Victoria Grizzlies News
LATE GOAL SINKS GRIZZLIESMay 03, 2009 Sharie Epp ©Times Colonist - Fast, tough, chippy, and a heartbreaker for Victoria fans — welcome to hockey in May at Bear Mountain Arena. In a showcase of the puck wars to come this week in the RBC Cup national Junior A championship, the Humboldt Broncos defeated the host hometown Grizzlies 2-1 last night in the first game of the fiveteam, nine-day tournament. With one second remaining in regulation time, Humboldt forward Scott Schroeder stole the puck on the red line, and scored the winner on a breakaway. “It was a terrible way to lose, but it’s a long tournament,” said Grizzlies coach Geoff Courtnall, still happy with the way his team performed. “I think we worked hard and competed.” The Grizzlies are back on the ice tonight, when they meet Ontario’s Kingston Kimco Voyageurs at 7 p.m., following the early game between the B.C. and Pacific region champion Vernon Vipers and the Summerside, P.E.I., Western Capitals of the East region at 2 p.m. Despite a month without game action, the Grizzlies came out charging into the Humboldt zone early in the first period. The Broncos, however, showed the poise of defending RBC Cup champions, and the teams soon settled into a head-tohead standoff. “We knew every team was going to be physical,” Schroeder said. “We had to go right back at them.” As the game shifted from end to end, goaltender Anthony Grieco, in the Victoria net, and Broncos netminder Mathieu LaRochelle were terrific. Penalty killers on both sides were kept on the fly as the teams went at each other with the ferocity of arch rivals. The Grizzlies finally broke through the Broncos’ armour on a five-on-three power play, when captain Brian Nugent sent a sharp angled wrist shot home at 15:07 of the second period. The lead lasted until a Humboldt blitz netted the tying goal by Spencer Braaten at 1:48 of the third, and overtime seemed imminent, until Schroeder got hold of the puck, and faked his way past Grieco. “I didn’t know how much time I had left,” Schroeder said. “I figured I might as well try something.” Live scoring of the games is available at www.hockeycanada.ca.
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