Game: Victoria Grizzlies vs Powell River Kings
Arena: Hap Parker Arena
Puck Drop: 5:00pm
Broadcast: Starts at 4:30pm
95.7 SunFM Free Audio
FastHockey PPV Video
Kings This Season vs Opposition: 0-1-0-0
Last Meeting: Grizzlies won 3-1 (September 13th)
Kings 2013/2014 Record: 2-1-0-0
Kings at home: 0-1-0-0
Kings vs Island: 0-1-0-0
Opposition 2013/2014 Record: 2-1-0-0
Opposition on the road: 2-1-0-0
A game last night where the Kings just didn’t play well. The pretty passing plays weren’t there, the chemistry didn’t seem apparent and the simple things became a lot more difficult. The Kings found themselves in trouble several times due to not being able to clear the puck, both 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. There also wasn’t a real long setup on 5 power plays for the team, and most of the Kings man advantages involved retreiving the puck from behind Jonah Imoo more than once.
The positives? The first 8-9 minutes of the 1st period where the Kings just simply controlled, but got nothing statistically to show for it. No goals and few shots. I’d expect to see a couple of things change tonight, namely more shots. If the Kings don’t tally 30+ shots I’d be very surprised, and would anticipate that number being closer to 40. Throw everything on net and good things happen.
In terms of other changes, I would think there would be a couple. Jarryd Leung is still out and I’m unsure of the status of Drew Dorantes. Trevor MacLean could very well play tonight in either an 11-7 role, or at the expense of a Kings d-man who needs a rest. In goal, the Kings could go with Jonah Imoo and his 4th start of the season after a rough night for him, or Jeff Smith could see his first real action in the BCHL. We’ll have to wait and see.
Leo, to Myles, to Gerry…scores.
I wrote that to open my preview of last night’s game for the Grizzlies…I got the order wrong but the general theme remained true. The Fitzgeralds were as advertised and as dangerous as you expect them to be in their 4th year of Junior A hockey and in their 20 year old season. They perhaps didn’t control as much as they CAN, but they were effective enough, and got good support from the 2nd line lead by Jesse Scwartz.
The Grizzlies should also be giving an extra pat on the back to goaltender Nic Renyard for his work, especially early. Without a couple of key saves, the Grizzlies find themselves chasing and playing a completely different game. Credit to him for a solid all-round effort last night, highlighted by that toe save in the 1st period.
Rinse and repeat for the Grizzlies tonight.
On the show tonight, we’ll air parts of the BCHL This Week league-wide feature to keep you up to date on everything happening in and around the BCHL. In the 2nd intermission, our player profile feature tonight is number 3, Brian Rideout.
The post-game show will be a little different. We’ll be holding a town-hall press conference of sorts. Kent Lewis and I will make our way through audience questions with a player or two from the roster immediately after the game ends. It’ll be in the Poplar Room, on the upper level of the rec complex, and carried live on SunFM. (Note: those watching on FastHockey will need to switch over to SunFM for the post-game show tonight.)
