Looking to the future: The Grizz in 2012-13

On January 10^th when the Victoria Grizzlies traded away five veteran players at the trade deadline they kicked off what is hoped to be a quick rebuild for the 2012-2013 hockey season. The team has experienced some short-term pain with just 2 wins and a tie over their last 19 games but the long-term gain should be well worth it. Of the 21 players on the Grizzlies roster the only 4 not eligible to return next season are forward Wes Myron who is going to Boston University on a scholarship, defencemen Kevin Smith, Cole Gelley and goalie Taylor Pears. The 17 skaters who remain should be part of a formidable Grizzlies team next season. The improvement of the young players with the extra ice time they’ve received has been impressive, up front the line of Cam Lawson centering Coltyn Hansen and Chase Kaiser have proved that they are legitimate top 6 forwards at the BCHL level and should be gathering lots of interest from college scouts in the early going next season. That trio along with the re-acquisition of top 5 BCHL point scorer Wade Murphy should give the Grizzlies a strong offensive core. Seventeen year-old Myles Powell who has shown some slick hands and offensive potential should be in the mix for top 9 forward duties, along with Alex Holland, Mike Sandor and Mitchell Smith as they compete for one of the six 20 year old slots. One of the keys for the Grizzlies could be the health of a trio of 17 year-old wingers, David Walchuk, Mark McLellan and CJ Lillies are all over 6’1” and 185lbs and as rookies they have all shown flashes of their potential. Unfortunately they have all battled injuries during the year, when healthy all three are big-bodied wingers with the ability to skate well and have shown a good skill level.

On the blueline the Grizzlies return 3 of their top 4 defencemen in Stefan Gonzales, Braxton Bilous and Nolan De Jong. All three defencemen are big and mobile with Bilous and De Jong having already accepted college scholarships to Merrimack and Cornell respectively, Gonzales is probably not far behind in seeing NCAA offers. Since arriving from Chilliwack in a trade the 19 year-old Gonzales has been a veteran steadying influence on the ice for the Grizzlies. Upon Gonzales arrival early in the season he was paired with the 16 year-old De Jong and it was at that point that the rookies game really took off and he showed why he is garnering interest for the 2013 NHL draft with his two-way game. Another defenseman with a solid two-way game gathering some attention from scouts is Bilous, after suffering through an injury riddled start to the season the 17 year old assistant captain has really stepped up his game since returning from injury in late January. The Grizzlies also will have 18 year-old Jaden Schmeisser returning next year. Signed out of junior “B” in December, the 6’2” Schmeisser is more of a stay at home defenceman and a punishing hitter who brings a big physical presence and an improving all-round game to the Grizzlies blueline. Big Jesse Ursic will try to return from a gruesome skate cut to his leg that ended his 2011-12 season early.

In net the Grizzlies have Garrett Rockafellow, before going down with a season ending knee injury in January the 18 year-old had wrestled the starting job from incumbent Jamie Tucker. Rockafellow needs to work on his consistency but when he is on top of his game he has shown the ability to steal games for his team. The Grizzlies will also have Nick Taylor coming back to compete for the back-up spot behind Rockafellow.

The Grizzlies also will have some new players coming in as the future considerations in trades involving Sean Robertson, Brad Gehl and Jarryd Ten Vaanholt, the Grizzlies could use one more impact forward to play with Murphy, one more top 4 defenceman and a veteran goalie to team up with Rockafellow. If they receive that in those deals there will not be many available roster spots to fill over the summer.
Watch out Westshore, the future for your Grizzlies is looking quite promising.