Victoria Grizzlies News
FIRST PERIOD BLITZ CARRIES GRIZZLIESOctober 17, 2009 Ron Rauch ©Times Colonist - After allowing 28 goals on a recent four-game B.C. Hockey League road trip, the Cowichan Valley Capitals should have been thinking about defence last night at Bear Mountain Arena. The team might have thought about it, but they didn’t execute at all as the Victoria Grizzlies rolled to a 7-4 victory before 1,392 fans. The Grizz exploded for six first-period goals as almost everything they fired in the direction of Cowichan netminders Alex Peck and Laurent Brossoit found the back of the net. It didn’t take long for Victoria to start the onslaught as captain Jordan Heywood scored on the game’s first shift at the 29second mark. Heywood beat former Grizz Peck with a quick shot from the slot. Peck, who was making his second start against Victoria at the Bear, also allowed the first shot to beat him in the other game, but his team rebounded for a 3-2 win. But on this night, the Grizz swarmed the Caps and by 7:58 of the first period, they had a 3-0 lead and Peck was pulled in favour of Brossoit. Cowichan Valley coach Scott Robinson played musical chairs with goaltenders in the first period, but nothing could slow down the Grizz. “After we got up 6-1 in the first period, it was tough for our guys to stay focused,’’ said Victoria coach Vic Gervais. “Cowichan started sending four or five players into the attack but our guys battled through it. Overall, it was an ugly win but we got two points. “Right now, I don’t think Cowichan is that confident in their goaltending. They really struggled in the first period. We had 15 shots and six goals.’’ Teal Burns, who misfired on a second-period penalty shot, and Alex Allan led the Grizz with two goals each. Singles were added by Heywood, Graeme McCormick and Jared Eng. Defenceman McCormick, who scored with a wrist shot on the power play, was playing in his first game after a trade earlier this month brought him here from Markham, Ont. Countering for the Caps, who trailed 6-1 late in the first period, were Nick Anderson, Taylor Paziuk, Jackson Garrett (shorthanded) and Anthony Perdicaro. The Grizz now have a record of six wins, four losses and two ties while the Capitals are 4-9-1. FACEOFFS: The score clock stopped working for a few minutes early in the first period ... Former Grizz Mike Hammond, who is playing with the Caps as an affiliated player, saw a lot of ice time from Robinson and he played with several different linemates. Hammond had several good scoring chances on the Cowichan power play. Hammond collected an assist on Perdicaro’s third-period goal. It took Cowichan almost 11 minutes to register its first shot of the game. Victoria outshot Cowichan 15-5 in the first period, and 34-32 overall. The three stars were Allan, who had four points, Burns and Eng. The Grizz are back in action tonight against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Game time is 7:15 p.m. at the Bear. Madison Dias from Victoria, defenceman Curtis Gedig and former Grizz Cam Reid have all been named to the Canada West roster for the upcoming 2009 World Junior A Challenge, which is being held from Nov. 1-8 in Summerside, P.E.I. Reid, who now plays for the Westside Warriors, was selected 192nd overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft by the Nashville Predators. Gedig went in the same draft (204th overall) to the New Jersey Devils. Dias is currently eligible for the 2010 NHL entry draft. Canada West will play in Group A with Russia and Sweden. The gold-medal game will be shown Nov. 8 on TSN.
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