Post Game: Steelheads 7, Grizzlies 2

Screw you, Utah. Since you didn't bother to show up, we're reviewing the Wheeling-Reading game instead.


Royals win.

In a game that saw 3 former Grizzlies pick up a goal, the outcome came down to the goaltending. Reading goalie Dalton stopped 45 out of 47 SOG in regulation and all 4 Wheeling shooters in the SO to capture the win for the Royals. Now, that's a game. Add to that both of the Nailers' goals came on the 5-on-3, and we're even more impressed.

Of course, we also need to point out the great job that Wheeling did in their own end on defense and also on the forecheck. While the Nailers racked up 47 shots, they only allowed 27 comparatively. And like the Royals, both goals allowed came on the power play.

Both Reading goals came from former Grizzlies in Cruthers and Labelle (ah - we miss you, Labelle), and one of the two Nailers goals came from Tim Crowder (who we also miss dearly). It was Timmy's first goal in a Nailers uniform and it was on the power play. When we switched over to the Grizzlies game, Wheeling was leading 2-1 with Tim's goal as the GWG; but Labelle scored late in the 3rd to tie things up and send it past regulation. We missed it. Boo.

Overall, great effort from both teams. It's hard to make any sort of comparative statements regarding the game as we haven't been following these teams closely, but it was a fun one to watch. Much more entertaining to watch than Utah's non-effort.

Go Eastern Conference.


**If you want to read about Utah getting slaughtered, go read the official post game. We're opting to ignore it.

Top of the Mountain

The Grizzlies finally return home from a successful 8 game road trip this week. They went 5-2-1 and now sit at the top of the Mountain Division. Not bad at all, boys. Look out though - here comes Alaska...

Don't forget - Friday the 19th is Maverik night. That means all seats are just $5 with a receipt from Maverik. So hop on over and get a pack of gum, ask for a receipt, and buy your seats already, because according to the Grizzlies' website, they're going fast.

Forward Riley Armstrong was suspended by the Grizzlies as of 11/13/2010. We haven't figured out what's going on with that situation yet. You can bet we'll keep our eye on it though. Our top guesses are 1) he's going overseas to play and the Grizzlies wanted to retain his rights, or 2) he let the air out of Colley's tires in the parking lot. (Hey, they're just guesses. We never said they were good ones.)

The Grizzlies' former NHL affiliate, the New York Islanders, fired head coach Scott Gordon today, and put Bridgeport head coach Jack Capuano at the helm. Former Grizzly and Sound Tiger Justin Bourne wrote about playing for "Cappy" in USA Today. We don't know much about coaching or anything, but man, check out the hair in that picture.

A couple of moves by Abbotsford: it looks like JP Lamoureux will soon be back in a Grizzlies jersey. Also, Brett Sutter is back with the Heat. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with him getting arrested in Phoenix, could it?

And just because we love an underdog, check out this guy in Reading - Ben Scrivens. He's beating the odds and doing it with a great attitude.

Home game in 5 days!

What to do in the summertime?

Ah, life without live hockey: this is what hell must be like. Particularly since ice couldn't last down there . . .

If you haven't seen this already on Puck Daddy, we've decided to post it here since it was in the ECHL. The Royals and the Cyclones got into a line brawl this Sunday at the end of Game 5 of their playoff series. Apparently it resulted in almost an hour's worth of penalty minutes, some suspensions and fines. We found it on YouTube and have posted it below. The narration on this is all class (sarcasm intended), so consider yourself forewarned if you watch with the sound on.

Kind of old news, but as we haven't posted it yet: Ryan Kinasewich will be headed to the KHL next season. It looks like he will be joining the Medvescak Zagreb and playing with former Grizzlies defensman Andy Sertich. Snatch is scheduled to arrive in Croatia at the end of July. The kid's been a Grizzlies' icon for last 5 years, so we're really sad to see him go. Best of luck, Ryan!


If you want to watch Andy and Ryan in the KHL, you can usually find live feeds of the games on ChannelSurfing.net. Not to mention, one of our bloggers is currently living in Italy, so we're thinking a trip to Croatia might be in order when the season starts . . .

And speaking of our blog, over the summer we plan on adding some additional bloggers to our staff. If you're interested in writing for us, feel free to send an email to grizzblog@gmail.com.

Also during the summer, we hope to get pictures from the rest of the season up to our Flickr account, as well as updating our social networking accounts at Twitter and Facebook. We'll post updates as we work on getting those in order.

And remember: while WE might be slackers, you can always go read Adrian Denny's summer blogs which he posts every Friday.

Here's to 2010-11!

Transactions and other Utah Grizzlies news

There have been a few more changes to the Grizzlies' roster this week.


In:

• James Sixsmith rejoins the Grizzlies from his latest stint in the AHL. He played Monday night, but was not feeling well and did not travel with the team in Victoria.
• Steve McJannet was acquired from the Florida Everblades in exchange for future considerations. McJannet made himself at home with his first fight in a Utah jersey on Monday night.

Out:

• Chris Allen, who only played 3 games on Utah ice, has been traded to Bakersfield. He's the third defenseman this year to be traded to Bakersfield from Utah.
• Forward Ryan-James Hand has been placed on waivers. Looks like he was picked up yesterday by the Reading Royals.
• Patrick Asselin, who was picked up off waivers by Utah from Idaho, has been traded to Kalamazoo in exchange for future considerations.

Other Utah Grizzlies news

The Grizzlies made a visit to Shriners Hospital on January 27. Shriners Hospital was the chosen charity for the Guns & Hoses 2010 game which was played on January 30. The Grizzlies were scheduled to wear themed jerseys later that night and auction them for charity after the game, but the jerseys were delayed. The auction is scheduled to take place following the February 20 game.

A portion of ticket sales from Monday's game was donated to the Shoot for a Cure charity which promotes awareness about spinal injuries. We think this is pretty damn cool and wished we could have heard more about this than Gary Coleman dropping the puck

Former Utah Grizzlies goaltender Parker Van Buskirk has been loaned to the Hershey Bears of the AHL. He's been signed to a PTO and looks like he'll be playing backup.

The Grizzlies are in Victoria tonight. Puck drops at 8 pm.

Utah Grizzlies Transactions: Erickson and Crowder

More transaction news.

The Utah Grizzlies picked up Beau Erickson from the Reading Royals in exchange for future considerations. He seems like he has some pretty nice stats. You can read the official announcement at the Utah Grizzlies site.

Utah also signed forward Tim Crowder, who played with Bakersfield earlier this season.


Pier-Olivier Pelletier was placed on waivers by the Grizzlies yesterday and is listed as a free agent as of today.

Looking forward to seeing how the new additions work with the team.

Luck to all.

Go Grizzlies!