Victoria, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies welcome the Powell River Kings into town tonight at 6:00 PM from the Q Centre in an effort to return to their winning ways.
It has been an up and down season to start for the Grizzlies as they kick started their 2024-25 programming with five straight wins before now having dropped four in a row to; Alberni Valley, trail, Penticton and Salmon Arm.
This is an action packed week for the Grizzlies who are about to play their fourth game in eight days.
Powell River has also lost four in a row and are coming off at 3-2 loss to Langley at the showcase and 7-5 loss to trail the day before. The Kings have struggled mightily throughout the early stages of the season as they have ended up in the win column just once through the first nine games of the year. They are last in the Coastal Conference with a 1-6-2 record.
The issue for the team of royalty is that they are giving up on average 5.22 goals against per game which is certainly not a recipe for success. On the offensive end they have been just fine and are scoring at a solid rate, however they just can’t seem to stop the bleeding in their own end.
Victoria has been on either side of that. This weekend they were great defensively, however gave up two shorthanded goals against Penticton and then couldn’t get the offense going against Salmon Arm. Early season work to be done is clear around the league as all teams are still working to cement their systems and team identities.
This is a team that Victoria has owned over the past couple of years, owning a 13-3-0 record over the past three years.
Look Out For:
Chase Pirtle loves playing against the Kings and for his career has six goals and 14 points in 9 games against the team from the Sunshine Coast. Pirtle is also back to his scoring ways as of late, registering three goals and four points in the last three games.
Tyler Hodges is coming off a spectacular 34 save performance against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks where he gave up just one tally. He is 2-2 in his career against Powell River.
