Grizzlies News and Transactions: Prokop, Friesen traded, Kinasewich named All-Stars Alternate

Defenseman Dustin Friesen was traded to Idaho earlier this week in exchange for defensemen Matt Sorteberg and Kyle Radke.

While none of the players dressed for the game on Wednesday, Sorteberg and Radke should be dressed for the game tonight against Stockton.

We're sad to see Friesen go. He was solid and could take a hit like nobody's business. Luck, Friesen!

Defensemen Patrick Prokop was traded to Cincinnati yesterday in exchange for future considerations. Utah picked up Prokop in a trade to Bakersfield for Evan Stoflet earlier this season.


Kinasewich All-Stars Alternate Captain

Ryan Kinasewich has been named as an Alternate Captain for the National Conference at the All-Stars game. Kinasewich, Perry, and Bartley were selected to represent the Grizzlies at the All-Stars game this year. The game will be played on January 20 and will be broadcast on the B2 and XM radio. The skills competition will be held January 19.


Utah Grizzlies to help with Haiti effort

Grizzbee, Bobby Hughes, and VP Jared Youngman appeared on the KUTV Haiti Relief fund telethon today. Half of the procedes from the games on January 22 and 23 will be donated to the Haiti relief fund.


Luck tonight, Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies vs Victoria Salmon Kings Post Game 12/31/09

Well, Crappy New Year.

At least the Grizzlies got a consolation point from this game. This was a hard loss. And while it was fun to see a shoot out for the first time this season, the boys should have won this in regulation. Meh. We actually don't want to talk about it, so we're just going to post some pictures from the game instead.

If you want more details, go read the official post game at the Utah Grizzlies site and the gamesheet at ECHL.com.

Enjoy!

FIRST PERIOD

Kinasewich takes the shot.

Pavli against the boards.


Utah plays some defense.

Snatch with the puck.

"When they boo, it really hurts my feelings." (Anyone else remember that commercial?)

Maxwell waits for the puck.


Perry takes the faceoff.



SECOND PERIOD

Galbraith has some words for Victoria, Colley has some words for the ref.


Tom May.

Romano in the neutral zone.


Perry with the puck.

Kinasewich denied.

Pavli in front of the net.


Goal celebration! Love Maxwell's face in this one.


THIRD PERIOD

The boys take the ice.

Roughing in front of Victoria's net.

Puck in front of the net.

May takes it to the net.

Hughes and a Salmon King.

Romano lights the lamp.

Parnham with the puck.

OVERTIME

Colley outlines the plan.

Kinaswich and Maxwell wait for the overtime faceoff.


Victoria with a puck.



Gannon looks confused.

The boys kill a penalty, 4-on-3.


SHOOT OUT

Grizzbee on the zamboni.
Erickson gets ready for the shoot out.

Parnham's shoots and scores.

Erickson makes the save.

Hugo shoots and is denied.




Game.
3-2, Salmon Kings.



Stars of the Game
2. AJ Perry
3. Tony Romano


To better luck in 2010 . . .

Go Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies vs Bakersfield Condors Post Game 12/12/09

Overtime loss tonight.

We don't know if Colley is going to be pleased or pissed about this one.

Parts of the game were a hot mess. But when Utah had the momentum, they rolled with it. May's penalty shot was slick as could be, Perry's goal in the 3rd was flawless, and Parker denied the Condors 33 times out of 36. However, when you throw in a botched 5-on-3 power play, a shorthanded Bakersfield goal, and some sloppy penalties in the 3rd and OT, you can see the Grizzlies did themselves no favors tonight.

The official post game is up at UtahGrizzlies.com. ECHL.com has the gamesheet, and our song and dance is below.

FIRST PERIOD

Condors are wearing special jerseys.
We guess they do that a lot.

Grizzlies need to throw more checks.
If there was a hit of the game replay, it wouldn't be from Utah.
Ever.

Gannon goes to the box for hooking.
Condors get the first goal on the power play. 1-0.

Utah, what the hell?

Then the Grizzlies get a couple of power play chances.
But they decide to spend the time in their own end.
Bakersfield even gets a shorthanded SOG.
Premonition?

Romano starts a fight and goes to the box for roughing.

Carpentier joins him for holding.

Bakersfield gets a roughing call, too.

May gets a penalty shot with a minute left in the 1st.
Do it.

And he does. May ties it up, thankfully.
Grizzlies don't have to start the 2nd behind.

End of first. 1-1.


First Intermission: Haggin goes one-on-one with Dustin Friesen, who doesn't like video games. Whatevs. Boy can take a hit like nobody's business.


SECOND PERIOD

Early penalty for the Grizzlies.
May reclaims his title of PK king.

Utah starts to wake up.

Some Bakersfield joke pushes Hugo down in front of the net after the whistle.
And Utah just stand there, so Romano comes to take care of it.

Boys, when you don't protect your own, you look like pansies.
We often wonder how Utah pulls off such a half-assed physical game against teams like Alaska, Bakersfield, and Idaho.
Especially when we have a coach like Colley.

We've been waiting for a reason to post that.

Colley, teach your boys to fight.

Grizzlies get a 5-on-3 power play chance.
Our first thought was "Boys, don't embarrass yourselves!"

But they do.

Anybody have stats on Utah's 5-on-3 power play goals?

It can't possibly be as bad as we pretend it is, especially considering Utah's power play rank in the ECHL.

Even though we sound cranky about the game so far, we're actually quite pleased that the boys were able to hold Bakersfield scoreless this period.

Both teams had some good chances.

But nothing.

End of second. 1-1.


Second Intermission: We couldn't think of anything good to text, so we made a cake.

Though, we agree with Yo about the Bakersfield scorekeepers. They don't know a SOG when they see it. Or whatever they're smoking is really good.


THIRD PERIOD

Perry takes care of business. 2-1.
He made it look so easy, we thought it was fake. B2 even had it on the close up.
Snatch is the only assist on that.

Now we're getting somewhere.

The boys look alive out there, and we're biting nails and grinding teeth.

Bakersfield gets a penalty, but Grizzlies decide to play it in their own end, again.

Shorthanded goal for Bakersfield. 2-2.
What a joke.
But Dale got an assist on that. So, good on him.

Good job to a Hughes-Parnham shift.

They were on Bakersfield like flies on poo.

Looks like we're going to overtime.

And Kotsy gets a roughing penalty with :06 left in regulation.

Doh!

End of third. 2-2.


OVERTIME

Grizzlies start it shorthanded.
4-on-3. Killed.

Gannon penalty.
Colley pissed.
Grizzlies lose.

Game.
3-2, Condors.

No Utah stars of the game, again.

NOTES

So, the Grizzlies turn a wishy-washy start into a nail-biter. We pretty much spoke our mind in the recap, so we'll leave the rest up to Colley.

Sounds like the local newspaper quoted some troll talking about the Grizzlies' lack of physical presence last night. Don't get us wrong - the joke's comment was laughable (finally got his first pro goal - cool story, bro), but we've been saying that the Grizzlies need to step it up on the physical side of things all season. Last night was a pretty sorry example of their physical play, and tonight wasn't much better.

Granted, our team is built around snipers and speed rather than strength, but even so.

Throw some damn checks, boys.

Go Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies vs Alaska Aces Post Game 11/27/09

Grizzlies lose.

But let's be honest, Utah wasn't with it at all.

There were still some classic moments: Vlady's shootout goal, Parnham getting hit on the head with a puck on the bench (more funny than classic, admittably), some incredible O'Keefe saves, the Teddy Bear Toss after the first goal.

And us with no teddy bears.

Our post game is below, but you can check out the official post game at the Utah Grizzlies' website and the gamesheet at ECHL.com.

FIRST PERIOD

Face off.

Alaska starts out with two goals in rapid succession.

Crap.

Fortunately, Friesen gets one in. 2-1.

Teddy bears cover the ice. Wooo!

Points to Stoflet and Perry on that.

Then some Vegas joke decides to crash his own net and take out Vlady with him.
Vlady had a perfect scoring chance.

Vlady is awarded two penalty shots.
Misses both.
Damn.

We don't know if Alaska's goaltender is hot or if Utah's just off their game.

Maxwell gets a penalty for high-sticking.
Killed.

May sends one in and ties it up. 2-2.
Assists go to Gannon and Perry.

Grizzlies are just starting to gain some momentum.

End of first. 2-2.


SECOND PERIOD

We actually saw some play from the boys this period.

Grizzlies has several power plays this period but couldn't get it done.

However, those power plays were the only time the Grizzlies truly controlled the puck.

Perry on the power play.

Boys did some penalty killing, too.

Kotsy went to the box early in the 2nd for tripping.

Killed.

Alaska gets a goal. 3-2.

Alaska with the puck.

Then Stoflet takes a tour for tripping.

Alaska gets another goal. 4-2.

Only power play goal of the night.

End of second. 4-2, Alaska.

THIRD PERIOD

Alaska opened this period with a penalty.

But Utah spent most of their time this period killing penalties.

Alaska with the puck, again.

Guthrie took a tour 5 mins in for high-sticking.

Then Parnham joined him with a double minor for high sticking.

Boys play a little 5-on-3 and a lot of 5-on-4.

Killed.

Alaska shoots.

Then Bartley goes to the box for slashing.

Killed.

Grizzlies can't pull it together in the end.

Alaska gets some penalties.

Utah can't do anything with it.

Utah defends the net.

Grizzlies pull their goalie.

And Alaska gets the empty net goal. 5-2.

Grizzlies get another power play at the end of the 3rd.

But time runs out.

Game.

5-2, Alaska.

AJ Perry was the 2nd Star of the Game.


NOTES

Kinasewich is returning to the line-up on Saturday night. There's two ways we think this could really go: Snatch rallies the troops to a win or the troops leave the redemption entirely for the returning captain. We hope it's the former rather than the latter.

We're also guessing from the tensions already building from the previous games that there will be a lot of fights. We're just hoping they're energizing ones rather than momentum sucking.

Grizzlies added a new blueliner yesterday. We didn't notice him last night, and we don't know if he'll play tonight either.

Go Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wrangers Post Game 11/13/09

Win.

So, it looks like we were right. The Grizzlies were bad luck for the Wranglers on Friday the 13th. And honestly, from some of the close calls in the 2nd period, we're more apt to believe it was somewhat karmic. If we're going to be honest, the boys actually had us worried until the 3rd period.

But look at this spread: Vlady picks up 3 points in assists, Perry gets 2 goals, Sixsmith has a goal and an assist, and Kinasewich finally hits the scoreboard with 2 assists. Sweet.

And as per usual, check out the official Utah Grizzlies postgame, the ECHL gamesheet, and our interpretation of karma below.


FIRST PERIOD

2 minutes in, May draws a penalty and the Grizzlies go on the power play.
But they're having a hard time keeping it out of their own end.
Nothing.

Pavli and Caria make a nice run at the net.
But Ouzas stops it cold.

We're not going to lie.
We're partial to Pavli.
Nice to see him back on the ice.

Friesen snaps one at the net for the goal. 1-0.
We love it when the Grizzlies draw first blood.
It bodes well.

Points to Sixsmith and Vlady for the assists.

One of the linesman finds himself in the middle of play.
He's knocked down. We chuckle
Vegas shows a replay.
HA!

Sixsmith falls flat on the face off.
But then he scores, so we don't much care.
2-0.
Points go to Gannon and Vlady as well.

Vegas gets a penalty, and while Utah tries to get an extra man on the ice Caria gets one, too.
So, it's 4-on-4.

The boys can't control it or get it out of their end.
O'Keefe makes some mad saves.
Kinasewich finally clears it.

Aaaand we're back to 5-on-5.

Then, Vegas goal. 2-1.

Seriously. We saw that coming.
We were yelling at the Grizzlies via B2 to get it out of their zone.
They were looking sloppy.

Kotsy gets some Penny Candy.
Vegas gets a penalty.
But somehow, they end up getting a short handed goal.

We felt like our brains would explode.
Augh.

That was seriously some half-assed play.
We'd better not see it in the 2nd.

End of first. 2-2.


First Intermission: Haggin goes one-on-one with James Sixsmith - it's at the podcast center. He loves the Utah mountains, he also goes by Bubba, and he doesn't like scary movies.


SECOND PERIOD

2 minutes in, Hunter gets a hooking minor.
James and May rock the PK.

Then a penalty on Vegas.
4-on-4.

Ending with a 30 second power play for Utah.
Nothing.

Grizzlies get another power play.
And they capitalize - finally.

Perry gets the only goal of the 2nd.
3-2, Utah.
Vlady picks up his 3rd point of the night.

Props to Vegas replays because our feed froze at the worse possible moment.

There are some decent saves by O'Keefe.
And some lucky ones.

The Grizzlies get another power play late in the 2nd.
But they can't seem to keep it out of their own end.
Nothing.

End of second. 3-2, Grizzlies.


Second Intermission: We finally YouTubed the commerical the Wranglers show during the second intermission with the Pens.


THIRD PERIOD

Pavli does a magnificient fall right off of the face-off.

We've noticed there's been a lot of random falling during this stretch in Vegas.
We guess the ice down there is extra slippery.

Pavli gets a minor for slashing.
And Vegas ties it up again. 3-3.
Pavli does the skate of shame.

Sad.

At this point, we feel like it's going to be downhill from here.
The boys haven't really been on their game.

But then, Hunter regains the lead with an easy goal. 4-3.
Kinasewich hits the scoreboard with an assist.
Finally.
Luck is on our side.

Let's hope we can keep it up.

A minute later, the Grizzlies are on the power play and looking to increase the lead.
They capitalize.

Perry gets his second goal of the night. 5-3.
Points to Bartley and Snatch on the assists.

We didn't expect that.

We're glad Yo was as surprised as we were.
It makes us feel like we know what we're talking about.

More random falling.
Seriously. What the hell?

Perry picks up a charging minor.
Killed.

Kinasewich misses the empty net.

Buzzer sounds with an awesome O'Keefe save.

Game.
5-3, Grizzlies.


Stars of the Game:


1. Vlady - WOOOO!
2. Perry - naturally.
3. . . . -since Vegas didn't bother to fill this one in, we're giving it to both Sixsmith and Kinasewich because we can.


NOTES

Hmm, no real notes here. We were just glad to see Pavli back on the ice and the boys bringing it together in the 3rd for a nice surprise ending.

Back in Utah tomorrow.

Go Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies vs Idaho Steelheads Post Game: 10-24-09

Even though the Grizzlies couldn't pull off their 4th straight Pink in the Rink win, this game still made some Grizzlies headlines. Kinasewich scored his 112th goal during the game, making him the top goal scorer in Utah Grizzlies' history.

Finally. We're ecstatic, but also a little relieved. Even though it's just been two games, it feels like this has been hanging in the air forever.

Don't believe us? Just Google it.

As per usual, the official post game is up at the Utah Grizzlies site, and the official gamesheet at ECHL.com. Ours is below.

PreGame Introductions: We were late for these.

There was a ceremonial puck drop, but it was as we were taking our seats. We missed who dropped it.

The rink is pink.

FIRST PERIOD

Puck drops.

Under 2 minutes into the first, Kotsy drops the gloves with Idaho #3.

5 for fighting.

Perry mouths off in front of the net.

Idaho gets a penalty.

Grizzlies can't capitalize.

We look for Guthrie, but Idaho's on him like flies on poo.

Idaho gets another penalty.

Nothing.

Some Idaho schmuck gets bulldozed.

Kotsy gets a breakaway but nothing.

End first. 1-0, Idaho.

First Intermission: We got some good pictures of fans. Check this out.

Jen and her hockey posse. From left to right: Jessica, Emily, Amanda, Megan, Jen, and Judy in front.

Jerseys from past Pink in the Rink years:

This lady does a Cancer Awareness Golf match, but also comes out to support the Grizzlies:

SECOND PERIOD

Grizzlies come out looking for some goals.

Idaho penalty. Face off in Idaho's zone.

Hunter picks up a power play goal early in the 2nd. Nice. Tied, 1-1.

Points to Friesen and Snatch for the assists.

3 minutes later, Idaho scores, 2-1.

Grizzlies are looking about the same as in the 1st.

Boo.

Stoflet loses his helmet.

Penalties. Some for Idaho. One for May.

Nothing.

Friesen takes a killer hit from Idaho, but drops the puck behind to a teammate.

Slick move, Friesen!

Talk about taking one for the team.

Then, Pavli drops the gloves with some joke from Idaho.

Both go to the box for 5.

Ahem. Replay, please?

Well, we did our best. We were across the rink and cheering, so it's not the greatest - but it'll have to do.

The boys gain some momentum.

Snatch joins Pavli in the box for slashing a couple of minutes later.

Killed.

Then, Kinasewich gets his goal.

He becomes the top goal scorer in Grizzlies history with 112 goals.

They stop play to give him props. Very cool.
Standing ovations. Rejoicing.

Awesome.

Points to Caria for the assist.

Two minutes later, Snatch decides to do it again.

3-2, Grizzlies.

Points to Friesen and Caria for the assists.

O'Keefe makes some sexy saves.

We somehow manage to get pictures of none of them.

Fail.

Hunter is injured. Damnit.

End of second. 3-2, Grizzlies.

Second Intermission: Snack time. And a Colley jersey sighting.

THIRD PERIOD

Grizzlies come out looking like the 1st period version of themselves.

Crap.

Kotsy goes to the box for hooking.

Idaho capitalizes, 3-3.

Grizzlies get a power play, but can't capitalize.

Pavli is on fire. He somehow manages to keep the puck away from two defenders and pass it to Perry who's right in front of the net.

Unfortunately, Perry was being so stealthy, he didn't even notice himself and missed the pass.

Damnit.

Then, Idaho gets another one, 4-3.

Sixsmith almost knocks it in, but gets punched in the face.

Perry gets in someone's face.

End of the third, Caria and Idaho punk #13 go to the box for roughing.

Grizzlies pull their goalie.

Idaho gets an empty net goal. Boo.

Grizzlies hang on to the puck for the last few minutes, but can't get another one in.

Game.

5-3, Idaho.

#1 star of the game is Kinasewich with 2 goals and one assist.
Nice.

Caria and Friesen pick up 2 points a piece.

NOTES

It's obvious that we're as skilled, if not more, than Idaho. The Grizzlies just seem to have a hard time keeping it together for some reason.

Basically, we here at GrizzBlog feel that we won the game for Idaho last night.

As to how to fix that? We don't know. We'll leave that to Colley and Curcio who know what they're doing.

Even though Snatch totally stole the show for the Grizzlies tonight (and well deserved - hear, hear), we wanted to highlight our two fave moves of the night:

Dustin Friesen taking a hard hit from Idaho to save the puck from their clutches. Friesen passed the puck back to one of his forwards before taking a killer hit and stalling Idaho from getting at the puck. Those few seconds helped the Grizzlies play the puck down to the Idaho zone.

Mark Pavli controlling the puck as he passed behind the ISH net with two Idaho punks all over him. After taking it to the far right of Idaho's zone and drawing the goalie's attention, he makes a clear, solid pass to Perry directly in front of the net. Also, +5 props to Mark for the fight.

That's it for now.

Go Grizzlies!