Victoria Grizzlies News

GRIZZLIES LOOK TO STAY ON TRACK AT HOME

GRIZZLIES LOOK TO STAY ON TRACK AT HOME

February 14, 2010 Sharie Epp ©Times Colonist -

The Victoria Grizzlies blew away the Timberwolves 9-1 in Williams Lake and rode home high on road momentum last week.

Now, Williams Lake is visiting Bear Mountain Arena tonight for a rematch, and, despite (or maybe because of) the T-Wolves’ dismal nine-win record this season, Grizzlies coach Victor Gervais has been coming down hard on his guys in practice.

“I’m not giving them any chance to get too high. They can still have fun, but they’ve got to know it’s not going to be easy,” Gervais said, about the impending postseason. “We’ve played some of the bottom teams in the league here, but we lost to Westside.”

Gervais was referring to Victoria’s recent fourgame road trip to the Interior Conference, where the team began by losing 4-0 to the Warriors, the No. 3 team in the Interior. Leaving Westside, the Grizzlies hibernated until the third period of their next game in Quesnel, and came on strong to win 4-3 in overtime. Then it was an 8-5 blast in Prince George, and on to Williams Lake, a team that’s struggled on and off the ice, since returning to the B.C. Hockey League this season.

“We played better as the road trip went on. [The Timberwolves] worked real hard, but we were able to pass the puck around, and we got quite a few shots, so it worked out well,” said rookie defenceman Nick Buchanan, adding the Grizzlies need to remember not to play down to their opposition. “We don’t want to get any bad habits.”

The road-won points were certainly nice, as the Grizzlies didn’t lose ground on Powell River. Victoria is in third place in the Coastal Conference, three points back of the Kings. The worry is, except for the Warriors, the other road opponents were low on the league radar screen, and two of Victoria’s remaining five games are against Powell River.

“I’m trying to make sure they’re focused,” Gervais said. “We’ve been improving all year.”

One of the highlights of the trip was that the Grizzlies’ efforts to tweak their erratic power play seem to have paid dividends. In their three victories, Victoria put up seven goals with the man advantage.

“It seems like it’s clicking a little bit,” Gervais said. “They’re moving the puck better, and we’re shooting at the right time.”

One player who’s certainly shooting at the right time lately is Dylan Nowakowski. In Victoria’s last three games, the compact speedster from Calgary scored six goals, including a quad in Prince George, and added an assist. Gervais thinks it’s just a matter of growing confidence.

“Nowakowski had an awesome trip,” Gervais said. “He’s been our best player the last five or six games.”

Game time today is 7:15 p.m. BEAR TRACKS:

Former Victoria Salmon King Nate Forster has been filling in as Grizzlies assistant coach, whenever he can. Forster, a firefighter, is helping to replace former assistant Wade Bartley, who returned to his home in Columbus, Ohio, just after Christmas. Forster, a Victoria native, came up through the Victoria Racquet Club and went on to play in the Western Hockey League with Seattle, before his pro career took him to the ECHL, AHL, and Europe.