Victoria, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies play host to the Cowichan Valley Capitals this evening from the Q Centre for their seventh and final meeting of the 2024-25 regular season.
Cowichan has had the upper hand so far this season, holding a 4-2-0 record against Victoria while the Grizzlies sit at 2-2-2 against their over the Malahat rivals. A big part of the Capitals success, both against all competition and the Grizzlies, has been their ability to put the puck in the back of the net.They are scoring at an impressive rate of 4.22 goals per game making them one of the more dangerous offensive teams in the BCHL.
The Grizzlies fell on Saturday night to the Powell River Kings, but thankfully for them, everyone else of importance to them, also drew a loss. That made for no standings movement in the jam packed Coastal Conference. Victoria is third with a 25-12-7 record (57 points) and they trail the Surrey Eagles who had 58 points and a 27-14-4 record. Victoria does however have a game in hand. Cowichan Valley is in fourth with 55 points and Coquitlam in 5th with 54 points. To describe it as close would be an understatement.
Victoria is enjoying what can be looked at as an ultra successful second half of the year. After a respectable 15-8-4 record in the opening half, the Grizzlies have been lights out in the second, having picked up points in 13 of a possible 17 games (10-4-3). Victoria’s overall .648 points percentage would be the 6th best in franchise history if the season ended today. They are just 4 points away from their 61 total last season with ten games remaining.
Tonight is the second weekend of what will be a jam packed March for the Grizzlies. They spend this weekend at home against the Capitals then Clippers tomorrow night, before they head out on the road on Tuesday for a Wednesday night meeting with the Bucks in Cranbrook. After that Cranbrook game, the team will play the final seven games of the regular season in 17 days, closing things out on the mainland on the 28th and 29th.
Big news from the trainers table is that Alex Hebblethwaite is making his return to the Grizzlies lineup this evening. The 19 year old forward from Mississauga, has missed the last two months after going head long into the end boards during a Grizzlies visit to the Alberni Valley Multiplex on January 3rd. That scary injury saw the game grind to an hour long stoppage and resulted in first responders on the ice and an ambulance as well. It was certainly a scary and heart wrenching night for the Victoria squad watching their third highest goal scorer this year go down in such a fashion. Seeing him back and ready to play will certainly lift the spirits of the home squad this evening.
Grizzlies captain and forward Jacksenn Hungle is set to return to the lineup. the 21 year old has not played since February 7th against Nanaimo when he suffered a lower body injury. He has appeared in just 67% of the Grizzlies games this year (28 of 43).
These two teams do NOT like each other and if the last few meetings are any indication of how this one might go, buckle up for a spicy night.
Tickets are available online by CLICKING HERE to skip the line and as always, local youth are free of charge when accompanied by an adult thanks to Maxam Insurance.
NEED TO KNOW STATS
- Victoria is 2-1-2 in their last five and 5-3-2 in their last ten
- Cowichan Valley is 3-1-1 in their last five and 6-4-0 in their last ten
- Nicolas Beaudoin scored the overtime winner against the Grizzlies on February 21st from the Cowichan Community Arena
- Charles Cote was issued a questionable five minute major the last time these two teams met but it was changed to a minor after the game
- Tom Molson leads the Grizzlies with seven points against Cowichan this season (0-7-7)
- Victoria is 100% on the penalty kill vs Cowichan this season (26/26)
- Reegan Hiscock has 10 points in his last six games (5-5-10)
- Hiscock also leads the Grizzlies in scoring during the second half with 13 goals and 24 points in 17 games
- Chase Pirtle has 11 points in his last seven games (4-7-11)
- Tobias Pitka has eight points in his last seven games (3-5-8)
- Alex Hebblethwaite had six points in six games before his injury (3-3-6)
- Grizzlies captain Jacksenn Hungle play for the first time since February 7th
- Tom Molson has nine points in his last nine games (5-4-9)
- Julian Cull had a quiet five game point streak snapped on Saturday night (2-3-5)
- Denny Monahan leads all Grizzlies skaters with a +25 plus/minus
2024-25 Team Ranks
| Victoria | Cowichan Valley | |
| Goals For Per Game | 3.86 (6th) | 4.22 (5th) |
| Goals Against Per Game | 3.43 (10th) | 3.87 (16th) |
| Power Play Percentage | 25.9% (4th) | 18.9% (14th) |
| Penalty Kill Percentage | 85.0% (3rd) | 77.4% (13th) |
| Penalty Minutes Per Game | 10.64 (7th) |
10.91 (8th) |
