Victoria, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies announced on Wednesday, early afternoon, that they have signed 19-year-old Slovakian netminder Patrik Kliment for the remainder of the 2025-26 season to solidify their goaltending for the second half of the BCHL campaign.
The Grizzlies have been searching for some crease consistency (along with some consistency overall) as the second half is about to begin tomorrow afternoon, and it appears that they have found it with a trade for Mitch Kathler being announced yesterday, and now today, the signing of Patrik Kliment to round things out.
In their final ten games of the first half, the Grizzlies posted a team save percentage of .859 and a goals-against-average of 4.96, which was an omen for change to come. That has all come to fruition over the last twenty-four hours with Kliment’s signing and the acquisition of highly sought-after Mitch Kathler. Kathler’s rights were acquired from Surrey, but he had been playing in the MJHL with the Portage Terriers (10-1-0, 1.86 GAA & .941 SV%).
Kliment comes to North America with an impressive resume and having spent the bulk of his season with Barani Banska Bystrica of the Slovak U20 league (12 GP, 10-2-0, 2.13 GAA, .921 SV%). Patrik has also made three professional appearances over the past year in the Slovakia2 league with HK Detva and more than held his own with a 1-3 record and .912 SV%. The six-foot-one crease commander has represented his country four times at the U19 level and four times at the U20 level.
The Grizzlies could not be more excited to welcome Patrik to the Bear Country family and are excited to see him and Mitch create a dynamic duo moving forward.
Tomorrow is your first chance to see them in action with Alberni Valley in town to kick off the second half in fun fashion at the Grizzlies ‘New Year’s Day Celebration”. Tickets are for sale by CLICKING HERE, and you can use code ROAR to get buy-one-get-one-free adult tickets for the last time this holiday season. Kids are, as always, free of charge when accompanied by an adult, thanks to Maxxam Insurance.
