Victoria, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies prepare to host the Trail Smoke Eaters for the first time since November of 2022 tonight from the Q Centre at their first “Saturday Night at the Q”.
Victoria is looking to bounce back after a controversial loss (due to factors out of their control) on Saturday night in Alberni Valley. That loss marked their first blemish on the 2024-25 season schedule as they are now still a scorching 5-1 on the young year.
Victoria has impressively filled up the back of the net as they have already potted 30 goals through the first six games. You do the math, and you can find out quickly that that is a very showy five goals per game. It is no surprise with their talent on the team, however it may come as a bit of a shock to fans over the past few years as Victoria has come to be known for their team lock down defense first mentality. For reference Victoria averaged 3.26 goals per game last year and 3.02 the year before that.
On the other end of the ice tonight, the historic Trail Smoke Eaters “steam” their way into town for their first meeting with the “Grizz” since January 26th of this year and first time in Victoria since November 6, 2022. Both of those last two games resulted in Victoria wins. 3-0 on January 26, 2024 and 7-2 on November 6, 2022. Funnily enough, Grizzlies 19 year old UConn committed defenseman, Brady Smith, was a rookie on that 2022-23 Smoke Eaters team. For reasons unknown, this has been a team that has caused nightmares for the Smokies as over the past six games between the two squads, Victoria is 5-1 (ironic) and outscoring Trail: 28-16.
These numbers are even more puzzling considering Victoria has not fared well historically against the Interior Conference. Last year for context Victoria was 3-5-1 against the opposite conference while going 26-17-2 against their own side of the standings.
These statistics, however, are neither here nor there as it is a new season and the Smoke Eaters have had a strong start. After last night’s shootout loss in Alberni Valley, they are now 4-2-2. They have been filling up the back of the goal as they have found the back of the net 34 times in their first eight matches.
Key Players:
If anyone could argue against the likes of Drew Hockley of Victoria, Jeremy Loranger of Sherwood Park and Parker Lalonde of Brooks for being the best player in the BCHL so far, it is Victoria’s Reegan Hiscock who would get the nod. The 20 year old St. John’s, Newfoundland native has used his six foot five frame and speed to look like a man amongst boys. He has seven goals and 10 points through his first six games.
Victoria’s powerplay has been lethal so far at 34.8% and a key contributor to that is reigning BCHL rookie of the year; Chase Pirtle. Though he has only scored once so far since potting 25 a year ago, he already has six assists and four of which have come on the power play. The Cornell commit describes himself primarily as a play maker and he has certainly looked so.
For Trail, Jason Stefanek has been simply sensational. The twenty year old has four goals and seven points on a very rounded Trail offense. He had a mini three game point streak snapped last time out at West Kelowna, however he scored twice in the first game of the year and followed up with another the next night. Stefanek is committed to play at Dartmouth College and is from Yorba Linda, California, USA.
BE THERE:
Tickets are available for purchase here and remember that local youth under 18 are free of charge when accompanied by an adult all season long thanks to Maxxam Insurance. Limit of 2 per adult.
