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.