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