Friday, September 4, 2015 – Submitted by Mario Annicchiarico / Times Colonist
It didn’t take long for P.J. Conlon to find his legs, even after driving across the continent to make it to his second Victoria Grizzlies training camp.
“I was pretty happy to get on the ice, actually,” said the second-year forward, who drove home to Ontario from vacationing with his family in Prince Edward Island. He spent the weekend and then continued his journey west, down through the United States, to Seattle and back across the border.
“Seventy hours in the car, driving 14-hour days,” he said. “It was an experience, listening to a lot of audio books and radio stations.”
But well worth the trip as he gets set to begin his final season of junior hockey.
He was in the lineup Friday night as the Grizzlies tied 1-1 on the road with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in pre-season B.C. Hockey League action. Tyler Welsh had the only goal. Victoria wraps up its pre-season tonight at 7 against the same Bulldogs at Westhills Arena in Langford.
“P.J. Conlon is getting an opportunity to be a top-six guy,” said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon. “He scored a lot of goals back in Ontario at prep school hockey. Last year he had a blue-collar role for us, did a lot of the defensive parts of the game that take your offensive energy away from you.
“This year I think he’s a kid that should garner a [NCAA] Division I scholarship. We want to see him be on the productive side of the score sheet and get opportunities to be that offensive player. I think he’s been our best player throughout camp.”
Conlon is playing on a line with veterans Brayden Gelsinger and Cole Pickup.
“He’s a great leader and he and Gelsinger are the two 20-year-old forwards. I think they have a lot of experience and I really think they can lead the hockey team offensively,” Didmon said of Conlon.
The Goderich, Ont., product (located an hour north of London) played prep school at Upper Canada College and had 16 goals and 19 assists in 54 games two seasons ago. Last year the six-foot, 180-pound centreman had six goals and 13 assists for the Grizzlies.
“I’m just trying my best to fill a role, maybe a more offensive role this year to try and produce and help the team win some games here,” said Conlon, who had a goal in Nanaimo on Wednesday.
“I am comfortable with it, playing with some great linemates in Cole Pickup and Brayden Gelsinger. We’re starting to find some chemistry in practice and hopefully that converts to the regular season.
“Brayden has come in and fit in well. I played in the league last year and I think we can provide some leadership and production up front,” added Conlon, one of just three 20-year-olds on the club with Gelsinger and defenceman Kevin Massy.
“We have some young players, but a lot of them have played prep school. It’s a high level of hockey. They’re coming in as 18 and 19-year-old rookies. It’s not like we have a ton of 16-year-olds coming in,” Conlon said of the upcoming regular season. “I think we’ll start off hot. It’s looked good in practice so far so I don’t see it being a problem.”
