Victoria, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies announced this past week that both 2005 born netminder; Oliver Auyeung-Ashton, and 2006 born forward; Tobias Pitka have committed to play at the University of Northern Michigan.
Just a week removed from finishing their seasons, falling in five games to Chilliwack in the Coastal Conference Final, Pitka announced his commitment on Friday while Auyeung-Ashton did so on Saturday morning.
Oliver finished his three year career with the Grizzlies this spring, back stopping the Grizzlies to the Conference Final where he sadly say his post season come to an end in game two against the Chiefs when he suffered a series ending injury. The Coquitlam born goalie ends as the Grizzlies all time leading goaltender in games played (96), wins (50) and shutouts (8). He also ranks in the top five in career save percentage (.916).
Oliver stormed onto the scene as a relatively unknown young player in the 2022-23 season that saw him appear in a ridiculous 44 out of 54 games as a 17 year old rookie. His performance between the pipes was good enough to net him the Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy in the BCHL as the leagues most outstanding rookie. He also represented the Grizzlies an All Star in 2023 and 2025.
Tobias Pitka joined the Grizzlies as the youngest player on the roster during the 2023-24 season from South Kent School in Connecticut, USA. Hailing from Poprad, Slovakia, the big six foot four, 225 pound centreman put together an under the radar solid rookie campaign with five goals and 19 points in 46 games.
Tobias returned this season and spent the majority of the season as the Grizzlies top centreman and smashing his rookie numbers. He missed a portion of the season while with team Slovakia at the World Junior Championships in Ottawa, but still put up 15 goals and 38 points in 41 games while being over 60% in the faceoff dot.
The entire Grizzlies organization would like to wish both Oliver and Tobias the best of luck moving on with their hockey careers as part of the NMU Wildcats NCAA program.
