Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Stockton Thunder

The Grizzlies are back at it against the Stockton Thunder this weekend with games Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They didn't fare so well on Wednesday, dropping the game 5-1, so we're looking for some redemption. They've got 3 games to do it. That's 6 points that they really need right now.

Utah has kind of gotten themselves into a pickle recently in the standings. Once leading the Western Conference, they've managed to slip to 3rd in the Mountain Division and way down to the bottom of the conference, with only Ontario and Victoria behind them. Alaska and Las Vegas have already clinched playoff spots, so there are two less for the Grizzlies to claim. With only 13 games left in the season, now would be the time to pick things back up and get on a roll - a WINNING roll - going into the playoffs.

Stockton has been even steven lately, splitting their last 10 with 5 wins and 5 losses. We think that means that since they won their last game against the Grizzlies, they should be fated to lose the next one. Of course, we have a very weak grasp of the laws of probability and the universe, so we're probably wrong. But even so, Utah should take that opportunity to avenge itself of Wednesday's poor showing.

*DISCLAIMER: When we use the word "avenge", we mean on the scoreboard. We've said before that the Grizzlies need to stop being undisciplined and having the kind of brawls that gets everyone suspended. (See last Saturday's game.) There are a lot of ways to stick up for your teammates that don't involve a 30 minute delay and a penalty box that looks like a clown car. For example, "That guy is busy giving my buddy a facewash so that must mean he's not paying attention to where the puck is. I think I'll pick it up and take a shot on goal so my buddy isn't smelling that glove in vain." The universe approves. So do the clowns. Also, we approve of ourselves.

In order to do that, they're going to have to buckle down and do some work. The kind of work that got them to the top of the Western Conference earlier in the season. In his post game interview on Wednesday, Coach Colley said, "We need to play hockey. We can't throw the skates on and go out there and hope for 2 points. It's getting a little too much, and everyone needs to be held accountable." But he's not expecting everyone to try to do it themselves. "Guys can't think they're Wayne Gretzky or Bobby Orr. Everyone needs to play the system, play it with tenacity and go out there and create some offense." (Italics added by us.) Like we said, earlier in the season they were working hard and playing the system and it was paying off in wins. This team needs to learn from its own history.

The Grizzlies will be without Riley Emmerson this weekend. He's off suspension, but has been called up to Bridgeport of the AHL. They'll also be without team captain Simon Ferguson - he's still suspended. Dave Schultz has been moved to IR for a few days, and Brent Parnham is still out with a knee injury. ECHL trade deadline is today at 3:00 pm ET, so we could see some last-minute changes. We hope not at this point, but whatev. We have no control.

Three games in a row, starting tonight at 7:05 pm. Six points up for grabs. Stockton doesn't need any more - let's do it, boys.

Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Stockton Thunder

The Grizzlies are on the road this weekend in Stockton, California, home to the ever-popular Asparagus Festival. Fortunately that isn't until April, so there should be no distractions for the team. Let's just hope they don't play Stockton in the playoffs.

The Grizz are coming off a recent successful home stand where they came up with 7 of 8 points. Their last game against Vegas was won in particularly commanding fashion, cutting down the current conference leaders 5-0. That's right - we said the Wranglers are the current conference leaders. We're not necessarily complaining about that, but the Grizzlies are 2nd, and only two points away, which makes this weekend pretty important. The Grizzlies have two games this weekend followed by 4 days off, then one game next week and another 4 days off. That's a lot of not playing hockey, so they need to make these games count to stay in the race. The Wranglers will play 6 games in the time Utah plays 3.

Stockton has been on a tear lately, winning 7 of their last 10 games, and moving up the conference ladder. They're 6 points behind the Grizzlies, with only Idaho in between. It should be easy enough to climb over those potatoheads, as long as it's not at the Grizzlies' expense. The Thunder are 20-8-6 when outshooting their opponent, so we think it will be important for the Grizzlies to 1) take plenty of shots on goal, and 2) keep Stockton's shot count down. Of course, that's nothing they shouldn't be doing anyway, so we'll just keep our coaching advice to ourselves. What do we know anyway?

With the way they played at home recently, we're hoping Utah can keep it up for their next three games. This will depend a lot on goaltender Andrew Engelage staying on top of his game and healthy. According to Coach Colley, Engelage is the team's backbone. He has consistently been able to bail the team out when they have breakdowns and keep them in the game. Not to mention that pretty slick 5-0 shutout on Wednesday night.

Now, you may or may not recall that Stockton and Utah don't really get along very well. In fact, the last time these two teams got together for a weekend, the infamous stick-tossing incident occurred. Not that it wasn't one of the highlights of the season, but starting that game off with a fight didn't seem to be the right choice for the Grizzlies, as everything kind of went ice jungle from there on out. We would say it would be wise for the team to stay out of as many distracting, momentum-killing altercations as possible while in Stockton. We don't want any Rick DiPietro situations. (Out 4-6 weeks from a punch in the face - ugh.)

Chance for 4 points this weekend. We're going for Grizzlies win and Wranglers lose. Stockton is in there somewhere. The fun starts at 8:30 pm.

Go Team!

Not much by way of super interesting news today. The Grizzlies lost in overtime yesterday. 5 out of 6 points from 3 games in 4 nights really isn't that bad. Tom May extended his scoring streak to 7 games. Plus they had record breaking crowds Friday and Saturday. Now if we could figure out a way to keep attendance around 8,000 per home game.

The Salt Lake Tribune actually wrote a long, in depth article about the Grizz, not just a game report saying win or lose (a few days ago, January 28th). Here is the opening, which highlights recent good thing, along with the not so good.

The last three weeks have not been kind to the Utah Grizzlies.

The team has lost seven of its past eight games and spent almost 150 more minutes in the penalty box than any other squad this season. The most attention the Grizzlies have gotten has been for an unfortunate viral video of coach Kevin Colley throwing sticks all over the ice while screaming at an official.

And yet, Utah quietly is on track for the best season the franchise has enjoyed in its five years in the ECHL. The team has been leading the Mountain Division for well over a month and at times has been tied for the league lead.

The article goes on to emphasize the unity this particular group of guys has found. Just go read it so this whole post isn't just quotes. What was your favorite part? Mine? "The biggest division in the team stems from disagreements over who is the best at NHL ’11 on Xbox." I'm not sure playing hockey in a video game really helps your on-ice skill, but hey, whatever works!

Team Grizzlies (go unity!) play at home again tomorrow night. It's a Wild $2 Wednesday, which means cheap food.

News of the lacking-news day

(What a terrible title. I'm not feeling super creative. Maybe I should just change it to Tuesday news. Or I could be lazy.)

The Grizzlies are off on a road trip, so no home games this weekend. The next home game will be January 28th. Mark your calendars because it's cheap ticket night if you show a Maverik receipt. I'm sure it's not called cheap ticket night--Maverik Night, that is what it is.

The road trip starts tomorrow in Idaho. The Grizz will face a new player, Matt Case. The Steelheads just acquired him from Gwinnett (sounds like a medieval name or disease) to finish up a trade that sent John-Scott Dickson away.

We all know about Coach Colley's famous sticks on the ice incident last week. We all figured it would result in a suspension, which it did. He was suspended one game, served during yesterday's loss. Here's my question: If he received a bench minor (besides being chucked out of the game after chucking sticks on the ice) does one of the players serve two minutes for him? Some of the headlines for his show are pretty funny.

Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Ontario Reign

The Grizzlies take up arms tonight and Saturday against the Ontario Reign. They're going into this weekend on a 1 game winning streak, which isn't really a streak at all, but we're pretty sure they're planning on turning it into one, so we're going with it.

Streak or not, Utah has won 7 of their last 10 games and has been getting excellent play from everyone on the team. They are still at the top of the Western Conference despite a tiny little setback in Idaho on Tuesday. No big deal - they aren't going to win every game, no matter how much voodoo or fairy dust we throw out there. (Just for the record, combining voodoo and fairy dust is a bad idea. Or so we've heard.) Still, we're keeping our standards high and expecting 4 points this weekend.

Ontario may only have 21 points in the standings to the Grizzlies' 44, and they may have only won two of their last 10 games, but the truth of the matter is they can be a tough team for Utah to play against. The two teams have matched up four times already this season, and Ontario has won twice, both on the Grizzlies' home ice. Utah needs to look at this weekend not as an easy four points, but as a chance for payback in Ontario. We're not too worried about this team taking a vacation though. Maybe toward the beginning of the season they were guilty of that on occasion, but they seem pretty determined to stay on top now. They don't want the curse of Coach Colley on their heads. Plus it looks like the weather in Ontario is going to be crappy this weekend. (Maybe that IS the curse of Coach Colley. We have no idea what kind of powers he has.) Anyway, the Reign are 7-1-1 when leading after 2 periods, so the Grizzlies will want to get to work early. No pulling a Russian World Junior this weekend. (Our sympathies to all our Canadian friends out there - hopefully no one jumped.) If we were coaching, we'd tell the team to get ahead in the first two periods and stay there. Useful advice, but that's pretty much the extent of our plan, so it's a good thing we're not coaching.

For the Grizzlies, Marcus Carroll and Chris Donovan currently have 4 game point streaks going, and Kevin Deeth has two mulitple point games in a row. Ontario has new goaltender Alex Petizian from Alaska/Portland. Brock Wilson has a 1 game streak without suspension.

If you happen to be in Ontario for the game, try to be one of the first 3,000 people in the arena - it's Bud Holloway bobblehead night.

Games start tonight at 8:00 pm MST. You can listen on 1230 KFAN. Second win of the latest win streak.

Mid-Week Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Idaho Steelheads

The Grizzlies are cramming four games in this week, and they're all on the road. First up is Idaho, with games Tuesday and Wednesday.

Utah has had good luck against the Steelheads this season, winning three out of five match-ups so far. We're hoping that luck holds for these two games. Or at least if it's not luck, the Grizzlies' good hard work will pay off for them yet again. They are currently on a 4 game winning streak, their last loss being to... Idaho. Hm...

The Steelheads haven't been so lucky recently. They've been on a 4 game losing streak since that win in Utah, and have actually lost 8 of their last 10. Two of those losses were shootouts, but still, it's an extra point they haven't claimed. We've said before that teams in slumps kind of make us nervous, just because they could be due a win in the fickle eyes of the hockey gods, and just really come out and put the skunk on the Grizzlies. But then again, the Grizzlies haven't had a really stinky loss in a while. When you work hard all the time like this team, it's hard to really lose by a lot, even if you run into a hot goalie.

As fate would have it, however, the hot goalie is on Utah's side. J. P. Lamoureux - he of the double shut out last weekend - was recently named as the ECHL's Goaltender of the Week. In Adrian Denny's game day blog he comments that it's hard to believe that during the season in which Lamoureux was named Goaltender of the Year, he was never once Goaltender of the Week. We find it harder to believe that a guy named Jean-Pierre is from North Dakota.

Anyway, the Grizzlies are still on top of the Western Conference which makes us very happy. They're 9 points ahead of Idaho, and 6 points behind Greenville. Why do we care about Greenville, you ask? Because they're leading the entire ECHL right now. A win tonight leapfrogs the Grizzlies over Florida into second place in the league, and makes that top spot even more reachable. We don't want to be greedy or anything, but how nice would it be to hit number one in the ECHL?

We would be remiss if we didn't mention what might possibly be the best motivator for the Grizzlies to get a win tonight. It's Coach Colley's birthday today, and we're pretty sure all he wants is a win in Idaho. Two would be even better. Plus we're guessing if they lose there won't be any cake after the game. (Happy Birthday, Coach!)

Puck drops tonight at 7:10 pm in Boise. You can listen on 1230 KFAN-2. Four points possible in the next two days.

Character Development

If you're anything like us, you probably uttered (or yelled, depending on where you were) something not repeatable in polite company when you found out last week that the Grizzlies had traded their leading scorer, Brad Snetsinger, away to Bakersfield. Our rant went from "Wha- why?" to "That makes no sense," to "They'd better get someone amazing back," to "Why do they do this to us?" in just under five minutes. Yeah, we get that this is the ECHL and players move around a lot, but the leading scorer? Not to mention how well he was doing in the Grizzlies' line up as of late. It almost seems like a conspiracy to make us pull our hair out before the playoffs even start. (It's probably Coach Colley's revenge on us for commenting on his highlights last season.)

During the game on the 21st, Adrian Denny interviewed Simon Ferguson, and he mentioned this trade. He pointed out that Coach Colley felt pretty secure in making this move, even though Brad Snetsinger had been great for the team. Ferguson's response was this:

"I think we've got a lot of really good character guys in there, that everyone wants to work for each other, everyone wants to play for each other. So it's a good mix, and hopefully we can continue the way things are going right now."

We've been saying for most of the season that this team isn't really a team of all-stars, nor do they have any one player who is the big scoring threat, but we don't even really listen to ourselves half the time. But Simon Ferguson IS a character guy, and they say it takes one to know one.

Ferguson has 287 games of AHL experience (including 19 playoff games) with 4 different teams, including last season's Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears. He's been around a while and has seen it takes to make a successful team. This is a guy who isn't afraid to put in the effort to improve himself and his game. He even trained with boxer Jesse James Leija, and it's telling what Leija had to say about him after the workout - "You know why he's good - because he wants to work hard all the time." (Watch here - interview about the 6:39 mark.)

So when Simon Ferguson says the team is full of character guys who want to work for each other, we can trust he knows what he's talking about. As much as we fans like to whine and complain, the team is still going in the right direction.

Not that we still won't miss Snetsinger... especially when we play Bakersfield.

Speaking of Simon Ferguson, he had two goals in last night's 5-3 win over Las Vegas. Tim Crowder also had a goal, just like we guessed he would. Apparently Timmy likes playing in Vegas. Next up, the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday. Uh... welcome home, Brad?

We would be remiss if we didn't mention just a couple of items outside the Grizzlies realm.

First of all, the World Junior Championships started last weekend in Buffalo, New York. USA and Canada both won their first games. Anyone hoping for a gold medal rematch from last year? For more information, you can check out USA Hockey's website.

Secondly, the NHL Winter Classic is on Saturday, January 1st in Pittsburgh. The hosting Pittsburgh Penguins will match up with the Washington Capitals on an outdoor rink. Check out the Winter Classic website - you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about this event, including a live webcam where you can watch the ice being built at Heinz Field. If you're not a little bit excited for this, turn in your "hockey fan" badge now.

And if you're planning on going to the game on Wednesday night, watch out for the weather. We're hoping our mom will let us spray down her back yard before the cold front settles in. Hey, it's Winter Classic time.

3 of 4, and Other News

The Grizzlies had a great opening weekend, getting 3 out of 4 points in Alaska Friday and Saturday. Go Grizzlies!

Be sure to tune in to 1230 AM tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 7:00 for the first edition of Grizzlies Live. Fans are being encouraged to attend and participate, so if you can, head on out to the Ramada at the airport. They will be giving away prizes... and appetizers. You won't hear us complaining about free food.

ECHL.com has a brief spotlight on Coach Kevin Colley.

Don't forget to cast your vote for the ECHL All-Decade Team.

GrizzBlog welcomes two new bloggers this season. Hello Collette and Stephanie!

Just a brief Preseason Review

It was great to hear the slap of the puck and the scrape of skates on the ice once again as the Grizzlies took on the Idaho Steelheads in their two preseason games last weekend. Nothing is quite like the ECHL hockey season, especially when it's Grizzlies vs Steelheads. And while we're still out of practice from the off season, here's your preseason review!

Friday, October 8th:
The Grizzlies found themselves in a 4 goal deficit at the top of the 2nd, as Idaho packed on the points. However, Utah was able to cut the lead to a single goal before the end of the period, 4-3. But unfortunately, the Grizzlies weren't able to even the score before the end of the match, and Idaho picked up an empty net goal to end the game 5-3 in the Steelheads' favor.

This preseason game wasn't open to the public, but you can read the official postgame on the Grizzlies' site: Late Idaho Empty-Netter Ends Utah’s Preseason Comeback Effort.


Saturday, October 9th:
On our way to the game in Logan, we stopped by Le Nonne for some eats. We honestly just wanted to give these guys a shout out because their spinach ravioli is amazing. But now on to hockey . . .

The Grizzlies took the lead halfway through 1st with a goal by Parnham. And a beautiful goal it was. You could see it coming from the blueline. But our favorite part was the look on Riley Emmerson's face as the team jumped up to celebrate the goal. (We're still depressed we didn't get a picture of this.) 6'8" Riley got a goal of his own in the 2nd on a power play to increase the Grizzlies' lead to 2-0. Then Utah piled on another goal at the top of the 3rd to widen the gap, before Idaho struck back, 3-1. Both the Grizzlies and the Steelheads picked up additional goals to end the game 4-2 in Utah's favor.

You can check out the official postgame for Saturday's preseason game on the Grizzlies' site: Grizzlies Beat Idaho 4-2 To Complete Preseason.

It was nice to see JP Lamoureux in action for the Utah side. He stopped every shot he saw during the match.

One change we did see from last year's preseason game was the 3rd period. There was no coasting on the lead in the 3rd. The boys put in a lot of hard work for a full 60, which elated us to no end. We hope to see this trend continue and improve throughout the season.

Here's to a great 2010-11, Grizzlies!

Training Camp 2010, Day 2

We managed to drop in to training camp again today for a bit, and have to say we are excited for this team already. The intensity was noticeable with these guys, and it's only the second day of camp. We don't remember guys battling this hard in training camp last year until... well, we don't really remember. But this seems to be a team of hard workers so far.

Again, there were 13 skaters on the ice, and we actually recognized a few today. (They stopped and stood right in front of us where we could see their faces.) It was good to see Tim Crowder back, and also Brett Parnham. There were three goalies on the ice today, so they took turns during the drills. (No word of who the 3rd goaltender is as of yet.)

When we arrived at Acord Ice Center, the team was already well into their practice, this time doing organized drills. The first one we watched was a 1-on-1 drill in front of the net - that's where we first noticed these guys were really going for it. There were quite a few good hard checks into the boards throughout practice, and they weren't afraid to shove each other around to get the job done.

This group also paid close attention to the explanations of the drills at the white board, and weren't afraid to ask questions if they didn't understand. They got it right more often than not. Perhaps it's because a lot of them were back from last season, but we checked our notes, and on October 14th last season (almost the end of camp) Coach Colley was still yelling at the team to go back and do it again until they got it right. Today we only saw one group that had to start over for doing a drill wrong. Either Colley is mellowing out, or this team gets it.

Practice went a little longer today than yesterday - they ended with a stretch at 11:00 am. Coach Colley told them, "good job today," and left the ice. Most of the guys were still hanging out on the ice getting to know each other and working on stuff when we left around 11:15 am. We would have stayed longer to see what they got up to, but we had to get back to our real jobs.

We may not make it out to practice tomorrow or Thursday, but after Tuesday even the calendar says W. T. F. We'll try to check in again this week, though, so stay tuned. Also, practices are free and open to the public, so if you can get away from your real jobs, drop by the Acord Ice Center and check out the Grizzlies.

*Pictures in today's post were taken at yesterday's practice (10/4/2010).

UPDATE: The third goalie in practice today must have been Dan Bellissimo. [Article from ECHL.com]

Training Camp 2010, Day 1

We made it down to the Acord Ice Center this morning in time to catch the tail end of the first Grizzlies practice of the 2010-2011 season. It was good to see live hockey again, even if it was just pre-season practice.

There were 13 players on the ice, plus 2 goaltenders when we got there. The Grizzlies did release their preliminary training camp roster, but we have to be honest - we have a hard time recognizing guys without numbers so we couldn't tell you who was there. Obviously, if you look at the roster, there weren't any spare players, but that doesn't mean other guys won't be joining camp throughout the week. (Abbotsford is still holding training camps this week.)

Coach Colley didn't start with anything too fancy that we saw. We figured he was mostly just interested in getting the guys on the ice for a workout and seeing who was in shape and who might need a little more gym time. He had the guys give the goaltenders a good practice, as most of what we saw were break-away type drills. It wasn't a long practice - it started at 10:00 am and by 10:50 am the Coach said they were finished for the day. (The previously-scheduled 3:15 pm practice was cancelled.) The players hung around for a while on the ice stretching and taking shots, and probably catching up after the off-season.

We took pictures, but we don't know if any of them turned out. If they did, we'll post a few later on when we can get them off our camera.

One More...

It's been a long season for Grizzlies fans. We've lived through good times, bad times, blah times, bridge-jumping times, and so many roster changes we hardly knew who was on our team for a while. We've seen Captain Kinasewich take over scoring records, and Coach Colley so close to pulling out his hair that the only thing stopping him was how much he paid for the highlights. We've listened to Adrian Denny call away games, taken pictures at home games, and enjoyed countless promotions and fan activities from the team.

And now, it's down to this - one more game.

One more game that will decide whether the Grizzlies move on in the playoffs, or if they're done for the season.

One more chance to cheer them on at the E Center.

And maybe then... one more series.

And maybe one more after that.

And maybe, just maybe, they get one more, and a chance to lift that Kelly Cup.

Think Kevin Colley wants one more championship ring? You better believe it.

Think this team can win one more game? You know it.

Think the Grizzlies can bring Mark Pavli back next season? We're hoping.

E Center tonight at 7:00 pm. All tickets are $10. The time is now. Do it, boys.

Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Bakersfield Condors

First of all, we apologize for not having a write-up from the last game on the 24th. No one from our staff actually saw or heard the game. Okay, so there are only two of us, and one of us has a night job during the week. The other one of us was scratched from the lineup due to flu-like symptoms. We have no affiliates so we couldn't call anyone up to fill in for the night. And one of us got suspended a game for hitting ourselves in the head while getting in the car this morning, and will probably be out a couple of games with a concussion. (We're not telling you which one that was.) Grizzblog staff is not making the playoffs.





Anyway, on Wednesday night the Grizzlies beat Bakersfield 7-4 with Coach Colley in the press box. Apparently Colley got slapped with a one-game suspension. When we first heard about that, we were hoping it was for something like an elbow to the head, but it was only because of a paperwork mix-up. Not quite as exciting. He'll be back behind the bench this weekend.

Moving on to the weekend, the Grizzlies play their last two regular season games at the E Center on Friday and Saturday against the Bakersfield Condors. These two teams have met six times this season, and the Condors have won four of those six. With the last two games, the Grizzlies can even the season. Bakersfield is three points ahead of the Grizzlies in the playoff race, so if Utah can beat them twice in regulation this weekend, they can pass them. Utah has mostly looked good lately - they've won nine of their last eleven games at home - and we're hoping they are finally coming together (with five games left) after a revolving door of a season.

As far as the playoff race goes, only Idaho is guaranteed a spot in the National Conference... still. For the rest of the teams, it's a toss-up. We may not know who is in until the last game of the season. It's almost like musical chairs, only nobody is taking any chairs away. We're not sure how that works, but musical chairs was always one of our least favorite party games, so the idea kind of makes us want to put on Rod Stewart, Minnie Riperton, or the chicken dance song just to torture whoever is in charge of the party.

The Grizz will be missing forward Simon Ferguson - he's been loaned to the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Malcom MacMillan has been activated from the IR, and is expected to be in the lineup.

Also, this weekend is Fan Appreciation Weekend, and if you're totally into Slap Shot, you can go have your picture taken with the Hanson brothers at the E Center on Saturday. We heard there are no guarantees, however, that they won't try to fight you. There will also be a post-game party at Chili's across from the E Center on Saturday where you can get posters signed by the entire team. And maybe even Adrian Denny. On Friday, there will be a post-game skate with the team, so bring your skates. For more information on this weekend's activities, see the Grizzlies official website.

Both Friday's and Saturday's games will start at 7:05 pm at the E Center. Come cheer the Grizzlies on in their final two home games of the season!

Weekend Preview 1/29/10 - Utah vs Las Vegas

It seems we've spent a lot of time wondering about the Grizzlies' troubles lately. Sure, it hasn't been the best stretch. But the Las Vegas Wranglers, who the Grizzlies play Friday, Saturday, and Monday, aren't having the best time of it either. They've only won 1 of their last 5 games, so we're hoping the Grizzlies can maybe take advantage of that slump and get a couple of morale-boosting wins on the board.


While we don't really want to dwell on the team's troubles (because there's a lot of fun stuff going on this weekend we'd rather address), we did want to post a few quotes from Coach Colley's post-game interview that we thought were notable:


"I just think right now guys are looking to the guy beside them to go do all the dirty work and do all the hard work and hope we pull out a win, instead of just taking the bull by the horns themselves and just going out doing everything they can as an individual to help the team succeed."

RE: Finally having a full week to practice on home ice
"The guys are working hard, they're just not working smart," Colley comments. "When you grab somebody and actually show them on the ice where they're supposed to be and how to position themselves sthey get a lot more out of it than watching video."



So we're hoping that with that good practice time, and the team getting a little more instruction, we'll see an increased confidence level, and maybe some Wrangler butt-kicking this weekend. Awesome.



Now, on to the fun stuff...



It's Hockey Weekend Across America (sponsored by USA Hockey), and the Grizzlies are obliging with a couple of really great promotions. Friday night is another Pack the House night at the E Center, with ALL seats being sold for $5. The last one (on November 20) ended up being a 4-0 shut out for the Grizzlies (no, they WON that one) in front of a crowd of 9,304. Hey, at $5 a seat, it's probably the best entertainment deal in town this weekend, so you may as well go support the team. Put a little bit of pressure on them to get their game going. And, of course, support Hockey Weekend Across America.

Friday is "Wear Your Favorite Hockey Jersey", so dig it out of the closet and put it on, America.


Saturday's theme for HWAA is "Bring a Friend to the Rink", and the Grizzlies have provided a great opportunity with their Guns N' Hoses theme game. This annual charity event includes an afternoon game (2:00 pm) that pits local police officers against firemen, with proceeds going this year to Shriners Hospital. The Grizzlies will sport special jerseys in the game Saturday night that will be auctioned off, those proceeds also going to Shriners Hospital. If you buy a ticket for Utah vs Las Vegas on Saturday, that ticket will also get you into the Guns N' Hoses game. So grab a couple of friends for this one, and introduce them to hockey for a good cause.



Also on Saturday, USA Hockey is introducing a new event - try hockey for free. The Acord Ice Center in West Valley and The Ice Sheet in Ogden are participating, so if you want to give it a shot, give them a call. Most of them are hosting the event between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm local time, but many have extended hours. USA Hockey requests you contact your participating local rink for more information. (This list has the contact information for all participating rinks.)



There isn't a Grizzlies game on Sunday, but the HWAA event is "Celebrate Local Hockey Heroes". Here's what they say about it:



USA Hockey and Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports know that every hockey community has individuals who helped make the game great for its players and fans. Today is a perfect day to honor these hockey heroes with ceremonies at youth, junior, college or professional games, letters to the editors of local newspapers or even sincere one-on-one expressions of gratitude.



We have one more suggestion - make a sign for your favorite Grizzlies player and take it to the game on Monday night. There are some awesome guys on the team.



For some reason that we can't really explain, Gary Coleman will be dropping the puck at the game on Monday night. Not that we're against it or anything, but we do think that this is one of the oddest articles the Grizzlies have ever posted. (Although not quite as odd as this one from NHL.com. So many unanswered questions...) We hope Gary enjoys the game. We also hope he comes dressed like this:





Have a hockey weekend!

Go Grizzlies!

Game Day - Utah Grizzlies vs. Las Vegas Wranglers

After a couple of losses at home to the Idaho Steelheads, the Grizzlies head back to Vegas to roll the dice against the Wranglers again. We'd say maybe they're rolling the dice at the craps table too while they're down there, but most of the team isn't old enough for that.



The last time these two teams met up, the Grizzlies came away with a win in their season opener, and Ryan (GQ) Kinasewich had a hat trick. Not a bad start. Despite the losses to Idaho, the Grizz are still a talented team with a lot of energy, and if they can minimize the mistakes they can have a repeat of the previous match-up in Sin City.



The Wranglers have just come off a loss and two wins against the Alaska Aces, and will be looking for that momentum to help them in tonight's game. We went to their Preview link on their website and this is what it looked like:

Pretty wordy.


What the heck is their mascot supposed to be anyway?


We can tell you that Las Vegas will be missing goaltender Michael Ouzas and also Shay Stephenson - both are suspended. Probably for underage gambling. (Just kidding - they're both old.) We can also tell you that the Grizzlies are third in the ECHL on the power play at 25% (4 for 16). Pavli and Stoflet will be out tonight so that Tim Maxwell and Jason Dale can make their season debuts. And if you read what Adrian Denny wrote in his game-day blog over at the Grizzlies' website, it sounds like the team got a butt-chewing from Colley. If we were hockey chefs, we could tell you what all that would taste like when your threw it into a soup together...

But we're not. We're just going to tune in and listen to the game like the rest of you who weren't able to go to Vegas for the game because you have regular jobs and stuff. So I guess we'll all have to see what happens tonight.

The game starts at 8:05 pm and will be broadcast on 1320 am KFAN. Synchronize your watches.

PS - Happy Birthday to Hall of Fame Islanders Defenseman Denis Potvin!

Today's the Day

We've waited all summer long, and part of fall, and the Grizzlies finally open their season tonight in Las Vegas against the Wranglers. (The team, not the jeans, although that would be quite a sight to behold.) From the articles at utahgrizzlies.com, it sounds like the team is just as excited to get things going as we are.

The Grizz are considerably younger and less experienced than they were last season. In fact, they're the youngest team in Grizzlies history. But according to this article from Dan Rasmussen at the Deseret News, Coach Colley doesn't expect that to be a problem. In fact, he says the team is reminiscent of the one that went to the Conference Finals two seasons ago, and in this article from Maggie Thach of the Salt Lake Tribune, the coach says their goal is the Kelly Cup.

Now that's pretty.

Our favorite media guy, Adrian Denny, has a game day blog entry up on the Grizz website talking about the team and some of the newer members. He also has a little bit of information on the Wranglers, who we expect will look like this once the Grizzlies get done with them:

The Grizzlies organization has also announced a watch party at Legends Sports Pub and Grill in downtown Salt Lake City. (677 South 200 West) If you can't be in Vegas, this will be the next best thing. If you have swine flu and are quarantined (or something), you can check the game out on B2 Broadband Network online (pay per view) or listen to Adrian Denny on AM 1230 KJQS. The puck drops at 8:05 pm.

Oh, and Evan Kotsopoulos is back.

It's finally here - just a few more hours.

Go Grizzlies!

Training Camp, Day 7

Training camp was held at the E Center today so we were later than usual. We think we missed the good stuff. We were hoping to see the coach making the team do 23,487 laps and then bench press him, but it was mostly just more plays by the time we got there. Hey, it's still hockey, and we were still entertained.

They spent a lot of time working in front of the net while we were there, and that was looking pretty good. We're hoping they worked on their passing before we got there, because if they can't get it in front of the net in the first place, it doesn't do them any good. That seemed to be one of their problems in the pre-season games. We realize there are still a lot of new guys on the team, but the season opens on Friday. That's five days, counting today. They have to start getting used to each other pretty quick. Maybe Coach Colley should make them have a slumber party at the rink. What's the masculine equivalent of braiding each other's hair?

[RANDOM NOTE: We just heard on the radio that the Bridgeport Sound Tigers are still undefeated on their season.]

Actually, there was a lot of talk while we were there. Well, the coaches talked and the players listened. Sometimes they asked questions. That's a good sign. At least the lines of communication are open between players and coaches, even if the players are still a little out of sync.

An interesting note - there were three goaltenders in camp today. Since Parker Van Buskirk is the only goaltender on the Grizzlies' roster currently, we're wondering who those other two guys are. We saw Adrian Denny at the rink watching practice, so we know it wasn't him.

We did get some pictures and video, so we'll post them later tonight.

It's almost here.

Go Grizzlies!