Derek Dun traded to the Clippers

Did anyone see the towel being thrown on the season by the Cowichan Valley Capitals; as they have traded star goaltender Derek Dun to the Nanaimo Clippers.
With the chances of the Caps making the playoffs this season a long shot, the pride of Duncan looks to be retooling for next season with futures coming back in the trade for Dun.

In Dun, the Clippers receive a quality, consistent goalie who's form has been stellar in the last two seasons. Nineteen year old Dun, who is surprisingly still without a scholarship, should get the chance to shine with the Clippers hosting the Westen Jnr A championship.

But, on the flip side of the coin, was this the right trade for the Clippers. In current goaltenders Jayson Argue and Jarrod Schamerhorn they seemed to have a decent tandem. Argue's form has dipped recently, but, he has stolen a couple of games for the team this season.
With the pressure mounting in the harbour city and the Clippers having mixed results so far this season, bringing in a goalie of Dun' quality is still a good move on the whole.

With the deadline approaching, it's a safe bet that both the Clippers and Caps still have a few trades left in them yet.

Derek Dun

Grizz Roar - Season Run In Preview - Interior Division

Grizz Roar BCHL outlook for the last third of the season:

Interior Division

(Island and Coastal to follow in the couple of days)

 

So far the 2012/13 season under Bill Bestwick has seem an amazing turn around in fortunes and the club has gone from what can only be disrobed as a nightmare last year; to a 360 degree turnaround, turning the Grizzlies into a force in Junior A hockey again. So with Grizzlies fans feeling pretty good about the season so far with a team that looks like they could go for a decent playoff run, how do the other BCHL rosters match up.

With two thirds of the season are already behind us and the New Year and the trade deadline beckons, let’s have a look at how the teams have feared across the league int he Interior and what might be ahead for them.

Interior Division:

Penticton Vees - So Far –                           

To compare last season’s RBC cup winning Vees team with this seasons squad, is a little unfair. While they still boast BCHL superstars such as ex-Grizzlie Wade Murphy, Rebry, Mellor and McClure, the Vees have looked human at times this season. Although still the team to beat in the Interior, Fred Harbinson’s  team doesn’t quite have the depth and talent of last season.

All roads may yet lead out of Penticton as far as winning a BCHL championship goes, but, with improved squads such as Chilliwack, Merritt, Victoria and Prince George, a second BCHL title in row for the Southern Okanagan team is not a given.

What may happen –

If the Vees can keep their consistency going and potentially add another experienced defenseman at the deadline, the Vees should have the fire power and reliability in the Katunar/Renyard tandem to get the job done. Another BCHL crown is certainly a possibility.

 

 

Merritt Centennials – so Far –                     

Luke Pierce has turned this team into a contender and with some quality players returning from last season, has seen a Cents team capable of beating anyone on any given night. Pierce has the Cents playing good attacking hockey and in goalie Tyler Steel, they have a goaltender that can steal a game or two for them. While not a team of big name players, the Cents work hard as a team and may have a real chance to finish second in the Interior this season. While a first place finish isn’t off the table, the Cents main priority will be looking to thrill their Nicola Valley faithful with a good playoff run this season.

 What may happen –

I can’t see Merritt making too many moves at the deadline as it’s always suspect to split up the type of team chemistry they have right now. Merritt, should continue with their form so far,and the possibility of seeing a Cents team going deep in the playoffs is a real possibility.

 

West Kelowna Warriors – So Far –             

After a pattern of win a game, lose a game for most of the season, the Warriors form has improved in recent weeks and with some good wins against some quality teams, Rylan Festers’ Warriors should be given plenty of respect. In a Warriors team that has underachieved in recent seasons, this West Kelowna team could be the dark horse in the Interior. If you want a quality Jnr coach, the Warriors have it in Ferster and in players who have been in the system for a couple of season now in Basara, Lloyd, McKinnon and French, they have the team to make plenty of noise in the run in to the end of the season.

What may happen –

The Warriors have depth and experienced and if they can find that form they could surprise the BCHL universe. I can’t see West Kelowna being to busy at the deadline, however, their experienced players and the talent they have now, need to perform game in/game out to give this team a chance of success.

If West Kelowna doesn’t live up to live up to expectations, some changes on the Westside could happen quickly. The Warriors fans have been patient since the team moved to the Okanagan capital, but, you can’t help feeling that patience could run out soon. This is a big season for the Warriors.

 

Salmon Arm Silverbacks – So far –                

After a rough start to the season, former Cowichan coach Scott Robinson was brought in and has started to turn the fortunes of this team around. Robinson’s experience in the league and ability to get the best out of his players has seen the ‘Backs' climb out of the Interior Division basement and start to challenge for a playoff spot.

With a squad that includes Steve Iacobellis, Brandon Mistal and Shane Hanna, this is a good veteran core that should keep the revival in the Shuswap going this season. Salmon Arm, still has a few question in defence and their veterans need to step it up in the scoring dept, but, you can see the gloom lifting from over the organization. Owner Randy Williams has been heavily criticized for his approach with the fans, coaching changes and playing his son in goal for the club while many in Jnr A hockey circles, questioned his sons ability to play Jnr A hockey. But, onwards and upwards and the Silverbacks look like they’re turning a corner under Scott Robinson.

 What may happen –

Simply making the playoffs and seeing where it goes from there would be an achievement for this franchise. The ‘Backs’, could use another experienced goaltender and a sniper to really turn some heads down the stretch. However, a more prudent approach would be to develop the existing squad, hold on to the up and coming youngers and make a serious run at things next season.

 

Trail Smoke Eaters – So Far  -                      

So at times there is a pulse and then you see a flat line. Bill Birks team is hot and cold and have struggled to make a real impact this season. While results have steadily improved, the Smokies can’t seem to get much rhythm going this season. In players like top scorer Brent Baltus who was an average VIJHL player, has turned into the darling of the Trail faithful, Shane Poulsen is one of best young defenseman in the league and goalie Lynden Stanwood will sacrifice it all ,to stop the puck. There are some good players there. But, you don’t know which Trail team will show up to the game.

 What may happen –

Trail could be sellers at the deadline in order to bring in some talent for next season. While Trial have beaten a few of the power house contenders this season, it looks more likely the Smokies could be looking towards next season.

 

Vernon Vipers – So Far –                              

When you think Vernon Vipers, you think contenders, quality, an organisation players want to play for and a record in recent years unsurpassed by anyone at this level. However, since Head Coach, Jason Williamson has taken over the reins from Mark Ferner, things haven't gone quite to plan. A rough season has found the Vipers at the bottom of the Interior division. For a club the stature of the Vipers, this is simply unacceptable and unless results improve dramatically in Vernon, Williamson may find himself out the door and soon.

Vernon have some great players on the roster and the excuses are few and far between. The Vipers simply stumbled coming out of the gate and have fallen flat on their face.  Is a turn around on the cards, we shall see?

 What may happen –

A number of fans are calling for a fire sale at the deadline, but, that could be a hard sell. With Tambellini ,Evistion , Corkey, Renz, Persley, the list goes on and on, the talent is there and a playoff spot is still a reality. If this team can come together they could still have success this season, be it under Williamson or another manager coming in. But, it’s hard to believe a Vernon Vipers with this much talent is in the situation they are. This could be a very busy trade deadline for Vernon either way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Myles Fitzgerald Named BCHL player of the week

Congratulations to Myles Fitzgerald on being named BCHL player of the week. Myles, who has been oozing confidence and has been such a clinical finisher all season, really stepped it up a notch this weekend.
Myles, had a seven point weekend over the three games with 2 assists v's the Spruce Kings, 2 goals v's the Bulldogs and ended a nice streak going into the Xmas break with a hat trick over the Caps on Sunday nights rescheduled game. Myles, is also on a 7 game point steak at this time as well.

Victoria Grizzlies 5 - 2 Cowichan Capitals @ Bear Mountain Arena, Dec 16th, 2012

THE BATTLE OF THE MALAHAT BECOMES DILUTED BY CHRISTMAS CHEER JUST BEFORE THE HOLIDAY BREAK!
GRIZZLIES 5, CAPITALS 2.
Before this game I was talking to one of our players who told me he expected this game might become a gong-show at the end. Fortunately this did not happen and all our boys managed to go home for Christmas relatively unscathed! Not to say that it was not a spirited game with lots great hockey to keep the fans entertained—just that both teams were quite well disciplined! The violence that sometimes erupts when these two hot headed rival teams from opposite sides of the Mountain meet was tamed in this last meeting before the Christmas break!
It was great to see some of our goals being scored by the new members of our team! It was great to see our AP Brady Coulter score his first goal as a Grizzlie, and to have a goal scored by rookie Dante Hahn! Dante is definitely making his presence on our team known.
Congrats to Chris Albertini who was chosen as the Energy player of the game!
Congratulations to both goal tenders, Brady Roleau who was big in helping the Grizzlies win five to two over the Capitals, and to the Caps goalie Derek Dunn who's defense was starting their Christmas break a little early and allowed Dun to have 46 shots fired on him! I have a lot of respect for him—he is a very good goalie!
Huge congratulations to Myles Fitzgerald who now has made it three Fitzgerald hat tricks in the last 3 few games! You awesome threesome are really a treat to watch! Keep up the good work guys!
Thanks to the referee Jordy Davis who reffed a great game, allowing the guys to play relatively uninterrupted for the first two periods which in my opinion was instrumental in keeping the frustration of the players in check and stopping the usual violent play that erupts when these two strong teams meet each other. He did clamp down a bit in the third period, keeping things under control. There were only 12 penalties in the entire game, with most coming in the the third period when thing usually get chippy!
The three stars of this game were—First star from Vic. Myles Fitzgerald, Second star also from Vic. DJ Jones, and the third star from Cowichan Steen Cooper.
The first period of the game started as usual with the Grizzlies spotting the opposition the first goal. It was scored by Jesse Nehr from Cowichan. It has become more than coincidence that when the Grizz do spot the other team that first goal the Grizz usually win that game! They seem to be energized by having to come from behind! And they did exactly that with 2 goals in a row when at 12.21 our AP Brody Coulter scored from Turner Lawson and Stefan Nicholishen, then at 18.20 Myles Fitzgerald scored from his brother Gerry. However, at 19.33 Cowichan got one back when Keyler Bruce scored. The first period ended with the Grizzlies tied with the Caps at 2 goals apiece.
The second and the third period were pretty well dominated by the Grizz who never seem to let up! At 12.08 of the second period of this exciting game Myles Fitzgerald scored his second game goal form Blake Thompson and DJ Jones, and at 17.27 our youngster Dante Hahn score from Chris Albertini and Garrett Skrbich. This gave our Grizzlies a 2 goal lead of 4 to 2 going into the third period.
In the third period you could see that the steam had gone out of the Caps. They were already thinking of “Home for Christmas” as the outcome of the game became inevitable. Big congratulations to the entire Cowichan team for keeping their cool pretty well and not letting things get really out of hand. The only goal scored in this period was at 7.26 when Myles Fitzgerald scored his hat trick winning goal! Great game guys!
Our Grizzlies now dominate the Island division by 8 points over second place Alberni. We are 2 points over the mainland division leader Chiliwack, and only one point behind the BCHL leading champions the Penticton Vees---but our Grizzlies have one game in hand over the Vees!! And lastly, our Grizzlies have now moved up into eighth place in the overall CJHL rankings! Not bad for a team just “thrown together at the last minute” by our great coach and GM, Bill Bestwick! Lookout Canada!
TO ALL OUR LOYAL GRIZZLIES FANS, PARENTS, PLAYERS AND STAFF—HAVE A GREAT CHIRSTMAS ! OUR OWNERSHIP, COACHING STAFF AND OUR AWESOME PLAYERS HAVE GIVEN US, THE FANS THE BEST PRESENT WE COULD ASK FOR!!! A WINNING TEAM!

 

Alberni Valley Bulldogs 2 - 3 Victoria Grizzlies @ Bear Mountain Arena, Dec 15, 2012

GRIZZLIES PULL OFF A HUGE WIN IN THE WEYERHAEUSER ARENA WINNING OVER ALBERNI 3 TO 2 IN OVERTIME!
Dec. 15, 2012
Congratulations to our Victoria Grizzlies for a huge overtime win against the second place team in the Island division!
Huge congratulations to Jaden Schmeisser who came up big at 1.49 of the first overtime period with an assist from Turner Lawson! (Schmeiss, I heard that after the game they went and retrieved the winning puck from inside the goal as a souvenir for you!)
Chase Kaiser and Myles Powell, you guys were standouts! Even though you did not score any goals this game you were play MAKERS! Way to go guys!
Our Awesome Threesome of the Fitzgerald triplets were chosen as the three stars of the game (in an away game that is unusual). The first star was Myles, the second star was Leo and the third star was Gerry! You guys are fantastic—I'm so glad you are playing for our Grizzlies! How good it must have felt to be playing in front of your home-town crowd, your friends and relatives, and putting on such an outstanding show!
Mike Stiliadis, every time I see you in goal you are getting better and better! Keep that up and you'll be striking fear into the hearts of the opposition come play off time! What a great advantage it is for our Grizzlies to have TWO number one goalies!
NO congratulations to the referee who seemed determined to give the win to his home town team. 5 out of 6 penalties to one team in the 3rd. period is very prejudicial. Many of those calls in the third period appeared to be for one purpose only—to allow the Dogs to tie the game. The 5 on three at 9.24 of the third was a perfect example of this—no one seemed to know what the bench minor was all about. And just over a minute later DJ Jones is called for “misconduct” (chirping at the ref.). One thing about it, the referee must have gotten his penalty fix for the night as he managed to call 20 penalties in this game!
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs are #2 in the Island division for a good reason! They are a very strong, well disciplined team, not afraid to mix it up and give and take hits. They have an excellent goaltender in Jay Deo. The grizzlies had to play with everything they had as this game was definitely very important to win!
These two evenly matched teams played hard hitting and exciting hockey throughout all three regulation periods. At 6.20 of the first period the Bulldog's Jared Wilson scored the opening goal! Our radio announcer Scotty Didmon called it right on the nose! He said that statistically whichever of these teams scored the first goal usually did not win the game! He also pointed out that all these game seem to go to overtime. So it sounds really contradictory to say “advantage Victoria” letting the Dogs score first! However, with that first goal out of the way our awesome threesome, the Fitzgerald triplets, (who were playing in front of their home town crowd!) went to work. Only 13 seconds after the Grizz had spotted Alberni the usual token goal, Myles scored with assist from his brothers Gerry and Leo, tying the game.
The second period was end to end, hard hitting hockey interspersed with questionable or obscure calls by the referee. It wasn't until 14.13 that the Fitzies again connected with Myles scoring again with his 2 brother's assist! (Fitz from Fitz and Fitz) At the end of the second period the score was Grizz 2, Dogs 1.
In the third period, one second after the 5 on 3 that had been handed to the dogs had expired, and before the Grizz players could get back into the play, Matthew Hansen from the Bulldogs scored, tying the game at 2. This held until the end of the third period again forcing overtime!!
The 1523 fans in attendance were on the edge of their seats as the first overtime commenced! The Dog Pound was unbearably noisy as the fans cheered their team on! But a sudden silence fell when our Jaden Schmeisser blasted an absolutely awesome shot from way out that beat the Dog's goaltender Jay Deo winning the game 3 to 2. Schmeiss, that one was HUGE! Your ARE the man!
Here are a few of stats after this game--
Shots on goal---Grizzlies 30, Alberni 28.
Power play-- Grizz 1 for 5, Dogs 1 for 9.
In the Island division the Grizzlies now lead second place Alberni by 6 points—44 to 38.
In the entire BCHL, the Grizzlies are tied with Chilliwack for second with 44 points each, only 3 points behind Penticton in first, but our Grizzlies have played 2 less games than Penticton!

Victoria Grizzlies v Prince George Spruce Kings - Game Preview

The Prince George Spruce Kings roll into Bear Mountain Arena tonight for their one and only trip to Victoria this season.
Since a realignment of the divisions at the start of this season, has seen the Spruce Kings become road warriors as they now find themselves in the Coastal division with Chilliwack, Surrey, Langley and Coquitlam. That's a lot of travel in one season, however, credit to Dave Dupas men who sport an impressive 36 points and 6 games over .500, at this stage of the campaign.
A couple of familiar names in the Spruce Kings line up will include from lasts season Victoria roster, Coltyn Hansen and Cam Lawson who have put some good numbers up for Prince George, since the trade involving the Fitzgerald's coming to the Westshore at the start of the season.
With their success has come a deserved NCAA scholarship for both Cam and Coltyn this season, with Cam attending Holy Cross (Matt Ginn's team) and Coltyn signed up to play for Sacred Heart University for 2013/14.
To say that both players received a baptism of fire in their BCHL debut seasons with the Grizzlies is an understatement. The two forwards found themselves playing up to 45 mins a game due to the situation at the end of the 2011/12 season. And stepped up admirably.
The Spruce Kings are on a 3 game win streak and have solid goaltending in Kirk Thompson. Prince George, will prove to be a good test for the Grizzlies and you can bet the team for up north will be looking to avenge their 7-3 defeat by the Grizzlies last month in PG.
The Grizzlies chemistry continues to shine and two good wins over Powell River and Surrey recently, have reinforced Bill Bestwick's squad as one of the teams to be beat.
With secondary scoring holding firm and Michael Stiliadis impressive in his last few outings, this inform Grizzlies team will look to keep it's good run going against PG tonight, at Alberni on Saturday and our old rivals the Caps come into the the 'Bear' on Sunday.

Upcoming Games :

Victoria v's Prince George Spruce Kings - 
Friday, 7:15pm, Dec 14 @ Bear Mountain Arena

Alberni Valley Bulldogs v's Victoria Grizzlies - 
Saturday, 7pm, Dec 15 @ Weyerhauser Arena, Port Alberni

Victoria v's Cowichan Valley Capitals - 
Sunday, 6pm, Dec 16 @ Bear Mountain Arena

Victoria Grizzlies 2 - 1 Surrey Eagles@ Bear Mountain Arena, Dec 8, 2012

CHARGING GRIZZLIES STOMP ON EAGLES AND WIN 2 TO 1.
This weekend was a four pointer for our charging Grizzlies! We took on the very hot #2 team in the mainland division that was riding a 4 game winning streak and managed to get a sweet win even though our boys were playing back to back games. After the big win in Powell River the night before our team had to be on the 8am. ferry back to Comox. So it was probably about 12.30 pm when they got back to the arena here. But they looked to be in great shape in this game against Surrey! And what do you know—the boys did not spot Surrey the usual one goal at the beginning of this one. (If they had, it would have gone to overtime!!) The Grizz scored early in the first when at 3.22 Gerry Fitzgerald beat Surrey net-minder Glen Ferguson with help from his brother Leo and rookie Dante Hahn. The play was exciting, and there were lots of chances for either team to score. The two goalies were the true stars of the game, making lots of great saves. The first period ended with the Grizz ahead by one goal.
It wasn't until 15 minutes into the second period that the Eagles scored when Brady Shaw finally managed to beat our Mike Stiliadis with a top corner zinger. With the game now tied all 1249 fans present were on the edge of their seats and many where loudly cheering their Grizzlies on! But no matter how hard we tried we could not answer that goal until at 8.31 of the third period Gerry Fitzgerald scored what was to be the game winning goal with assist from Myles and Leo Fitzgerald. The awesome threesome strikes again!!
The three stars of the game were:
No. 1--- Gerry Fitzgerald
No. 2 –(from Surrey) Brady Shaw
No. 3---Leo Fitzgerald.
And our grizzlies out shot the Eagles 37 to 28!
This now leaves our Grizzlies tied with Chilliwack for second overall in the BCHL at 40 points each, with only Penticton ahead at 43 points! And Victoria has one game in hand over Penticton!! Wow!
We lead the Island division with 4 points over the Alberni Bulldogs.
The Grizzlies are now 19—8--0--2 so far this season!
Congratulations Grizzlies—you guys are awesome!

Preview - Victoria Grizzlies v Surrey Eagles @ Bear Mountain Arena, 7;15pm, Dec 8th

 

 

Matt Erhart brings his surging Surrey Eagles squad in Bear Mountain on Saturday night, for their visit of the season to Victoria.

The Eagles have won 4 games in a row and are hot on the heels of the Mainland Division leading Chilliwack Chiefs. With recent addition Brady Shaw (acquired in a trade for Eagles legend Trevor Morley) who has scored his fair share of goals against the Grizzlies in the last two seasons, along with Victoria Royals protected player Demico Hannoun, forwards Mike Stenerson and Trevor Cameron, this will be another battle which the Grizzlies will need to bring their A game for.

After a great result in what can only be describe as the Grizzlies graveyard in Powell River in recent seasons last night, the black and gold will look to keep their good run going at home. Although injuries have made things a little difficult for Bill and Craig, the team is finding ways to win and gelling with new line mates when the situation call for it. That is certainly the mark of a team that can and should have a very successful season. With Brett Hartskamp and Justin Coachman out of the line up, as well as Brady Rouleau not making the trip up to Powell River last night, I’m sure we’ll see a couple of AP’s in the line up to back up the boys.

Impressive 16 yr old goaltender Alec Dillon, was called up from the Westshore Wolves to back up to Stiliadis on Friday night.
 

With the season almost at the half way mark, Bill Bestwick’s team can be pleased with their current place in the standing, but, if this season is to continue as the success story we know it can be, beating teams the quality of Surrey will go a long way to show how far we can go!!!

 

Mitch Meek commits to Clarkson University for 2014/15

 

Congratulations to rookie defenseman Mitch Meek, as his stellar start to his Junior A career has seen him nail down a scholarship to the NCAA division 1, Clarkson University Golden Knights.

The sixteen year old, who has displayed a confidence, smart defensive displays and a potent ability to jump in the play, has been a treat to watch so far this season.

Much like Nolan De Jong,  Mitch has shown a hockey sense beyond his years and hasn’t missed a beat since moving up to Junior A from Major Midget.

After coming off a nasty injury recently, Mitch’s energy and enthusiasm has certainly be missed from the line up. It’s hard to believe this kid is a rookie.

As Mitch won’t be going to Potsdam, NY until the 2014/15 season, Grizzlies fans will be able to watch Meek develop his talents further in the next two years.

 Congratulations Mitch.

 

 

Victoria Grizzlies 1 - 5 Langley Rivermen @ Bear Mountain Arena, Dec 2, 2012

Langley wins 5 to 1 against our Grizzlies!
Third game in one weekend. It's probably the reason why our Grizzlies did not fare well against Langley. The team was suffering problems with having so many players injured or out. Out injured were Mitch Meek, Blake Thompson, Leo Fitzgerald, Brett Hartskamp,Garrett Skrbich and Turner Lawson!! And we are also missing Justin Coachman who has had to return home ill. A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR JUNIOR B CALLUPS. BRADY COULTER, BRANDON EGLI, SHAWN MCBRIDE AND SAM RICE, ALL OF YOU SEEM QUITE AT HOME AT THE JR. A. LEVEL!!!
However, I definitely did not see the zip and will to win that our Grizzlies showed in Cowichan the night before. It seemed like Langley outplayed the Grizzlies pretty much throughout the game, scoring at 4.32 into the first period on a power-play. This pretty well set the scene for the rest of the game. Our boys looked tired. Coach Bestwick even tried something unusual. After the second period he switched our goaltenders and put Brady Roleau in instead of Mike Stilliadis who started. However just when things were starting to look a little like de-ja-vue for our Christmas teddy toss, only 17 seconds into the third period Myles Powell scored a great short handed and unassisted goal precipitating a brightly colored rain of wrapped teddy bears onto the ice. HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT BROUGHT STUFFED TOYS TO THE GAME. There are a lot of needy little kids that will have a little better Christmas because of your generosity!
AND A BIG THANKS TO OUR ENTIRE TEAM!! DESPITE THE STING OF A LOSS THEY TOOK A MOMENT TO COME TO CENTRE ICE AFTER THE GAME ENDED AND RAISE THEIR STICKS TO THE CROWD IN A SALUTE OF THANKS! VERY CLASSY YOU GUYS—YOUR FANS NOTICED !!!!!!
Note to our boys in sick bay! Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Your fans miss seeing you on the ice!!

Brett Hartskamp commits to NCAA Div 3, Marian University

Please note correction made for this article: It's the Marian University in Wisconsin. Sorry Brett and thanks to Sheri for the email.

Congratulations to Grizzlies forward Brett Hartskamp, who has secured a scholarship to Marian University in Wisconsin for next season. Former Grizzlies who have attended the Marian Hockey program are Tommy Fitzpatrick and Robbie Bailey.

Brett, who's now in his third season in the league has certainly earned his NCAA opportunity and entering his last season in Junior, has a real chance to do something special with this Victoria team.

 

Congratulations Brett.

 

 

 

Cowichan Valley Capitals 2 - 4 Victoria Grizzlies @ Island Savings Centre, Dec 1, 2012

Our Grizzlies Roared over the Malahat on a wet and windy night and went into the enemy's lair and conquered their entire army and thus put another rung on the ladder toward dominating the BCHL
Seri......................WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING!! Cut out that crap! All that happened was our Grizzlies went to Duncan on December 1 and won against a very strong Cowichan Capitals with a very good goalie, Derek Dun.
The first period saw two strong teams come out of the box with an urgency to win! They played exciting and hard hockey and even though the Grizzlies probably had more chances to score in this period than the Caps, their goalie Derek Dun managed to keep the Grizz at bay even though the Grizzlies out-shot the capitals 15 to 7. At 16.52 of the first period Capitals Keyler Bruce scored from Teal Burns for the opening goal of the game. And the teddy-bears flew, as this was the Capitals annual teddy toss night!
For our noisy Victoria fans the high point of period 2 was when Victoria's young Dante Hahn scored just over three minutes in with help from the old-timer Zach Urban :P) Second period the Grizzlies were assessed 6 penalties to the Caps 3. This seemed a little strange, since the night before the Grizzlies had played such well disciplined, penalty free hockey. At the end of the second period the game was tied at 1 goal each. One more exciting thing that happened toward the end of period 2—Our Jaden Schmeisser seemed to have had enough of Keyler Bruce from Cowichan after he had hit Zach Urban in the head and they got into a hard hitting serious fight—much to the delight of the Cowichan fans!
Period 3 saw 4 goals scored! The pace of the game picked up considerably and both teams played hard hitting and very entertaining hockey (from the Grizzlies fan's point of view anyway!) The usually noisy and very supportive Caps fans were silenced during this period as Myles Fitzgerald scored at 2.16 from DJ Jones and call-up Brandon Egli. At 3.25, just over a minute later, Chase Kaiser scored from Mark McLellan and Myles Powell. The Caps did get one back at 6.18 when Jesse Nehr scored, but this was countered at 12.31 when Myles Powell scored from Zach Urban! At the end of the game the shots on goal had evened out quite a bit after Victoria led almost 2 to 1 for most of the game. The final shots were 32 for Victoria and 25 for Cowichan.
This win keeps the Grizzlies in first place in the Island series with 2 points over Alberni Valley.
The Grizzlies now have 36 points this season, Chilliwack from the Mainland division has 40 points, and Penticton from the interior division has 39 points. Our Grizzlies have played the least games out of these 3 teams—we have 1 game in hand on Chilliwack, and 2 in hand on Penticton. But of course this does not mean diddly-squat unless they loose the next couple of games and our Grizzlies win!

Victoria Grizzlies 6 - 1 Nanaimo Clippers @ Bear Mountain Arena, Nov 30th, 2012

 Last night we were watching what is possibly the hottest team in the BCHL right now. But I don't think any of us could have anticipated that the Grizzlies would literally blow the Clipper ship right out of the water with a 6 to 1 win! It makes me think of that radio ad that the Grizzlies are using this year where a player from the other team calls 911 to report a ferocious Grizzly. I wonder if, during the second intermission, how many of the Clippers phoned 911 to report a very large and ferocious Grizzly bear in the arena while leaving a trail of poop as they were heading for the visiting team's dressing room??
To give credit where it is due I am sure both teams realized just how important winning this game was. A win could either upset or cement the Grizzlies tenuous lead in the Island division points. The Clipper ship loaded it's cannons for bear and entered the Bear Den with all the firepower possible. But as I had mentioned earlier the Grizzlies had been off for a while and had time to sharpen up their claws and fangs.
Something else that I noticed in this game—The Grizzlies seem to have been working hard on bettering their power play! They scored 4 for 6 which is way better than their average had been! Could Ryan O'Byrne have been anything to do with this? I bet the boys will miss Ryan's tutoring now that has left our bench and returned to playing full time with the ECHL to keep his skill up (for when/if the NHL ever regain their senses!)
The first period was a hard fought affair, and it would be hard to say either team came out with a distinct advantage! At the end of the first the score was 1 to 1 and the shots on net were 8 to 12 Victoria. (Not that far apart). Both Nanaimo and Victoria had scored their goal on the powerplay. It was great and exciting hockey- end to end, back and forth and some great saves by both our netminder Mike Stilliadis and Nanaimo's Jason Argue.
The second period sent Nanaimo reeling and heading for cover! Our Grizzlies scored 4 unanswered goals giving us a 5 to 1 lead after the second period. The Grizzlies outplayed and outshot Nanaimo throughout the period and made Nanaimo's defense look bad when the Grizz could penetrate it almost at will. Two of the goals were scored on the powerplay when the Clips got into penalty trouble, both by Gerry Fitzgerald. This is where Gerry got his hat trick scoring 3 of the 5 goals in the first 2 periods! Fantastic performance Gerry! But Gerry was kind enough to allow a couple of his teammates to shine also! At 6.41 DJ Jones scord with assist from Blake Thompson, and at 16.47 Myles Powell scored from Mark McLellan and Chase Kaiser. The shots on goal at the end of the 2nd. period were now a whopping15 to 31 Grizz, a difference of over double!
We could see that the reeling Clippers were quite 'shook up' at the beginning of the third period and played a lot stronger. They held the Grizzlies to only one goal in that period, and it came on a power play only 5 minutes into the period when Mark McLellan scored with help from Chase Kaiser and Zach Urban. Huge congratulations to all 3 game stars FROM THE GRIZZLIES! Gerry Fitzgerald was the games First star (and no wonder with that big hat trick!) and the second star was another of that awesome threesome Gerry's brother Myles Fitzgerald. And the third star was not one of the Fitzies! It was none other than Chase Kaiser!
Now I am sure you all know by now that I love raggging on the poor referees! Well here is something different! Huge congratulations to referee Kirk Van Helvoirt! In my opinion (which does not count for much as I know about as much about refereeing as I do about preparing snails to make escargot) Kirk realized that these two HOTHEADED teams could easily be frustrated by nit-picking continuous penalties and delays in the flow of the game. Kirk seemed to allow the boys to play and only made calls that were truly deserved. And (again in my opinion) this seemed to be the key to this game being played so well disciplined, and even though it was still rough there no NO actual fights! Very different to when we were last at Nanaimo when it seemed that both teams were intent on injuring each other! This is the way I like to watch hockey—feisty but no brawls. Congratulations to the Clippers and their coach that despite the looming blowout the team kept it's cool. There will be lots of other games for them!
Game Thoughts Grizzlies:
One of the display of the season so far as the Grizzlies out worked a Clippers team who didnt have an answer for the black and gold once they crossed the Clippers blue line.
Despite missing Hartskamp, Meek, Coachman and Lawson the Grizzlies didn't skip beat.
Gerry Ftizgerald who made some ground up in the scoring dept on his brothers with a hat trick.
An impressive display for each player in a Grizzlies uniform tonight and an impressive display from the Kaiser, McLellan and Powell line who were relentless going forward tonight.
This 6-1 display against a very talented Clippers team has shown that the Grizzlies could well be joining our Harbour City cousins in April/May........however, thats a long way off.

Rockafellow released from the Warriors.

It looks like former Grizzlies goalie, Garrett Rockafellow will be looking for a new team. ‘Rocks’, was recently released by the West Kelowna Warriors where he has been the back up so far this season.

A lack of consistency and playing time may have been the issue for Garrett this year, as the promising 19 year old looks to continue his junior career in pastures new.

After some impressive displays with the Grizzlies last season, the potential is certainly there and hopefully Rockafellow will be between the pipes with a new Jnr A team soon.

 

GARRETT ROCKAFELLOW

 

 

Preview - Victoria Grizzlies v's Nanaimo Clippers @ Bear Mountain Arena, 7:15pm, Friday, Nov 30th.

Stop the presses Grizzlies fans , we have two home games in three days coming up this weekend…can I get a hallelujah.

With only two home games so far this month, the road warriors finally come back to the friendly confines of Bear Mountain arena. Friendly, not for long as the Nanaimo Clippers make their first venture into the ‘Bear’ this season on Friday night. In two games so far this season, both at Frank Crane Arena, each contest have been physical, hard fought, exciting and everything left on the ice. For a rivalry that needs no extra fuel, the Clippers and Grizzlies find themselves battling for the Island division lead at this time.

The Grizzlies are well worth there lead at the top of the division over the Clippers right now, no thanks in large part to a squad that works hard for each, plays with great chemistry and finds a way to win.

The Clippers on the other hand find themselves with a lot more pressure on their shoulders this season, with Nanaimo being the host team for the inaugural Jnr A, Western Championships in April/May 2013. While a place in the championship is guaranteed as the host, the Clippers will not want to go in through the back door, they’ll want to take the BCHL title to do it. Grizzlies fans remember that type of pressure when Victoria hosted the RBC in 2009.

Mike VandeKamp , has loaded up his Harbour City team, but, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing so far. After a dismal first season at the Clippers helm last season, Vandekamp has come under fire this season for his team playing a scrappy and too physical a game. This has had some of the Clippers faithful wondering if that style can see this team through to a BCHL title. However, results have started to come the Clippers way recently and a very impressive interior road trip a couple of weeks ago, saw Nanaimo move right up on the heels of the Grizzlies in the standings.

Nanaimo do have the firepower in Reid Sturos, Mark McNicholas ,Kyle Kramer, former WHLer Greg Fraser and recently acquired power forward Matt Grant from Cowichan. While there is also that physical game to Nanaimo, goaltending has also played a big part in the Clippers recent success and Nanaimo is a team that pushes Victoria to its limits in each contest.

Now, Bill Bestwick anticipating that Nanaimo would load up with a talented/physical roster this season and has played a chess game with Mike Vandekmap; in the form of bringing in the likes of Chris Albertini, Zach Urban, David Mazarek and Justin Coachman to match that physicality. The Grizzlies aren’t getting pushed around by anyone.

Although the Grizzlies are coming off a hard fought loss in OT to Alberni last weekend, confidence looks like it’s high in the Grizzlies camp and with players coming back from injury and suspensions. Bill will hopefully have a healthy roster for this weekend.

Games for this Upcoming Weekend:
Victoria Grizzlies v's Nanaimo Clippers @ Bear Mountain Arena, 7:15pm, Friday, Nov 30th.

Cowichan Valley Capitals v's Victoria Grizzlies @ Island Savings Centre, Duncan, 7pm,
Saturday, Dec 1st.

Victoria Grizzlies v's Langley Rivermen @ Bear Mountain Arena, Sunday, 1:15pm, Dec 2nd.

Alberni Valley Bulldogs 3 - 2 (OT) Victoria Grizzlies@ Weyerhaeuser Arena, Nov 24th, 2012

 

 

 

ONE MORE POINT IN THE BANK!

For the fourth time this season the Alberni Valley Bulldogs have taken the Victoria Grizzlies to overtime. But this time it was the Dogs turn to win in overtime.

The way the game started no one could have guessed that the Grizz were not on a roll to an easy win. They outplayed the Dogs badly throughout the first period. The Bulldogs seemed tired and slow in this opening frame. Several times Dante Hahn mesmerized the Dog's defense with his fast and weaving play. For a while it the All Hahn show! Great to watch!

At 5.53 Leo Fitzgerald opened the scoring with help from Gerry and Myles, and shortly after at 10.27 Leo Fitzgerald scored his second goal from David Mazurek and Myles Fitzgerald. Our Fitzgerald triplets knew this arena well, as that was their hometown! It almost looked like the Grizzlies had four lines! The Triplets kept being rotated between the other lines and these tough kids certainly saw a lot of ice time! It was great to see that all the lines were moving the puck well during this first period. When the first ended the Grizzlies were ahead by 2 goals. The Grizz had out-shot Alberni by 10 to 8 shots.

In the second period Alberni definitely picked up their game and on many occasions were dominating the play. The Grizzlies seemed to be struggling with controlling the puck down low, especially in the second half of the period, and several bad turn overs let the Dogs Ryan Lough get their first goal at 18.47. The Grizzlies finished this period looking a little shook up!

Michael Stiliadis played an exceptional game. If it had not been for him in the third period things would have been UGLY!

At 1.54 of the third period our Grizz hauled down an Alberni player in front of our goal. He was awarded a penalty shot and Michaeal was having none of that. He stopped him dead! And almost immediately the Dogs set up a 3 on 1 attack and Michael stopped that one with a beautiful toe save. Way to go Mike!

Our Grizzlies were having a lot of trouble controlling the puck and at 2.56 the Dog's Evan Tironese managed to beat Michael for their tying goal. With excellent goal tending and the Grizz seeming to get their second wind there was no more scoring for this 3^rd. period despite a ferocious onslaught by the Bulldogs.

And then at 2.56 of the first overtime Evan Tironese won the game for the Bulldogs!

My thoughts abut the game:

First of all, huge congratulations to our 2 great call ups for this game, Brandon Egli and Shawn McBride. You two guys played an awesome game and definitely played at the Junior A level! It is nice to see we can call up such talent when needed! Thanks guys!

Scratches for this game (due to injuries) were Mitch Meek, Justin Coachman, Turner Lawson, Blake Thompson, and Brett Hartskamp. Hope you guys heal up real soon!!

Chris Albertini had to go down the tunnel for repairs in this game. Sure hope it is not anything that will keep him sidelined also!

Happy 20th Birthday - Blake Thompson

Happy 20th Birthday to defenceman Blake Thompson who turns 20 today. The Ontario native, has been a welcomed addition at both ends of the ice of the Grizzlies and has certainly become a fan favourite with the Grizz faithful. A slick, attack-minded defender, Blake will be a key part of any Grizzlies success this season.
Blake, hope you've had a great birthday and hopefully you've had a few beers to.



Blake Thompson

Nanaimo Clippers 4 - 5 Victoria Grizzlies@ Frank Crane Arena, Nov 17th, 2012

PROBABLY THE GRIZZLIES MOST IMPORTANT WIN OF THE SEASON SO FAR.

This was the game that Nanaimo Clippers coach Mike Vandekamp said in the post game show that most players had circled on their calendars as a MUST WIN game!

Despite the pressure being on to win this game—(the winning team would take over the lead in the Island division)—our Grizzlies did what is fast becoming their trademark! They spotted their opponents 2 goals at the beginning of the first period. It has become more than a coincidence that the Grizzlies seem to play better under pressure while climbing out from under a deficit. And that is exactly what our 'come from behind kids' did again this game. After giving up the first 2 goals to the clippers early in the first period our Grizz came back with 3 unanswered goals to finish the first period with a one goal lead! And those goals did not come easily as both teams traded huge hits and unmercifully pounded everyone who dared to touch the puck! (And sometimes they did not even have the puck!)

Our Grizzlies started the game with 4 regular players scratched mostly because of recent injuries. The scratches were Dave Walchuk, Mitch Meek , Myles Powell and Justin Coachman. By the end of the game Turner Lawson, Brett Hartskamp, Chase Kaiser, and David Mazurek were stacked up in the infirmary also, and only Dave Mazurek managed to return to the game. Needless to say, by the end of the third period the few players that we had still standing were being rolled over and over with short lines. And to make matters worse, the Clippers pulled their goalie for the last minute or so and played us 6 on 5 with no mercy!

So anyway, that was a hell of a game guys! You busted your tails (and bodies) for this one. Big congratulations go to our AP player Brody Coulter who scored his first goal as a Grizzly at the end of the first period! And congrats again to Gerry Fitzgerald for being the game's first star, and to his brother Leo for being named third star! You guys are definitely awesome!!

The Clippers out-shot us 31 to 25 but in the end our Grizzlies won the game 5 to 4.

Now here is how the game unfolded.

Only 17 seconds into the first period Clipper Brenden Forbes scored the opening goal. This was followed at 8.21 with another Clipper goal by Michael McNicholas. At this point the ferocious Grizzly Bear woke up, shook himself off and decided to do something about it. The boys started playing hard hitting, grinding hockey and scored 3 goals by the end of the first. At 14.21 Leo Fitzgerald scored from Blake Thompson, at 16.13 DJ Jones scored from Zach Urban and Gerry Fitzgerald and at 17. 46 Brody Coulter (our AP) scored from Garrett Skrbich. Way to go Brody! Victoria took a one goal lead into the first intermission.

Only 34 seconds into the second period Gerry Fitzgerald scored with help from brother Leo. At this point Nanaimo's coach Mike Vanderkamp decided to eject starting goaltender Jason Argue and put into goal their backup Jarrod Schamerhorn. Jarrod played for the rest of the game until he was pulled for the last minute or so of the third period.

Goals were then traded back and forth for the remainder of the game—at 9.22 of the second Clipper Michael McNicholas scored and then at 14.19 Victoria's Gerry Fitzgerald scored from his brother Leo and Mark McLellan. This gave Victoria a 5 to 3 lead going into the third period.

At 12.11 of the third period Kyle Kramer from the Clippers scored tho only goal of the period. But this brought the score to an uncomfortably close 5 to 4 and the Clippers did everything possible to score a tying goal before the end of the third. Several times pucks bounced off the goal posts at both ends of the arena but the beat up, worn out and bruised Grizzlies persevered for the win.

 

Game Thoughts Victoria -

Victoria reminded the Island division that they are still the team to beat after this weekend. Going into Frank Crane Arena, against a rough and tumble Clippers team who have two good scoring lines, play a phyisical game and have an impressive tandem in goal, a  5-4 scoreline for the second night in a row is impressive to say the least. This win extends the Grizzlies lead to three points a top of the Island standing and the third best overall record in the BCHL.

The Grizzlies welcomed back Zach Urban and Chase Kaiser after suspension and had AP Brody Coulter, marking his second Grizzlies appearance with his first goal.

Credit to Bill Bestwick and Craig Didmon, who had seen what type of team the hosts of the Western Canada Cup in the Clippers where building and have modelled the Grizzlies roster to an extent, to deal with a big physical team like Nanaimo

4 out of 4 points this weekend and three wins in a row, is not only a big lift for the team, fans and management, but, a reminder of how far this team has come since last season.

Go Grizzlies Go!!!!! 

Victoria Grizzlies 5 - 4 Alberni Valley Bulldogs (2nd OT) @ Bear Mountain Arena, Nov 16th, 2012

 

 

 

YOUR GRIZZLIES PULL OFF ANOTHER HUGE O/T WIN!

In another of those double overtime, come from behind wins that our Grizzlies have become famous for, they defeated the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 5 to 4.

With 4 seconds remaining in Period 5 Myles Fitzgerald came through big and thrilled 1245 fans that were sitting on the the edge of their seats. He won the game for us with the assist going to David Mazurek! The crowd, which was actually very good considering we were going head to head with the Royals went berserk when Myles finally scored 3 on 3.

The game started out with Lars Hepso from the Dogs scoring first just 2 ½ minutes into period 1. Try as hard as they could our Grizzlies could not answer this goal during the rest of period 1.

However, just 23 seconds into the second period the awesome threesome put Victoria into the game with Myles Fitzgerald scoring from his brothers Gerry and Leo. Unfortunately after we tied the game early in the second almost the rest of the period was dominated by the Alberni Bulldogs as they scored at 9.10 and then at 12.06. There was lots of fast, end to end rushes and opportunities for scoring but the Grizzlies, now down by 2 goals, could not answer either of these.

It wasn't until 1.17 of the third period that the Grizzlies got 1 back when Brett Hartskamp scored from Dave Mazurek making it 3 to 2 Alberni. This oddly enough was the first shorthanded goal that had been scored by the Grizzlies this entire season! This opened the door a bit and at 12.15 of the 3^rd. Stefan Nicolishen scored from Chris Albertini and Brett Hartskamp tying the game at 3 goals each. The fans were pumped now they could smell a possible victory! But their hopes seemed to have been crushed when at 13.14 the Dog's Hunter Stewart scored putting Alberni ahead by one goal fairly close to the end of the third. Things were looking a bit bleak. However, at 18.35 Alberni received a penalty for boarding, and the Grizzlies pulled their goalie giving the Grizz a 6 on 4 power-play for about the last minute and a half. The Grizz capitalized on this with only 40 seconds remaining in the game when Blake Thompson scored from Myles Fitzgerald tying the game at 4 goals apiece and sending us to overtime! The crowd came unglued!

Nothing was settled in the first overtime of 4 on 4. Both teams were wired and playing their hearts out for a win. The fans were on the edge of their seats the whole time, practically holding their breath!

Then came the second overtime which is played 3 on 3. It opened things up so the goalies could really show their stuff and they took shot after shot at both ends until finally with only 4 seconds left in the fifth period Myles Fitzgerald scored the game winner from Dave Mazurek. WHAT A GAME!

Congratulations to all 3 of the game stars, Third star from the Dogs, Bo Pellah, Second Star from the Grizzlies, Brett Hartskamp, and First Star from the Grizzlies, Myles Fitzgerald. (I only wish that the goalies could have been in on the stars also, as Victoria fired 55 shots on Alberni's goalie Jay Deo, and Alberni had 34 shots on our Brady Rouleau!)

 

Game Thoughts Grizzlies –

A batting performance tonight and one that at times could have gone either way. Despite missing Captain Zach Urban, Kaiser, Meek, Walchuck and Coachman; a determined effort and another OT victory against Alberni maintains the Grizzlies lead in the Island division.

The theme of this season has been battling performance and hard work, which is a recipe that certainly a big factor for the victory on Friday night.

Victoria, seemed to slip a gear in the second and the Bulldogs really had the Grizzlies chasing the game for long stretches of that middle frame.

The Grizzlies did benefit from the call up of the three Victoria Cougars players in two of top scorers in the VIJHL, Brody Coulter (62 points in 22 games), Sam Rice (57 points in 22 games) and former Trail player Brandon Egli in defence

Coulter and Rice, didn’t look out of place and where given a good number of minutes tonight to show what they can do and despite not getting on the score sheet, saw time on the 4 on 4 and 3 on 3 OT periods. Can anyone recall when an AP got that type of situational play at key times like that.

I have no background as to whether Coulter and Rice would want to play Jnr A hockey fulltime, but, if the stars aligned and the Grizzlies where looking for some extra fire power, they may not to have to look too much further than in their own backyard.

Egli, also played a nice shut down roll tonight and was very steady.

A lot of credit tonight needs to go to Hartskamp, Jones, Thompson and the triplets. Myles Fitzgerald, has really looked sharp and his drive and determination has seen him score in the big games and at key times.

Credit to all the boys tonight, as there were a lot new lines out there and playing against a physical, well coached Bulldogs team, this was never going to be an easy assignment.

A Grizz Roar blog mention has to go to David Mazurek, who skated hard all night and really had the Bulldogs looking over their shoulder. Despite taking a hard hip check in the second, Mazurek kept going all night. Great performance at both ends of the ice for David who chipped in with two assists as well.

 Game Thoughts Bulldogs:

 The Dogs will feel hard done by not to walk out of the Bear with the two points tonight. A gutsy performance tonight from Alberni, who competed hard for three periods and have Jay Deo to thank for keeping out 55 of 50 shots. The Dogs have shored up there defence with the arrival of Bo Pellah and Eric Walker and if the good performances between the pipes can be consistent, this high scoring team could be primed for a playoff run.

Good efforts tonight from Pellah, Cristanti, Van Allen and certainly young defenseman Jared Wilson.

 1^st Star – Myles Fitzgerald     2^nd Star -  Brett Hartskamp   3^rd Star - Bo Pellah

 

Attendance - 1245