VICTORIA 8 NANAIMO 2
(Victoria leads series 2-0)
Victoria BC – There have been a lot of late East Coast nights in the Pirtle family home in Far Hills, New Jersey, watching Victoria Grizzlies’ games in the B.C. Hockey League.
Grizzlies forward Chase Pirtle rewarded those familial bleary eyes in front of computer screens with two goals on a three-point night Saturday to lead Victoria to an 8-2 victory at The Q Centre over the Island-rival Nanaimo Clippers to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven opening-round BCHL Coastal Conference playoff series.
“I miss them a lot but it’s great to be playing here,” said Pirtle. The six-foot-two winger again showed why he is committed to the Cornell Big Red of the NCAA and is one of three finalists for the BCHL rookie of the year award.
“I am super-pumped because the rookie award was a goal I set for myself when I came here,” said Pirtle, who led the Grizzlies in points in the regular season with 52, of which 25 were goals.
“The Grizzlies coaches here have rounded out my game and I am shooting more pucks. But the team stuff is bigger. We just want to keep doing what we’re doing and keep imposing our will on these guys [Clippers].”
Grizzlies GM and head coach Rylan Ferster first came across Pirtle when Ferster coached at the elite development level in Philadelphia and a connection was made, leading to the Pirtle path to the Island. Pirtle came to the Grizzlies after a standout 2022-23 with Mount Saint Charles Academy Under-18 Triple-A team in Connecticut, out of which he was heavily recruited by NCAA teams before settling on Cornell.
Also scoring for the Grizzlies Saturday were Jacksenn Hungle, Nathan King, Malcolm Green, Drew Hockley, Cam Smith and Ryan Watt as the Grizzlies unleashed 59 shots on Naniamo goaltender Tyler Hodges.
Oliver Auyeung-Ashton made 36 saves for the Grizzlies with only Dylan Kinch and Isa Parekh of the Clippers getting shots past him.
Despite that Victoria (29-22-3) finished fourth in the regular-season table, three points ahead of fifth-place Nanaimo (27-23-4), the Clippers won the seven-game regular-season set between the clubs 5-2. The third and fourth games of their playoff series will be played Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Frank Crane Arena in the Harbour City. The fifth game, if required, would be next Friday at The Q Centre. The sixth and seventh games, if needed, would be next Saturday in Nanaimo and April 15 at The Q Centre.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
