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.