Cap Wars: Goalies, Forwards, and fun with ECHL trades

Earlier this week, the Grizzlies made a few changes to their roster. We saw Paul and Tim Crowder traded for Wheeling's David Marshall, goalie Tyler Sims signing with Utah, Paul McIlveen completing the Dylan Hunter trade, and now joining the team - Shane Connelly. But with forwards Marshall in the AHL and McIlveen now suspended (we're assuming this means Europe for Paul as he played there last season), what did Utah end up with out of all this wheeling and dealing?


Well, two goalies - which is exactly what the Grizzlies were looking for. Rumor has it, the trade of the Crowder boys was mainly to free up money in the Grizzlies' salary cap so they could have bargaining power in finding new netminders, which is where Utah has been hurting lately. With defensemen able to step up into the offensive stratum if needed, missing four (Crowder, Crowder, Marshall, McIlveen) forwards may not make Colley as uneasy as going without the solid help in net the Grizzlies have relied on all season.

Of course, this is all just our speculation. But from some of these post game interviews, we get the impression that Colley is looking to his boys to start burying pucks on their opportunities, rather than looking for someone new to take on that role.

Let's take a look at the new goalie Shane Connelly. So far this season, Shane's played in games with 3 different ECHL teams (Utah will be his 4th), and for all statistical accounts he looks like a solid backup goalie to Tyler Sims. With the Devils, he comes to the Grizzlies with a 0.883 save percentage and 3.45 GAA. We found this awesome save from his college days to show you what this kid is made of:


Very nice.

We're interested to see which of the two goaltenders Colley decides to go with in net this Friday. Welcome, Shane!

Crowders to Wheeling for David Marshall (and what we think this means for the big picture)

So, the Crowder boys have been shipped off to Wheeling in exchange for David Marshall. In our opinion, we're not happy about this one but we're also not in charge. The Grizzlies' plan here is to prepare for the post season and they're looking to put together a team that can make a run against the likes of Stockton and Alaska - two rivals that Utah has had trouble with this year.


On the numbers end, we can see Utah's point. After ramping up at the end of 2009-10, Tim has had an inconsistent season this year without his catalyst of a brother Paul, who was injured between November and February. Tim led the Grizzlies' with overall points for a while, but currently comes in with 33 points (13g, 20a) in 55 games. And a recovering Paul is still adjusting back to game shape from his injury.

That being said, the boys seemed to spark in both games this weekend in their hometown of Victoria, as we expected. We were hoping to see the return of the Crowders and Carpentier in the same firepower line that began the Grizzlies' season, but sadly that was not to be.


So, let's look at the big picture - we're talkin' playoffs, baby.

Grizzlies made the trade for David Marshall who is currently playing with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL. With the Baby Pens, Marshall has picked up only 2 points in 8 games so not the heaviest hitter in that league. (His stats in the ECHL are pretty nice, though. You can check them out here.) Which means there's a good possibility that he'll be in Utah come playoff time.


That being said, it's necessary to take into account the upper leagues. Marshall's currently hanging out in WB/S, who has maintained the top spot in their division despite massive injuries and callups from the Pens, who have seen their own share of injuries and relied heavily on their farm teams this season. And even if the Pens don't make the playoffs this season, the Baby Pens are slated to make their run in the AHL. But with the injuries and callups to Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton needs bodies . . . and this is where it gets tricky for us as Grizzlies' fans.

Marshall has played in recent games for WB/S, so we know he's not riding the bench and will be in game shape when he joins Utah - or should we say, IF he joins Utah. Just today, the Baby Pens found out that three of their top scorers will not be cleared for the AHL playoffs due to NHL injuries. This could mean a spot on the playoff roster for Marshall who has AHL experience not only with WB/S but with two other teams this season.

Of course, it's not uncommon in the ECHL for a trade made in preparation for the playoffs to fall apart due to an AHL callup; this is what we saw with the Simon Ferguson trade last year after all. And honestly, more power to David Marshall if he can make the callup stick even though we want him here in Utah to help out our boys.

So, as for the Crowders? We're going to miss them terribly on a personal note. But we know that the boys will be guaranteed ice time as shorthanded Wheeling fights to hold onto their #2 position in the Eastern Conference's North Division. Tim was drafted by the Penguins in 2005, so it's somewhat fitting that he's joining their organization and playing with ECHL affiliate for the last push to the post season. And if this last weekend was any indicator of what the Crowders will take going into the Nailers, we may have to look out for them in the playoffs.

Aw, draft day!
Best of luck to the Crowders!

Tanguay for Ruegsegger

Tyler Ruegsegger has been traded to Alaska for Maxime Tanguay.

Not much of an opinion on this one even though we liked Tyler. He had a lot of talent, which meshed with the team dynamic the Grizzlies were trying to create. But we always got the sense while watching him play that he needed about another year of development in this league before his talent and consistancy matched up. He seems like he's just on the cusp of breaking out continually, so maybe he can find his legs in Alaska. We wouldn't be surprised to see him start producing like he does here as we've certainly seen glimpses of it through the season -



We can't remember much about Tanguay in the games Utah's played against him, but here's what his stat sheet says: he plays center and has 15 points (4g, 11a) in 27 games. Ruegsegger isn't too far off from that in the numbers department with 14 points (7g, 7a) in 35 games. However, it's Tanguay's second year in the ECHL, having spent last season in Toledo and with 5 games in the AHL. Looks like a decent trade; it just depends on what Colley can do with Tanguay and how quickly Maxime can adapt to the Grizzlies team.

Best of luck to Tyler in Alaska!


Also of note, Jake Gannon was named as an alternate for the All-Star Game, which is coming up this Wednesday. It sounds like we'll be able to watch or listen to the All-Star Game here in Utah, too. Not bad.

Igor back in the West

The Grizzlies picked up the rights to Igor Gongalsky from Greenville today.

The acquiring of Gongalsky was to finish up a trade with the Road Warriors for the rights to goalie Dov Grumet-Morris. Igor is currently serving a stint in the AHL but is quite a familiar face in the ECHL's Western Conference. We dug this up from last season, when Gongalsky was with Stockton:



Igor also played with Fresno when they were still in operation. You can check out Gongalsky's stats here.

Utah heads back to California this week, so we're hoping to see some more wins.

Short but sweet today!

Game Day transactions and other news.

Just a few updates before tonight's rematch with Idaho.

Forward Marcus Carroll was signed to an ATO on Friday. He played last night with the Grizzlies against Idaho and picked up 2 SOG and ended the game with a +1. So far so good. It sounds like Carroll has been assigned to defense here in Utah, rather than forward. In the OHL, Carroll acquired 62 points (25g, 37a) in 67 games and 81 penalty minutes.


Also joining the Grizzlies tonight in Boise is Simon Ferguson, who was acquired earlier this season in a trade with the Florida Everblades. We wondered if we would see Ferguson later in the season when his PTO with Syracuse expired, and it looks like that is the case. You can check out Ferguson's AHL stats here.


Look at those crazy eyes. Watch out, Idaho.

Although it's nice to see Ferguson joining the line, we still feel concerned about the Grizzlies' 2nd and 3rd lines ability to gel with the constant change this season. But of course, Utah could already be making preparations for next season. As Denny said in his blog today, if players don't step up, they won't be back.

While we understand that is a necessity to make sure everyone is playing at their best, we'd also like to point out that players, who are quite talented, may not respond to a certain coaching technique or line. And we find it a bit premature to declare the boys on the team that haven't been as prominent here in Utah jobless next year. In fact, a number of Grizzlies who were traded this year have flourished on their new teams: Parker Van Buskirk had a spin in the AHL, Patrick Asselin is in the midst of a 5 game scoring streak and has picked up 15 points in 17 games, Shea Guthrie sits at 20 points in 25 games, and the list goes on.

We're big fans of Kevin Colley, and we think he has a lot to offer as a coach, but sometimes we are left to wonder if there's a disconnect between Colley's coaching and the team's understanding and execution. And while we completely agree with Denny's observation that: "It should not take a Kevin Colley timeout mid-game to stop bleeding and momentum" - we have to wonder if the boys have been unintentionally conditioned to respond as such.

We can't offer any suggestions on what to do about it, though. Just an opinion.

Luck tonight, Grizzlies!

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.

When the hell did Utah trade Mark Pavli?

Mark Pavli was traded to the Stockton Thunder on Thursday. WTF?

So, we've had it driven into our skulls all season that the ECHL is a developmental league and trades happen. That's fine; we expect that. However, it seems that the only things developing on the Grizzlies' end are Colley's skills as a Wall Street day trader.

Think about it. Stoflet getting traded for Prokop who was traded for future considerations, Shea Guthrie traded to Florida for rights to an AHL player. Jason Dale was due to higher powers, but really . . . We follow this team religiously, consistantly, daily, but we don't even recognize most of the roster anymore.

Hell, we'll admit it. We're biased. We liked Pavli a lot. It was nice to see someone playing their guts out during every shift over that last slump when over half the team couldn't be bothered to show up. We won't claim he was the best player or having the greatest season, but every time Pavli was on the roster, we knew we'd have something to watch. He stuck up for his teammates, played a gritty, hard game, and seemed incredibly easy-going with fan interactions. It would be an understatement to say that he has been a fan favorite during his time here in Utah. And while we understand that a team can't be based around fan expectations (see Calgary, Theo Fleury), the fans should be able to expect some balance from their hockey club.

Yes, we are in a developmental league; we're feed for the farm teams. But in our opinion, the organization also has a responsibility to make their own playoffs, compete for the Kelly Cup, and allow the community to identify with their home team. How can we possibly identify with our team if, as dedicated fans, we have no idea who's stepping onto the ice to represent said team?

Just from the rumor mill, it sounds like this was a hard trade to make for everyone involved and was necessary due to the influx of contract players from the higher leagues. It still pretty much ruined our day.

Luck, Pavli!


Other Transactions:

Defenseman Peter Aston was assigned to Utah by the Florida Panthers last week. In his debut with the Grizzlies on 1/22/10 at the E Center, he tallied two assists for a multipoint night. So far, so good for the blueliner.

Jake Gannon and James Sixsmith have been called up to the AHL. Gannon will join the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Sixsmith has been loaned to the Milwaukee Admirals. Luck, Gannon and Sixsmith!

Dylan Hunter returned to the ice on the 23rd against Ontario and proved once again how essential he is to the team. Hunter picked up two assists in his first game back.

The Grizzlies have signed defenseman Chris Allen to a contract. Allen has been playing with the EIHL in the UK this past season, but has a strong background in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL. He will also add some height to the team average, standing tall at 6'3". Nice.


**note: Sorry for the lack of updates; life hasn't been kind.

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!

Game Day: Steelheads, Sixsmith rejoins Utah Grizzlies

Game day: Idaho Steelheads

Ah, the ISH. We meet again, comarades.

Both the Grizzlies and the Steelheads enter this game with a road win behind them. Utah looks to continue their wins on the road, while Idaho is hoping to capture their own on home ice. O'Keefe will be in goal tonight for the Grizzlies after his success on January 9. Perry and Galbraith are expected to be back on the ice tonight, but no word on Hunter that we've heard. We hope to see more of Asselin in Idaho as well.

We don't have much more to say about this, so go read Denny's game day blog instead.


Grizzlies Transactions

James Sixsmith returns to Utah after spending some time with Bridgeport in the AHL. While Sixsmith won't join the team tonight in Boise, he's expected to play in Stockton this weekend. It will be nice to see Sixer (Bubba) back in a Grizzlies jersey - maybe revive the Sixsmith-Vlady-May line?


Also, Hugo Carpentier was recalled by the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL. Luck, Hugo!


Other Grizzlies news

Tip-A-Grizz is coming up on February 15. Money raised at the event will go to Grizzlies Children Charities which supports youth hockey in Utah. It's $25 to reserve a seat for non-season ticket holders, so RSVP before it's sold out.

The ECHL All-Stars game is coming up on January 20. Kinasewich, Bartley, and Perry are scheduled to play, and Grizzlies trainer Plandowski will also attend the game as training staff.


Good luck tonight boys!

Dylan Hunter returns to Utah Grizzlies from AHL

Dylan Hunter has been returned to Utah after playing with the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Hunter will meet the Grizzlies in Anchorage this Wednesday for the upcoming games against the Alaska Aces.

Hunter leaves the AHL with 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) and 2 PIM in 10 games. In the ECHL, he stands at 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 19 games.

Glad to see Hunter back!

Utah Grizzlies acquire Brock Wilson, trade Parker Van Buskirk, Brooks

More Utah Grizzlies roster transactions today.

Out:

• Parker Van Buskirk traded to the South Carolina Stingrays in exchange for future considerations. He leaves the Grizzlies with 5-8-1-0 and a 3.98 GAA this season.


• Defenseman Chris Brooks was traded to the Bakersfield Condors in exchange for future considerations.

In:

• Brock Wilson was added to the Utah Grizzlies from the Toledo Walleye in exchange for future considerations. Wilson, a defenseman, has 11 points in 29 games this year with the Walleye.

Utah keeps goaltenders Mitch O'Keefe and Beau Erikson on the roster. Erickson will make his debut with the Grizzlies tonight.

Wilson should be in a Grizzlies uniform tonight as well.

Go Grizzlies!

Grizzlies trade Kotsopoulos for Aces' Galbraith

When we got the text from the Grizzlies on Sunday, we were afraid to look to see who we traded. We knew it had to be a veteran, but we didn't want to know which one it was.

Utah Grizzlies traded Evan Kotsopoulos to Alaska for Lance Galbraith on Sunday.


Yes, we're sad about this one because Kotsy was one of our favorites. We already saw him traded once last year; we weren't ready for it to happen again. Though we have to admit, we'd only seen the minimum from Kotsy so far this season. We were hoping to see him pick it up a bit after the holidays, but we guess we won't have the chance. Alaska also picked up the rights to Mike Walsh who currently plays in the AHL.

We'll see how Galbraith works with the team. He's got some pretty decent stats and has racked up some time with the Aces and Steelheads in previos seasons, so we can almost guarentee he's got some fight in him as well.




Luck, Kotsy!

Go Grizzlies!

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!

Utah Grizzlies pick up goalie Pelletier off waivers

Utah added a new goalie over the weekend. Pier-Olivier Pelletier was picked up off of waivers from Elmira by the Grizzlies. Pelletier has played in 3 games with the Jackals this season. You can check out his pro and junior stats here.He's currently sitting at a 0.869 save percentage with 3.65 GAA for the current season, but with only 3 games under his belt in 2009-10, who can really say what that means. Not us.

Though, we're willing to give any guy from St.-Louis-du-Ha!-Ha!, QC, a decent chance.

*Post games will be up shortly.

Go Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies deal Shea Guthrie to Everblades, acquire Prokop from Bakersfield, sign Hand

Grizzlies traded Shea Guthrie to Florida Everblades today. Shea, who has 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) in 22 games with the Utah Grizzlies, was traded for the rights to Simon Ferguson. Sounds like Ferguson has spent all of his time with the Everblades in the AHL where he's played 13 games with Syracuse and tallied 3 assists.

While we were a little upset about Caria, this trade made us sad. Mainly because we were just starting to see some consistancy from Shea this month, and he has been one of our favorite n00bs to watch this year. But hockey is hockey is hockey, so we're trusting Colley on this again. Looks like Ferguson has been in the AHL over the past 3 years so we'll see how he works with our team.

To finish up the trade from Bakersfield, the Grizzlies picked up Patrik Prokop. Sounds like he had a decent junior career. So far this year he's played 7 games with the Condors and racked up 11 PIM.

And to finish up the changes, Utah picked up Ryan Hand as their new enforcer. We're interested to see how he affects the team, particularly against Idaho and Alaska. This boy tallies up the penatly minutes, which tells us he knows how to get the job done.

Luck to Shea in Florida!

Go Grizzlies!

Utah Grizzlies News: Trades, Callups, and Additions

So, the Grizzlies' lineup has undergone some massive change in the last 24 hours. To make it easier, we've made a list of those changes below

• Vic Bartley has been called up to Bridgeport. [UtahGrizzlies.com
• Tony Romano joins the Grizzlies from Bridgeport. [UtahGrizzlies.com]
• Evan Stoflet has been traded to Bakersfield. [UtahGrizzlies.com]
• Jason Dale has been reassigned to Bakersfield by Bridgeport. [UtahGrizzlies.com]
• Dylan Hunter goes to the AHL's Rochester Americans. [UtahGrizzlies.com]

Basically, we lose 4 (Bartley, Stoflet, Dale, Hunter), and gain one (Romano).

Romano joins the Grizzlies from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers where he played 21 games this season. During the 2008-2009 season, Romano picked up 69 points (36 goals, 33 assists) in 65 games for the Petesborough Petes of the OHL. Not bad at all.

We're going to miss Bartley and Stoflet, who have been pretty stellar on defense for us over the past several games. Hunter's callup is really no surprise as he played in the AHL during 2006-2008, but we'll still miss the firepower.

Jason Dale is probably the one we'll miss the most here at GrizzBlog. We were just starting to cultivate an appreciation for his drive and constant effort on the ice. He really gave the game his all every shift, and we loved to watch him play. We hope this reassignment ends up being a good thing. Luck, Jason!

Fortunately (or unfortunately), we may be seeing both Evan and Jason in the Grizzlies' games this weekend against the Condors.

Luck to all!

Go Grizzlies!

The Mysterious Case of Justin Dacosta

When we went to the game last Saturday night, we noticed a new name on the roster - Justin Dacosta. He was listed as a defenseman. We didn't know who he was, but whatever. Guys come in and out of here all the time.

Dacosta never made it into the lineup that night, which was probably a blessing for him considering the way the game went. For all we know, he could have not even been in the state. Honestly, we've managed to block most of that game out of our memories, except for things like the guy getting arrested, and Vlady getting two penalty shots on one play. (He missed both, of course.) So we had mostly forgotten about Dacosta until we saw this on the ECHL's website:

Utah:

Delete Justin Dacosta, D released pursuant to Playing Rule 47

That was on November 29th, one day after the game. We looked up Playing Rule 47 - it's all about fighting. Since he didn't even play in the game, that made no sense.

Maybe he was the guy getting arrested.

On Tuesday, December 1st, we see this:

Utah:

Add Justin Dacosta, F signed contract, 11/30

Delete Justin Dacosta, F traded to Stockton

So... he switched to forward, signed a new contract, and then was traded? We looked up his original transaction to Utah from November 28th:

Utah:

Add Justin Dacosta, D signed contract 11/27

So the Grizzlies originally signed him as a defenseman, released him because of the fighting rule (???), then re-signed him as a forward and traded him to Stoctkon.

Anyone else lost?

Today, we see this:

Stockton:

Add Justin Dacosta, D traded from Utah

Either this guy is flexible in what position he plays, the ECHL website has something wonky going on, or there are two different Justin Dacostas.

Or there's another explanation we haven't figured out yet.

We totally don't get the business side of hockey.

Go Grizzlies!

Game Day: Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas

We're running out of things to say about Vegas.

You'd think we could come up with something after a week.

Nope.

Utah Grizzlies have lost both of their top scorers to call-ups. Vegas hasn't really been untouched in that department either. We're hoping this will even out the odds. Yo's game day blog covers this in a litle more depth.

On the defense end, it sounds like Brooks is back. He was pretty solid defensively last year, so we're hoping to see this from him tonight. Also, the Grizzlies confirmed our Parnham and Hughes rumors from earlier this week. They sound like they will be good additions. Nice.

Beljo won't be in a Grizzlies jersey tonight. Apparently, he still has work permits and stuff to deal with.

We really don't have much else to say today.

We've been dishing all week, what with the call-ups, trades, and signings.

We can't even think of any good predictions.

So . . .

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