his right eye examined after an alleged gouging at the hands of the former Grizzly, Meek.  Meek ended up with a Match Penalty in the incident and a Game Misconduct was handed out to Gelsinger for his role in the altercation.  The upshot of it all was that the Grizzlies would be without possibly their best player on the night for the final period when the game was tied at 2-2.  Gelsinger, along with the rest of the top line of Pickup and Conlon were +1 at that point in the hockey game when he was forced to take an early shower.

 

But the hockey game would turn on its head during a Grizzlies Powerplay just three minutes into the 3^rd period when rookies Cory Iapalucci and Tyler Welsh would get caught up with each other while both players were trying to carry the puck into the offensive zone.  At that moment the Capitals crafty Adam Osczevski would steal the puck and race into the Grizzlies end taking a quick shot from the slot.  The shot was saved by Galajda but the rebound bounced clear into the open crease and Kade Kehoe sat over the gift puck with the easiest of finishes he will probably see all season.  It was a tough play, but one that will often occur early into any new season for any club with so many rookies.  In spite of a spirted attempt in the final minutes to tie the game with the net empty, the Grizzlies would come up short and the game would end 3-2.  The Grizzlies would outshoot the Caps 28-25 in the contest in front of a healthy 907 fans at the ISC.

 

All told the Grizzlies made a proper account of themselves.  I was particularly impressed with the team's ability to manage long periods of sustained puck possession in spite of only having a single left handed defenseman in the lineup with new Assistant Captain Cody Van Lierop out with an upper body injury.  Van Lierop is expected to be back in the lineup on Friday night vs the Nanaimo Clippers at the Frank Crane Arena.   

 

I also liked the look of the D men in general, the goaltending also looked fantastic and is a major improvement from last year.  The forwards I think will be fine once everybody settles into their respective systems.  This team is exiting and I see very few problems for the 2015/16 rendition of The Victoria Grizzlies.  I am already looking forward to Friday night at “The Frank” and hopefully there will be a large contingent of The Grizzlies Nation making the trip up to the mid island for the 7pm start.  Until then, I will let you go.

 

 

 

Now we will see how my Shawshank experiment works.  If it does work, the only question I have left is, what happens if in next week's blog I mention Donald Trump?  Talk to you Friday night folks. - CC 

The Fortress In The Forest Part Two, A Study In Geology: Kings v Grizz

With Game 6 only hours away and the entire series now hanging in the balance with the Kings up 3-2, the Grizzlies know that their backs are literally up against the proverbial wall. After completing the middle three games of the series at The Hap Parker Arena in Powell River, the Grizzlies might take solace from the fact that they managed to win at least one game on the road, the Saturday night 6-1 victory.

That victory would provide the Grizzlies with a good deal of hope left in a series which has witnessed just about everything thus far. The victory, the first of the entire season for the Grizzlies at "The Hap" allows Victoria with an opportunity to finish the series at home.  Game 6 and 7 (if necessary) will not fall under the usual Away-Home model as seen in the traditional BCHL hockey playoff model, not this year.  Instead, due to an interesting and somewhat curious decision, the Grizzlies took a considerable calculated risk by choosing to play 3 straight games at what I like to call "The Fortress In The Forest."  Had the Grizzlies lost all three weekend games at The Hap, the series would already be over. But the Grizzlies held firm and got that one vital win.

And after Friday night's game, a 5-2 loss in spite of 49 shots on Kings goaltender Brett Magnus, the Grizzlies looked like that decision to play games 3, 4 and 5 in Powell River might prove fatal.  With the smaller ice surface and the chip and chase style of the Kings, the hometown advantage looked to be perhaps insurmountable after Game 3.






But I predicted on Saturday that the winner of Game 4 would win the series and the Grizzlies did just that. Tom Gobeil, held pointless so far would provide a spark by cleanly hitting Kings defenseman Ross Hnidy into the boards in the second minute of the opening period. That hit would end Hnidy's night and likely his series but it would provide a lift for the Grizzlies who continued to pour on the fore-check in the smaller rink.

Moments later, taking the lead in a series hockey game for the only time so far through 5 games, Cole Pickup would snap a wrist shot past Magnus. Pickup's unassisted effort would lift his team's bench in spite of a Nick Halagian tying goal before the end of the period. But Period #2 would prove the pivotal moment of the entire weekend. Four unanswered Grizzlies goals, with two on the Powerplay, would be more than enough offense to provide the Grizzlies with the assurance that a Game 6 would take place on Tuesday at The Q Centre. Ayden MacDonald, Brett Gruber, Garret Forster and Jay Mackie would all score and in the 2nd period and Captain Shawn McBride would finish off the scoring with seconds left in the 3rd, sending the Grizzlies back to the hotel with a 6-1 win but more importantly with the series tied at 2-2.

On Sunday however it would be Magnus again leading the way with 26 saves on 27 Grizzlies' shots and a 5-1 Kings victory for Game 5. But the Grizzlies would leave the Fortress In The Fortress for the very last time in the 2014/15 season with a crucial single victory in seven attempts.  If you had told the Grizzlies at the beginning of the season that they would be 1-7 at the Hap Parker on the year, few would complain if that one solitary win would come during the playoffs. The win might be all the Grizzlies will need now. It could prove fatal for the Kings.

But Magnus has been nothing short of incredible and the Grizzlies must find a way to beat him in Game 6 Tuesday night at The Q Centre. Having faced 166 shots in the series and conceding only 13 goals, Magnus now sports a formidable .922 save percentage. It is a figure which is truly impressive, coupled with the fact that he has held talented forwards Dane Gibson and Thomas Gobeil to only a single assist between the two 20 year-olds in 5 straight playoff games thus far.

After scoring only two goals on 49 shots on Friday night, I first started thinking about the film, The Shawshank Redemption.  We all remember that famous prison movie in the early 1990s with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. With Robbins' character, Andy Dufresne free and on the run, Morgan Freeman as narrator gives an account of the prison break.

"In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank Prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I used to think it would take six-hundred years to tunnel under the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty. Oh, Andy loved geology. I imagine it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure and time."

The Grizzlies proved the theory around that particular science on Saturday night as they made Magnus look human again with no less than 6 goals on only 26 shots. Magnus on that night sported a save percentage of only .770. Pressure and time.

With sustained effort and constant pressure on Saturday, the Grizzlies finally broke through and scored with relative ease on Magnus. On Sunday that pressure lessened somewhat in spite of a 4- minute 2nd period Powerplay, I doubt that will happen again. But remember also that the Grizzlies Powerplay was attempting to operate in the tighter confines of the Hap. Games 6 and 7 will provide the Grizzlies with the much needed extra real-estate to operate their offense.  Pressure and time.


So off to the biggest game of the season, Game 6. The Q Centre will be buzzing and I expect that the Grizzlies will come out with a desperate effort for a full 60 minutes. If they can maintain that pressure and sustain it for a long enough period of time, say a full 60 minutes, they can and will be ultimately successful against the Kings.

That's all it takes really, pressure and time. -CC