Nanaimo, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies visit the Nanaimo Clippers tonight at 7:00 p.m. for the first of five meetings between the two Island rivals in the final 11 games of the regular season.
The Grizzlies and Clippers don’t like each other. There is no other political way of putting it, and that mutual feeling should only fester over the next month as the two squads get set for the postseason in April and a very possible meeting in the first or second round. It doesn’t help that they will see each other five times in the final 11 games as they prepare for the month of April. There will soon be no secrets if there even are any at this juncture.
Nanaimo leads the season series at 2-0 so far, while Victoria went 4-2-1 against them last season.
Victoria sits at 20-21-2 through 43 games this season and is 4th in the Coastal West Division, trailing the Alberni Valley Bulldogs by three points with a game in hand. A good run in the final 11 games could set up a first-round meeting between the Clippers and the Grizzlies, with Cowichan (34-9-3) looking uncatchable for Nanaimo. It will not be without difficulty as they face the Clippers five times, the Capitals twice, Coquitlam (25-15-2), West Kelowna (33-8-2) & Trail (26-17-0).
Nanaimo is 25-13-5 through 43 games this season and also holds the impressive stat of being the best BCHL team in the second half. The Clippers are 10-1-3 in the 14 games since the break while outscoring opponents 76-47. They are fresh off a perfect weekend that saw them knock off the Chilliwack Chiefs 5-4 in overtime at home before thrashing the Surrey Eagles 6-1 on Sunday.
As always, their offense is their strong suit. Their 4.02 goals per game is 6th in the BCHL, and their top six is one of the best in the league. They currently have six players who are at least one point per game. Those names include the likes of Hayden Fechner (48 pts), Tanner Bruender (43 pts), Jack Rimmer (42 pts), Sam Boisvert (37 pts), Blake Jones (18 pts), and Caden Okovita (17 pts). Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau has also been rock solid for them in 31 appearances between the pipes. The 20-year-old is 18-11-2 with a 3.13 GAA and .900 SV% to go along with 4 shutouts.
With so much riding on these final 11 games and a weekend that came up empty for Victoria, you can bet they will have plenty of extra motivation heading into this all-Island Rival meeting.
Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m., and you can listen live for free on the Grizzlies Audio Streaming App on Mixlr with Tom Wilke or tap into the away feed on FloHockey.
Grizzlies at Clippers By The Numbers
2025-26 Team Ranks
| Victoria Grizzlies | Nanaimo Clippers | |
| Record | 20-21-2 (14th) | 25-13-5 (6th) |
| Goals Per Game | 3.86 (8th) | 4.02 (6th) |
| Goal Against Per Game | 4.09 (15th) | 3.33 (9th) |
| Power Play Percentage | 24.5% (10th) | 26.6% (6th) |
| Penalty Kill Percentage | 75.1% (15th) | 77.2% (9th) |
| Penalty Minutes Per Game | 16.45 (3rd) | 17.33 (2nd) |
| Home Record | 9-12-1 (13th) | 11-7-1 (11th) |
| Away Record | 11-9-1 (9th) | 14-6-4 (5th) |
| Head To Head | 0-2-0 | 2-0-0 |
