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

Game Preview - Victoria Grizzlies v Alberni Valley Bulldogs, Friday, Nov 16,2012

 

 

The Road Warriors, aka the Victoria Grizzlies come home on Friday night to play only their second game at Bear Mountain Arena in the month of November.

After a great effort all be it in a losing cause to West Kelowna last Friday night, losing by one goal in the last minute of the third; and an impressive 7-3 win against an inform Prince George Spruce Kings in a long road trip up north last Saturday night, the team can take a lot of heart from these results. Credit to the boys, as both West Kelowna and Prince George are tough arena's to play in on the road and certainly the mileage from Kelowna to PG in one day speaks for itself.
Nice goal scoring efforts in the Prince George game saw Chase Kasier, DJ Jones, Blake Thompson and Myles Powell along with a two point effort from Mark McLellan sealed the points.

The Grizzlies come back home still leading the Island Division by one point, with Nanaimo and Friday nights opponents, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs hot on their heels.

The Bulldogs come in as one of the highest scoring teams in the BCHL, but, also a team that leaks a lot of goals. However recent signings Eric Walker(ex WHL) and Bo Pellah(ex Langley) have shored that defence up a bit, and the Dogs will be looking for some revenge after the OT loss to the Grizzlies back in mid-October on the Westshore. With the Bulldogs shoring up there defence, a sort of dark horse style team has emerged in the Alerbni Valley this season and they have looked impressive and can grind out the wins if necessary.

The Grizzlies welcome back Silver medallist Nolan DeJong from Team Canada West duty who has been missed over these last two weeks. One very noticeable thing recently has been the scoring talents of numerous players on the roster, as secondary scoring is coming in from all 4 lines and the rear guard. The flip side of the coin is, the Triplets have gone of the boil a little bit on the scoring department recently, which will hopefully resume regular service on Friday against the Dogs and Saturday night versus the Clippers. That being said, Myles Fitzgerald is on a 10 game points streak at this time and you can never argue the energy and work rate the triplets put in game in, game out.

The Grizzlies will still be withouts the talent of promsing 16 yr old defenceman, Mitch Meek who is out for around a month on the DL. It will be great to see Mitch back in the line up soon, who has been one of the Grizzlies most consistant players this season

 Chris Albertini seems to be settling in nicely and brings a lot to the team not only in the physical dept, but of course in defence and on ice presence. Along with fellow former OHLer, Davdi Mazurak, both players add a dimension of big guys who can handle the puck and create chances as well. Two solid additions to the roster to be sure.

 So two big Island division match ups coming up this weekend, in what looks like the most competitive Island division for many years.

Skate with Santa - Friday, Dec 21st

REMEMBER THE GAME SCHEDULED FOR DEC. 21 HAS BEEN MOVED FORWARD TO DEC. 16. YOUR TICKETS FOR DEC 21 ARE VALID FOR THE 16TH.
OF COURSE.
BRING YOUR SKATES TO THIS GAME ALSO. WE WILL BE INVITING THE PUBLIC TO JOIN US FOR A SKATE WITH SANTA AFTER THE GAME. BRING LOTS OF KIDS WITH SKATES AND BORROW SOME KIDS FROM YOUR NEIGHBOURS ALSO. THIS IS ALWAYS A FUN EVENT!
MEET SANTA, GET AUTOGRAPHS FROM THE PLAYERS ALL WHILE ENJOYING A FREE SKATE

Teddy Bear Toss - Sunday Dec 2nd

On December 2 your Grizzlies are going to be playing the Langley Rivermen at 1.30 pm. after the 'Grizzlies meet their fans' event at Colwood McDonalds.
Our annual TEDDY BEAR TOSS will be held during this game. So HEADS UP-- start collecting your teddy bears now!
These bears will be donated to the Queen Alexandra Foundation for Children by our Grizzlies. LET'S COVER THE ICE!

 

Today, Catch Nolan DeJong and Team Canada West in the Gold Medal Game, TSN2 @3:30pm

Just a reminder that you can catch Grizzlies D-man Nolan De Jong and Canada West taking on the USA in the gold-medal game of the WJAC live on TSN2 at 3:30pm PST. Good luck Nolan! Bring home the gold.

Team	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	PTS	GF	GA	Group	GF-GA	Order
United States	2	2	0	0	0	6	13	4	Group B	9
Canada East	2	1	0	0	1	3	5	12	Group B	-7
Switzerland	2	0	0	0	2	0	6	8	Group B	-2

Group A

Group B

Team	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	PTS	GF	GA	Group	GF-GA	Order
Canada West	2	1	1	0	0	5	11	3	Group A	8
Russia	2	1	0	1	0	4	9	5	Group A	4
Czech Republic	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	13	Group A	-12

Victoria Grizzlies 7 - 3 Prince George Spruce Kings@ Prince Geoge Coliseum, Nov 10, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Tony Burrows:

 

Tonight the Victoria Grizzlies laid a resounding whupping on the Prince George Spruce Kings.

This is the first game PG has lost in their own arena “The Castle” Congratulations Grizz!

After the disappointing game in West Kelowna last night the Grizz bus headed for Prince George in a big snowstorm. They drove all night and arrived in PG about 7.30 am in -20 temperatures. They had a quick meal at Tim Hortons and went to the Ramada and slept 'till about 3pm when they got up and had a dinner then wandered across the road to the arena. It seems to be a trend that our Grizz play better when they are exhausted than fresh! The Spruce Kings did not play the night before so were fresh.

I know that I am not supposed to demean referees, but would you think a normal referee would keep one team in the penalty box for almost entirely a whole first period and only give one penalty to the other team? This was a very frustrating start to the game and Brady Rouleau was the star of that first period. The Grizz only got a few shots on net but they certainly did make them count! During the first period on the second penalty to the Grizz PG scored on the power-play. At 8.38 during a brief 5 on 5 Myles Powell scored from Mark McLellan and Chase Kaiser evening things up. Shortly the Grizz are given another penalty and this resulted in another power play goal against us by PG's Mitch Eden.

At 16.40 of the first period the only penalty was called against P.G. And at 18.25 Myles Fitzgerald with assist from Blake Thompson and DJ Jones put the puck behind PG goalie Kirk Thompson. But at 19.39 referee Jim Storey was hard at work again trying to make life as miserable as possible for the Grizzlies by giving Blake Thompson a call for roughing? With having so very little time to play at full strength our Grizzlies did very well to come out of the first period tied 2 apiece. This was entirely due to the great play by our Grizz special teams.

At 3.27 of the second period the dynamite line of Blake Thompson, DJ Jones and Myles Powell scored our first go ahead goal making it 3 to 2 Victoria. Then something odd happened. The Spruce Kings ejected their #1 goalie Kirk Thompson from net after allowing 3 goals, and replaced him with their backup Liam McLeod. It did not take long for our Grizz to beat Liam! At 4.06 David Mazurek scored from DJ Jones. Making the score 4 to 2 Victoria. ( Now I want you to remember that this is the second period, and Victoria has had a dismal record for second periods almost throughout the season) . And before the end of the second period our intrepid Grizzlies scored to make the score 5 to 2 when at 15.40 Stefan Nicholishen scored from Garrett Skrbich and Myles Powell. Now how's that?? We OWNED that period. Three unanswered goals in the SECOND Period. Maybe the curse has been lifted!

And now for a very chippy and rough third period. PG was not happy at being down 5 to 2 and showed it by becoming very frustrated. Lots of slashing, roughing and some fighting and referee Jim Storey now had no choice but to start giving some penalties to PG also! At 8.59 Victoria opened the third period scoring when Chase Kaiser scored from DJ Jones and Zach Urban. This was followed shortly at 13.45 when Mark McLellan scored from Chris Albertini and Chase Kaiser. The flood gates were open now! This made the score a whopping 7 to 2 for Victoria! But in the end the Spruce Kings regained some of their dignity by scoring a late goal at 16.39.

Definitely a great showing for the Grizzlies beating a strong team that had not even lost one home game so far in their own “Castle”.

My Game thoughts:

:Way to go Chase Kaiser! Your second goal this year. You have been snake bitten so many times this season. This could easily have been your 10^th goal. Hopefully now you will show what a great player you really are!

Congrats to DJ Jones on being named player of the game and earning No. 1 game star! And earning 4 points!

Congrats to all our special teams—you guys were ON FIRE tonight!

Brady Rouleau. You were absolutely terrific tonight! 39 out of 42 shots stopped in that tiny arena!

Nice to see goals being scored by lots of different players now! Tonight's goals by Myles Powell, Myles Fitzgerald, Blake Thompson, David Mazurek, Stefan Nicholishen, Chase Kaiser and Mark McLellan! How's that for spreading them out!

Our Grizzlies continue to amaze me! Great performance from a team “just thrown together” as Brett Hartskamp put it in his pre-game interview.

Congrats to Justin Coachman for just skating away from a fight. I know how much self control that must have taken. That's putting your team before your own satisfaction. No need to get suspended—we need you!

Victoria Grizzlies 4 - 5Westside Warriors @Royal LaPage Place, November 9th, 2012

 

 

 

 

By Tony Burrows

 

 

 

Grizzlies go down to West Kelowna in the last 52 seconds of the game!

For our Grizzlies it seems that they are having trouble with the first game of a road trip. In the first of 2 more tough back to back road trip games our Grizzlies were defeated by the West Kelowna Warriors 5 to 4 at Kelowna's Royal Lepage Place.

After an extremely slow start to the first period in which the Grizz were lucky that they were not scored on, just 4 minutes into the game Coach Bill Bestwick called a time out for the Grizzlies. They had not even had a shot on goal yet! This time out ;turned out to be a masterful strategy by a great coach. Whatever he said to his team must have really sunk home because the Grizzlies play picked up amazingly! At 13.10 Myles Fitzgerald put Victoria on the scoreboard first with assist from his brother Gerry and Blake Thompson. Both teams were now playing good, hard hitting hockey. At 17.53 of the first David Walchuck scored his first goal this season as he had just returned after nursing injuries. Dave got this great goal with help from Garrett Skrbich. Then at 18.01 Myles Fitzgerald got the Grizzlies into penalty trouble putting them a man down for hooking. Then to add to the Grizzlies woes at 18.42 David Mazurek was sent to the penalty box for 2 minutes for the same thing. This gave the Warriors a 3 on 5 advantage which they promptly capitalized on making the score at the end of the first 2 to 1 Victoria.

As we all know the Grizz have been mostly dismal in the second periods of several games. This one was no exception. Our players were badly overscating the puck and giving juicy turn overs. Also rebounds in front of our goalie Michael Stilliadis were left in the crease uncleared. Scotty Didmon said on the broadcast that you could see that our Coach Bill Bestwick was getting frustrated with the play from the team. Even our “Awesome threesome” apparently were not playing as well as we have seen them play. At 12.28, on a power play Jetlan Houcher from the Warriors scored tying the game. The high point of period 2 came when at 12.42 Brett Hartskamp, with assists from Turner Lawson and Chris Albertini managed to beat last season's Grizzlies goaltender Garrett Rockafellow who was traded to West Kelowna at the beginning of this season. This put Victoria ahead by goal until at 17.50 the Warrior's Brennan Clark scored another tying goal. Then at 18.14 of the second period Brett Mckinnon beat our goalie Mike Stilliadis giving Kelowna the go ahead goal at the end of the second.

As usual the Grizzlies came alive in the third period. They played much better than they had for the first 2 periods. Passing was crisper and there were fewer ugly turn overs. The Grizz were rewarded for their efforts at 11.02 with a goal by Mark McLellan from Kaiser and Powell! This tied the game at 4 apiece!It really looked like we were heading into overtime (as we have done so many times this season!) until, with only 52 seconds left in the regulation time Brett Mckinnon scored what would be the winning goal.

Game thoughts:

Even though we only got the game through our broadcast, It was great to hear about one of fan favorites, Garrett Rockafellow playing for the Warriors. Great game Rocky!

I feel sorry for our team that left Kelowna in a snowstorm to drive up to Prince George hopefully arriving about 6am. then get a few hours shut-eye before they have to take on a fresh PG team that did not play tonight and slept in their own beds—not on a bus!

It was sooo close to going into overtime!

This weekend's Game previews

Victoria v’s West Kelowna

 

 

 If anyone thought the Trail, Penticton and Merritt road trip a fortnight ago was tricky, this weekend’s battles in Kelowna and then the hike up to Prince George will be a tough ask as well.

On Friday night, the Grizzlies roll into West Kelowna to take on Rylan Ferster’s Warrirors. The Warriors, have an impressive 21 points on the season and are in third place in the Interior despite coming off back to back losses.

With potent scoring threats up front such as Marcus Basara and Max French, including potential rookie of the year candidate in 17 year old, Defenseman Adam Plant, the Warriors will make it tough for the Grizzlies on Friday night.

One stat the Grizzlies will be looking to put to rest will be the fact that they have never won a game at Royal LaPage Place, since the Warriors moved there five years ago.

Victoria will come up against for the first time, former defenseman Braxton Bilious and back-up goalie Garrett Rockafellow, who both went to Kelowna in the trade for Garret Skrbich and Brady Rouleau.

The Grizzlies will hopefully have Leo Fitzgerald back in the line-up for tomorrow night, while they will still be without Nolan DeJong who is representing Team Canada West at the World Junior A challenge . The Warriors will be missing one of their top scorers in Seb Lloyd who is also a part of Team Canada West.

 Victoria v’s Prince George

 

 

The Grizzlies, than have the long journey from the Interior up north to Prince George the following night. For a distance almost the equivalent of driving from Scotland and heading almost as far as the heart of Czech Republic, this will be a tricky tie against the Spruce Kings on the travelling alone.

Prince George, who have undergone a renaissance of sorts in the last two years years under Head Coach, Dave Dupas;  have started the season well and match the Grizzlies with a points total of 25 points.

Victoria, who will also see two of last season’s crusaders in Cam Lawson and Coltyn Hansen, who have both gotten off to excellent starts since there trade up North. On our side, I’m sure Spruce Kings fans will be intrigued to see the return of the triple Fitzgerald threat, as the triplets play their first game against their former team after becoming firm fan favourites in BC’s Northern Capital.  As this match goes, despite a few blips against Trail and Alberni recently, the Grizzlies are a force to be reckoned with and few teams in this league can match the work rate, tenacity and coaching ability that Bill Bestwick’s boys have.

So tune into the action, as the Grizzlies look to cement their role as one of the BCHL’s teams to beat this season with two tough tests against the Warriors and Kings.

 

Coltyn Hansen secures a scholarship to Sacred Heart University:

 

 

Congratulations to former Grizzlies and current Spruce King, Coltyn Hansen, as news just announced is that Hansen has secured an NCAA scholarship to Sacred Heart Collage of Fairfield, Conn for the 2012/14 season. The Sacred Heart Pioneers, have an excellent program and are competitive year in year out. Coltyn will be joining former Grizzlie Jared Eng in Connecticut .

 

Coltyn Hansen in his Grizzlie days

 

 Will done Coltyn and well deserved

 

 

Nolan DeJong and Team Canada West advance in Yarmouth.

Congratulations to Nolan DeJong and Team Canada West for going undefeated at the round robin stage sand earning a bye in to the semi-finals at the World Junior A challenge.
Nolan has played in every game so far and has impressed as has the whole squad as they look to defend the Gold Medal for Team West.
BCHLers, Wade Murphy and Alex Kerfoot are the tournament points leaders with 5 points at this point.

Nolan DeJong

Nolan and the boys will play their semi final match up against Team Canada East on Friday night.

Here is the World Junior A tournament website: http://www.hockeycanada.ca/wjac

Happy Birthday 19th Birthday - Zach Urban

Happy Birthday to the Captain himself as Zach Urban turns 19 today.
Urban, who leads by example on and off the ice and has been a big part of the franchise revival.
Zach, hope you manage to get a beer or two in tonight and a big happy birthday from all the Grizzlies fans to you.

Zach McPhee signs with the WHL Kootenay Ice

Although his Junior A rights are held by the Grizzlies, power forward Zach McPhee who is a free agent in the WHL, has signed with the Kootenay Ice after this release from the Everett Silvertips.
There was no guarantee he would be coming to Victoria in the first place, but, needless to say he won't be in a black and gold uniform any time soon.

Zach McPhee

2012/13 Season - Grizzlies Schedule Changes

A HEADS UP TO ALL YOU HOCKEY FANS. OUR LATE DECEMBER SCHEDULE HAS BEEN CHANGED!!!!
In order to give both the Grizzles and the Capitals players more time over the Christmas break with their families both teams have made the following changes to the posted schedule:

The home game (in Vic.) against the Cowichan Capitals scheduled for Dec. 21 is moved BACKWARD to Sunday, Dec. 16.
The away game against the Cowichan Capitals scheduled for Dec. 28 has been moved FORWARD to January 2 (in Cowichan)
THIS GIVES THE BOYS ALMOST 2 WEEKS HOLIDAY TO ENJOY WITH THEIR FAMILIES!

Brady Rouleau commits to Qunnipiac for next season

You knew it was only a matter of time before Goalie Brady Rouleau, would receive a scholarship to the NCAA. Rouleau, has a signed on with the NCAA Div 1, Qunnipiac University Bobcats.
Nineteen year old Brady, who had a great season with Cowichan last year, has really built on that success with the Grizzlies and has been a major part of the revival in Victoria during the 2012/13 season.
An agile goalie, who doesn't give up a lot of rebounds and has maintained consistency in his game; along with keeping an excellent GAA throughout his Junior A career.

Qunnipiac, already has some excellent former BCHL players on their roster; which include former Caps Captain and local Victoria boy Zack Currie, Conner and Kellen Jones from the Vipers and Russell Goodman a former Clippers Captain to name a few.

Brady, well deserved and the Grizzlies fans are excited for you for not only this season, but, in your NCAA career as well.

Victoria Grizzlies 1 - 3 Cowichan Valley Capitals @ Bear Mountain Arena, Nov 2nd, 2012

Another ill-tempered affair would see in the 2^nd period Justin Coachman drop the gloves with Keyler Bruce who had second thoughts at the last minute about the tilt with ‘Coach’ ; and then the talented, all be it vocal/chirper,  Cowichan’s leading scorer Ryan Hanes took the legs from right under a Grizz player with his stick just before a puck was dropped at centre ice. A little bad blood from the game up in Duncan a few weeks ago to be sure.

Although I heard a number of Grizzlies fans saying this should be two points in the bag prior to face off I wasn’t so sure.  With Hanes, Jung, Mueller , Burns and Derek Dun in the lineup, the Caps boast some very talented experienced BCHL players.  Although the Grizzlies where looking to keep their good run going, a game against the Caps despite their league position is always a hard fought contest.

 1^st period – With Meek, Walchuk and Leo Fitzgerald out with injuries and Nolan DeJong on Team Canada duty, the Grizzlies where certainly a little undermanned, which meant a call up for AP Shawn McBride.

Losing one Fitzgerald out of the line-up does lose it potency, which is not to say both Myles and Gerry didn’t turn in a good performance and where dangerous on the attack. The Fitz where joined on a line with Stefan Nicholishen and did have some nice chances.

However, the Caps would be the ones to get on the board first with Travis Stephens and Ryan Hanes breaking up the ice setting up former WHLer Mikael Jung for a 1-0 Caps lead.

Although the Grizzlies would have the bulk of the possessions, Derek Dun who was stellar on the night would keep the home side at bay.

 

2^nd Period – The intermission pep talk didn’t go according to plan for the Grizzlies as Stephen’ s would again set up Jung for his 2^nd  goal in the first minute of the period.

The rest of the period would get chippy and a little rough as both teams would see a number of chances on the power play. The Grizzlies would make one count mid-way through the 2nd after Dante Hahn would jump on a rebound from Dun and slot it home glove side for a 2-1 game at that point. Credit to Dante who worked hard, especially after coming back recently from Team Canada West camp.

But, it would be the Caps who would be the opportunists in this one as Mikael Jung would turn provider for young Ryan Coughlan who would restore the Caps two goal lead two minutes later.  Jung, aside from his 3 points on the night, was a handful and plays well off the puck.

Dun and Rouleau would keep the score down for the reminder of the 2^nd period.

 

3^rd Period – Although the Grizzlies would reassert themselves in the third they simple couldn’t find the breakthrough to make the comeback on the night. Dun, would continue to frustrate the Grizzlies, who would go down to their second defeat of the season at the Bear; while the Caps picked up their first road victory on the season.

 

Game Thoughts Grizz – The Grizzlies didn’t play poorly, they just ran out of ideas going forward at times. Losing Leo from the top line was certainly felt, but, they ran into a very good BCHL goalie in the form of Derek Dun.  This was a good effort on the night and there will be games like this for any team throughout the season.  The Grizzlies I’m sure will be looking for some revenge on Dec 1st, when Victoria heads up to Duncan for the next battle of the Malahat.

The Penalty kill continues to be impressive for the Grizzlies

 Game Thought Caps - Are a far better team than their record suggests and have the roster as well as the experience to bring themselves back into this season if they can discover some consistency.  How Derek dun didn’t get a star tonight was pretty poor.

 

Attendance - 1455                    Shots Goal - Grizzlies 33 and Caps 21 

Powerplays  - Grizzlies 1 for 5 and Caps 0 for 4

Three Stars 1st * Mikael Jung     2nd * Travis Stephans     3rd * Dante Hahn

 

 

Nolan DeJong makes Team Canada West + Dante Hahn makes the CJHL prospect game

Congrats to Nolan DeJong on making the final roster for Team Canada West in Yarmouth NS for the World Jnr A challenge. A great accomplishment to go along with Nolan excellent start to his Junior hockey career.
Playing alongside some of the other elite players at the Jnr A level and the BCHL which dominates the Team Canada West roster, with some of DeJong's teammates ato name a few who are, Wade Murphy, Alex Kerfoot, Evan Richardson and Tanner Jago.

This is a tremendous opportunity in what is sure to be an amazing experience for Nolan and one I'm sure Grizzlies fans will be falling closely.

Fellow Grizzlies Dane Hahn and Michael Stiliadis,  didn't make the roster ,but, put in good performances. To be picked for this camp in the first place is a real feather in in the camp for any Junior player and a real platform to improve there game,

Congrats to Nolan and great efforts Michael and Dante.

So follow Nolan progresss in Yarmouth from Nov 5th to 11th and Go Team West:
http://hockeycanada.ca/index.php/ci_id/199471/la_id/1.htm

Dante Hahn picked for prospect game:

Dante Hahn will remain in Yarmouth as he will be a part of the CJHL top prospects game also taking place on Nov 10th and 11th. This will be a chance for some of the top CJHL stars from around the country to showcase themselves to the scouts. 'Knock em' dead Dante!!!!

http://www.cjhlhockey.com/news/news_detail.html?newsID=482