Coquitlam, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies begin their much-anticipated 2025-26 BCHL season tonight in Coquitlam at the Poirier Sport & Leisure Centre at 7:00 PM against an Express team that they bounced from playoff contention last year.
It seems like much longer than five and a half months ago that Victoria was taking down the Coquitlam Express four games to two in the first round of the 2025 BCHL playoffs, but that time has come and gone, leaving many new faces and storylines. Victoria’s lineup tonight will see just five players who played in that opening round series, while Coquitlam, on the other hand has just six returnees to their squad. This seems like it will be a common theme around the league with the new junior hockey landscape.
Victoria is coming off a season where they came up short in a Conference Final against the Chilliwack Chiefs, icing a very talented and weathered group. With that being said, the vast majority of their “heavy hitters” either aged out or moved on to the NCAA, leaving gaping holes in the roster. While some teams might try to stockpile young talent to build up a team over the next several seasons, it would seem that this franchise is, and will always be, in win-now mode. Their opening night roster will bolster a group of young men with over 1,800 games of junior hockey experience, which doesn’t even include Niklas Karjalainen’s 79 games of Finnish U20 hockey or Vidar Blixt’s 145 games of Swedish U20 hockey. The moral of the story is that Victoria seems to have built a heavy, experienced, and hungry-to-win roster.
The team fared well in exhibition play, going 2-1-0 and outscoring opponents 24-12. How much of that scoring dominance carries over the regular season is yet to be seen, but up-and-down scoring in the lineup through the preseason was certainly a welcome sign.
The Grizzlies finished fourth in the Coastal Conference with a 28-17-9 record last season. Newly named Head Coach and General Manager, Geoff Grimwood, has made it known throughout the summer that he wants to take no steps back and keep the foot on the pedal for a franchise that played in its first Conference Final since 2019. Their newly named hometown Captain, Landon Mackie, will certainly be one of the names they look towards for leadership, along with new Alternate Captains, Dan d’Alessandro and Denny Monahan on the back end.
The season kicking off tonight in Coquitlam and then tomorrow in Surrey will also give Grizzlies fans their first look at newly signed 20-year-old Trae Johnson from the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL. The Martensville, Saskatchewan native appeared in 289 games in the WHL (including playoffs) between the Brandon Wheat Kings, Kelowna Rockets, and aforementioned Hurricanes. Known for his incredible leadership qualities, he should be a jack of all trades for Victoria. The six-foot-one forward can score (seven goals and 20 points last year), kill penalties, play on the power play, and even fight (21 fight majors the last three years).
Victoria will also have to begin this year without the familiar name of Oliver Auyeung-Ashton between the pipes for the first time since the start of the 2021-22 season. After setting franchise records in; games played for a netminder (96), wins (50) and shutouts (8) he has moved on to the NCAA with the Northern Michigan Bobcats. The Grizz will look to capable 20-year-old veteran Carter Capton (38 games in the BCHL & 34 in the AJHL) along with highly sought after rookie Paolo Frasca (St. Andrew’s College) to man the crease for the 2025-26 season.
Puck drop goes at 7:00 PM from the “Train Station” in Coquitlam this evening but expect a slight delay as they will be celebrating their 25th anniversary season kick off. The game is available for viewing with a paid subsription on floHockey and to listen free of charge on the Grizzlies Audio Stream Network on mixLR with Tom Wilke.
