Utah Grizzlies News and Updates.

There have been a couple of really decent articles about the Grizzlies in the local news and around the web, so we decided to list them for you.

The SL Tribune did an article about the Grizzlies' success and the call-ups the team has undergone recently: Grizzlies cope with success.

Speaking of call-ups . . .
Old news, but the Deseret News did a nice article on Kinasewich and his call-up to the AHL.

Also regarding Kinasewich, Channelsurfing.net is going to run the feed of the AHL game Rochester vs Hamilton tonight. So if you miss watching Snatch in action, you can watch him online.

Also, if you're a Serty fan, you can watch KHL games in the morning on Channelsurfing.net.

And to catch up with some old faces, it sounds like Caria has recently decided to leave the Everblades in favor of going to university. Florida has suspended Caria to retain his rights, but Caria had been thinking about leaving the ECHL to go to school even while in Utah.

That's all for now . . .

Go Grizzlies!

Brett Parnham to join Utah Grizzlies from OHL, Bobby Hughes from AHL

We didn't get to listen to all of Grizzlies' Live last night because apparently 1230 AM does not work in North Utah County. Grr.
But what we did hear rocked. Woot, Pavli and Kotsy!

It sounds like the Utah Grizzlies are getting some new blood from the OHL and some sent down from the AHL to help cover the holes made by Kinasewich and Sixsmith moving up in the hockey world. Here's 2 of the n00bs to the team.

Brett Parnham is joining the Utah Grizzlies from the Oshawa Generals in the OHL. We don't know if he played for them this season, but last season he racked up 76 points (50 goals, 26 assists) in 56 games. Nice.



Bobby Hughes is also joining the boys from Bridgeport where he's played 5 games so far this year.

And yes, we were correct about Caria being traded to Florida. Utah Grizzlies posted the news late yesterday afternoon. Enter Beljo, exit Caria.

While we still have mixed emotions on that trade, we can say that Jadran Beljo has been playing in Europe with the Medveščak Zagreb so far this season. That's former Grizzlies defenseman Andy Sertich's current team.

We miss Serty.

In other semi-related Grizzlies news, Abbotsford beat Hamilton last night, 4-1. Ouch! We didn't hear much on Meyers, but Snatch had 1 SOG. It went wide of the net, but was apparently close enough to make the announcer Derek Wills excited. (Yes, we were listening.)

Speaking of exciting, it sounds like the Bulldogs had a smoother night last night in Abbotsford than they did a couple of days ago. We snagged this from their Twitter:

Bulldogs outworked and outplayed by the Heat last night...rematch in Abbotsford tonight. The team isn't skating this morning.
Curtis Sanford will start, Mathieu Carle is on his way to Abbotsford from Montreal and will play. No fires or earthquakes yet today LOL

Wills called the game last night the 3rd natural disaster to happen for the Bulldogs since arriving in Abbotsford: hotel fire, earthquake, then their 4-1 loss.

And a little Sixsmith news . . . sort of. Bridgeport finally decided to post an article on signing Sixsmith to a P.T.O. so we're posting the link: Sixsmith Joins Sound Tigers.

We'll post more Grizzlies related news if we find it!

But that's all for now.

Go Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies News: Caria traded to Florida?!

Okay, we're not happy about this, but . . .

We're going to be as objective and diplomatic as possible.

And not mention the Kotsopoulos trade of 2009.

Word has it Caria's being traded to the Florida Everblades of the ECHL for Jadran Beljo, who has yet to see ice time for Florida.

Wait, what?

We're hoping we have bad information on this one.

No such luck.

We received an email from Woody Wommack, who covers the Florida Everblades for the Naples Daily News.

I wanted to give you a heads up on a trade that just went down between Florida and Utah. The Grizzlies send Matt Caria to the Everblades for the rights to Jardan Beljo. All the details are on my blog, if you could link to my post that would be awesome.

You got it, Woody. Blades' Blog.

It looks like we'll be needing to add some American Conference blogs to our list ASAP.

It sounds like this is the real deal.

So far our coaching staff has given us no reason to doubt them.

They seem to genuinely want to help the boys develop their talent and move up in the hockey system.

In Colley and Curcio we trust.

We're going to miss Caria.

It sounds like he'll be taking the ice tomorrow for Florida, along with former Grizzlies' forward Rob Hennigar.

Luck, Matt!

Go Grizzlies!

Everblades swing deal to acquire Matt Caria from Utah

Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wrangers Post Game 11/14/09

There was so much awesome in this game, we don't even know where to begin.

We could start with the utter domination of the Wranglers on the ice. Or with the multipoint nights for Hunter, Sixsmith, Bartley, and Perry. Or even with Caria's Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal-assist-fight).

But really, we have to start with Kinasewich, who stole the show again. A hat trick with 2 assists to make Snatch the all-time leading scorer in Grizzlies history. UtahGrizzlies.com called this a storybook evening, and we couldn't agree with them more.

The official postgame is at the Utah Grizzlies site, the gamesheet is up at ECHL.com, and our version is below.

PreGame Introductions: The boys did a tribute to the armed forces. Very nice stuff.

Anthem picture.

FIRST PERIOD

Perry gets the first goal of the night 1:07 into the 1st. 1-0.

Points to Maxwell on the assist.

5 minutes later, Snatch picks up his first of the night. 2-0.

Points to Sixsmith and Perry for the assists.

Kotsy-Pavli-Kinasewich on the face off.

Vegas gets a penalty.

Grizzlies can't capitalize.

Not to worry.

Caria gives the Grizzlies their third.

3-0.

Points for the assists to Bartley and Guthrie.

Not sure who that is, but this is cool.

Friesen, Caria, Shea, and Kotsy on the ice.

Vegas gets another penalty.

Grizzlies power play is shortened when Kinasewich gets called for hooking.

Then May joins him for delay of game.

4-on-3.

Then, 5-on-3.

Killed.

So far, the game has been all Grizzlies. We hope it keeps up.

End of first. 3-0, Grizzlies.

First Intermission: We debated about getting food but were too lazy to leave our seats.

We don't even have any pictures or witty comments.

Whatevs.

SECOND PERIOD

Face off.

Vegas gets the first penalty of the 2nd.

Grizzlies can't do anything with it.

Then they get the first goal of the 2nd. 3-1.

Vegas takes another penalty.

And the Grizzlies take advantage of it.

Snatch scores his second of the night. 4-1.

Points to Hunter and Sixsmith as well.

2 minutes later, Perry gets another one past Ouzas. 5-1.

Points to Kinasewich for the assist.

Both boys just picked up 3 point nights.

Snatch just tied for the all-time leading scorer in Grizzlies history.

Perfection.

Colley is pleased.

Then Bartley and some Vegas joke go at it.

We didn't get video, but we got a decent picture.

Later, Kotsy gets a little Penny Candy.

Both boys go to the box for roughing.

Then some Vegas joke tries to run down O'Keefe.

Because O'Keefe is awesome. Check him out.

Vegas for the penalty.

And Utah for the goal.

Sixsmith tips it in. 6-1.

Points to Snatch and Bartley on the assists.

Kinasewich is now the all-time leading scorer in Grizzlies history.

History, folks. You witnessed it.

End of second. 6-1, Grizzlies.

Second Intermission: There's more cool stuff for Armed Forces night. We have nothing to show for it.

THIRD PERIOD

The boys take the ice.

This is the period of awesome fights.

But first . . .

Vegas gets a penalty.

Then Meyers shortens it up with his tour for interference.

Killed.

The boys watch from the bench.

Kinasewich gets a hat trick. 7-1.

Nice!

Of course we have to stick this in here:

His 16th goal and 2nd hat trick of the season.

Points to Hunter and Caria on the assists.

Then May decides to shake things up.

He and some Vegas punk get some time for roughing.

Few seconds later, Caria drops the gloves to round out his Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

You might want to keep the sound down on this one.

There's a lot of screeching from us - embarrassing.

Jen did an awesome job in capturing this.

Then Pavli starts it and laughs all the way to the box.

Another great job from Jen on the vid.

And Pavli cackles in the box as well.

Pavli and Caria were vastly amused with their work.

As they should be. As were we.

Awesome.

Snatch discussing the calls. He looks annoyed.

The fighters in the box.

To add insult to injury, Sixsmith knocks another one in. 8-1.

Kotsy picks up a point on that as well.

Vlady-Sixsmith-May face off.

Shea gets a penalty.

Vegas finally gets a goal. 8-2.

They're not even celebrating anymore.

Those poor bastards.

Vegas is down on the ice.

The Grizzlies are moving so fast they're just blurs.

Somewhere in there, Maxwell gets a penalty.

Killed.

And Vegas gets another goal.

But we're too busy comparing Pavli's and Stephenson's hair.

This is one contest Vegas wins.

But is that really much of a bragging point?

Game.

8-3, Grizzlies.

Stars of the Game:

1. Kinasewich
2. Sixsmith
3. Perry

NOTES

Hmm, do we really need to say more?

We don't think so.

We think the boys said it all for us.

Go Grizzlies!

*We actually ended up with a ton of amazing pictures due to Jen's camera, so we'll probably get the extras up on Flikr (or some picture hosting service) sometime this week.

Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers Post Game 11/10/09

Grizzlies win.

We honestly don't have much to follow that. The game was somewhat calm, steady, and consistant. Just strong, good hockey from both teams with a solid win for our boys. This is what we like to see.

And for a change of pace, it was characterized by a LACK of penalties. 5 penalties in total through the game as opposed to 29 penalties last Friday.

Also different, Kinasewich didn't make it to the scoreboard tonight. But both Perry and Sixsmith picked up multipoint games.

The official Utah Grizzlies postgame is up; the ECHL gamesheet is as well. Ours is below.


FIRST PERIOD

Both teams come out swift and solid.
Grizzlies are playing more aggressively than Vegas.
But Vegas is keeping pace.

Good steady plays, shots, and saves by both teams.

Then late in the 1st, Perry scores on the rebound.
Ouzas lays on his face in shame.
We cackle like little girls.
Points to May and Sixsmith on the assists.

Shea shows off his mad puck handling skills as he keeps it away from Vegas.

Ouzas is on fire.
He makes at least 3 crazy saves before he holds on to the puck.

There have been no penalties.
Weird.

Yo comments that Orpik should be a pest.
But we like to call him Penny Candy.
His brother scares us too much to call him a pest.


End of first. 1-0, Grizzlies.

First Intermission: Haggin goes one-on-one with Matt Caria. It will be up at the Utah Grizzlies' podcast center for your listening pleasure.

We realize that you can't pick up the 1230 AM in Highland or Alpine. Bummer.

Yay for the internet.

SECOND PERIOD

Leave it to Kinasewich to get the first penalty.
He seems to be in the box almost every game this season.
We don't remember him doing that the last couple of seasons.
But we think we like it.

Penalty killed.

Then, the Grizzlies go on the power play.
Some Vegas joke gets 4 minutes of high sticking penalties.
What the crap WAS he doing with the stick?
We missed it.

Four minutes.
But the boys can't do anything with it.

However, we must say that they looked amazing.
A lot of movement in the zone.
Nice set ups.

But Shea gets a penalty for hooking, and shortens up the power play.
Boo.

Kinasewich gets a couple of nice shots off.
One really nice shorthanded chance.
But nothing.
Penalty killed.

Then, a ref knocks the puck back over the blue line and calls offside on May.
What the hell?
Jerk.

Late in the 2nd, Penny Candy scores.
Tied, 1-1.

But 2:31 after, Dale sends one in. 2-1.
His 2nd of the season.
Perry gets points for that assist.
His 2nd point of the game.

Vlady's been throwing these awesome checks all night
He totally squashes some Vegas punk against the boards.
We love it.

End of second. 2-1, Grizzlies.

Second Intermission: Um . . . we did laundry. Yo talked about how the boys' families came down to Vegas for the games. Very cool.


THIRD PERIOD

There are some awesome O'Keefe saves in the first of this period.
Which results in a pushing match in front of the net.
No fight, though.

The video was freezing on our feed, so we decided to restart the browser.
Mistake.

Maxwell sends one in while we're pulling up the feed.
3-1.
Points to Bartley and Sixsmith.

Vegas has definitely picked up their speed.
They've decided to play a physical game late in the contest.

But the Grizzlies defense kicks butt.
They make an awesome save while O'Keefe is down.
Blocking any entrance to the net.
Then playing it down the ice.
Solid.

Boys seem to be making plays out of clearing, then chasing it down for an opportunity.
Awesome.

Then, Shea gets a tripping minor.
Vegas capitalizes.
Guthrie does the skate of shame.

The score just tightened up.
Crap.

Things are getting heated.
Semi-fisticuffs.
Some Vegas joke knocks down Caria in front of the net.
Seriously, 3-on-Caria
The joke even gets a few cheap shots in.
And some sucker jabs.
But the refs break it up before Caria can respond.

Can you blame them -
Who wants to clean blood off the ice?

CRAZY MAD final 2 minutes.
Both teams fighting with everything they've got.
Grizzlies can't clear it.
Vegas presses their attack.

If Joni was watching, she'd have a stroke. Or five.

Time runs out on Vegas.
Whew!

Game.
3-2, Grizzlies.

Stars of the Game:
1. Perry - that's all we care about


NOTES

Not really much to say. Clean, consistant hockey. A good win, and a solid defense at the end of the 3rd when the Grizzlies tend to give it up.

We rematch with these guys in a two days.
Let's do it again, boys!

Go Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies vs. Las Vegas Wranglers Post Game: 10-29-09

To be quite honest, we can't remember much about the game except the vast amount of scoring that happened. And while we feel a little bad for Vegas's backup goalie, Gistedt wasn't the only reason the Grizzlies massacred the Wranglers last night. The Grizzlies came out looking like a team ready to play a full 60 minutes from the moment they stepped onto the ice. So, we're assuming that whatever Colley yelled/said must have worked.

The only question we have is if 13 players earned points thoughtout the course of the game, who didn't?



The official post game is at UtahGrizzlies.com, and the gamesheet is up at ECHL.com. Ours is below.



FIRST PERIOD

Grizzlies get a power play within the first minute.
Kotsy scores in the last few secondof the power play. 1-0.
Points to Vlady and Sixsmith for the assists.

Two minutes later, Grizzlies get another one.
Sixsmith knocks one in. 2-0.
Vlady picks up another assist and May picks up a point.

Then, 2:10 after Bubba gets his goal, Snatch puts one away.
3-0.
Caria and Sixsmith for the assists.

Bubba's already earned himself 3 points in the first 6 minutes.
Vlady has 2.
Freakin' awesome.

Then Penny Candy gets one in for Vegas. 3-1.
Meh.

Some Vegas punk gets 4 minutes worth of penalties.
Grizzlies capitalize, again.

Hunter gets the power play goal. 4-1.
Points to Caria and Meyers.

Bartley gets a high-sticking minor.
The boys kill it.

End of first. 4-1, Grizzlies.


First Intermission: Haggin goes one-on-one with Perry. They talk about NHL 10, AJ's brother Corey, and his desire to wear the #9. You can listen to the interview with AJ Perry at the podcast center.


SECOND PERIOD

The scoring frenzie continues in the second.
We seriously can't remember what else happened.
The second period is ALL Utah.

30 seconds in, Bartley gets a goal. 5-1.
Damn.
Assist goes to Guthrie.

Then, Snatch gets his 7th goal of the season.
6-1.
Points to Caria and Friesen on that one.

Vladi gets sent to the box.
Killed.

We see Vegas on the ice, but they're not doing anything.

Hunter puts his second goal of the night in. Caria gets yet another assist.
7-1.

Sixsmith does a tour for holding.
The boys kill it.

At this point, we're just feeling bad for Vegas.
Really bad.
Like, you-don't-deserve-this-much-torture bad.

Vegas picks up a penalty.
Grizzlies can't capitalize.

Vegas picks up another penalty.

Caria gets a goal. 8-1.
Caria's earned himself 5 points for this game.
4 assists, 1 goal.
Damn.

Points to Hunter and Guthrie for the assists.


End of second. 8-1, Grizzlies.


Second Intermission: Yo does a recap and reads emails and texts. We do our laundry.
Check out this interview with Vegas forward Orpik. So depressing, even the announcer can't sound excited. Note the look of hopelessness on Penny Candy's face at the end of the video. So sad!


THIRD PERIOD

To be quite honest, the third period was uneventful.
Vegas came out a bit stronger.
Utah decided to let them save some pride.

Dale gets his first professional goal at about 6 minutes in.
9-1.
The poor goalie looked stunned.
We could tell he'd already lost his will to live.

Points to Snatch and Perry for the assists.

Vegas gets a goal.
Those poor bastards.

End of the 3rd is PK practice.
Guthrie and Clarke take consecutive tours.

Kinasewich decides to make things interesting.
Snatch joins Clarke and makes the boys kill a 5-on-3.

All penalties killed.
No power play goals for you, Vegas.

Game.
9-2, Grizzlies.

Stars of the Game are all Grizzlies:
1. Caria
2. Hunter
3. Kinasewich




NOTES

This game had so much awesome in it, we don't know where to begin.

First, we enjoyed the new line changes. Seeing Vlady and Sixsmith together on the ice made us feel like we knew what we were talking about when we decided to pair those two in our fantasy lines. We're wondering if the line changes had more to do with the slaughter that happened on the ice or if it was Colley's threats of imminent doom.

Second, holy &%^#, Caria! What's up!? Also, Kinasewich was looking a little more consistant, which is what we want to see. The backup goalie was definitely a lucky break for the Grizzlies. And while we feel bad for Vegas, the goalie wasn't the only good thing going for the Grizzlies. They actually played as we all know they can. If the boys can remain consistantly at the level of play they brought to Vegas tonight, they're going to be a force to be reckoned with going into their next few games.

Third, it was great to see Maxwell back on the ice. Maxwell and Jason Dale were on the ice last night for the Grizzlies for the first time this year.

And lastly, Parker's the unsung hero of the night. Vegas outshot the Grizzlies, and he kept the Wranglers in check. Woooo, Parker!

That's all we've got for now.

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!