Weekend Preview 2/19/2010 - Utah vs Victoria

Well, the trade carousel seems to have slowed down a big for the Grizzlies. They did get Hugo Carpentier back from Abbotsford on Tuesday, but since we've seen him before and they didn't give anyone up, we're not all that frustrated with this move. In fact, we quite like the guy. Anyway, the Grizzlies seem to be more consistent as of late, and that's in a good way. In fact, six of their last ten games have ended in shootouts. That's pretty consistent. (The Grizz have won five of their last ten.)

Speaking of consistent shootouts, the team finishes up their series against Victoria this weekend. They've played the Fish Dudes (what? Oh, Salmon Kings...) six times this season, including Wednesday night, and five of those games have gone to shootouts. Utah has won two of those shootouts. Victoria has won three. Are we crazy if we predict another shootout? It should be the Grizzlies turn to win this one.

Coach Colley said in his post-game interview after Wednesday's game:

"We had the lead in our rink going into the third period; we can't give that up. It doesn't matter if it's on their power play or whatnot, but we've got to get the job done and not give teams any more points."

The Fish are currently eleven points ahead of the Grizzlies in the standings, so like Colley said, we're hoping they can just swallow that salmon whole this time without giving them any extra points. We do like an exciting close game, especially when it's in front of the home crowd, but we hope they can win in regulation this time.

Before coming to Utah this week, Victoria had won 6 of their last 10, but their longest winning streak was only two games. We're not sure if that means they're hot right now or what. The Grizzlies have won 5 of their last 10 (including Wednesday against Victoria), but again, their biggest streak in that span was only two games.

Eh, odds are it's going to a shootout anyway, so we just hope the guys are practicing their moves.

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AND NOW FOR SOMETHING WE TOTALLY MISSED EARLIER...

• If you're one of the first 2,500 people at the rink Friday night, you can get a team calendar. We're so there... especially since we never put up a new one for 2010.


• Saturday will be the 4th annual "Pooch on the Pond" night at the E Center. Call us crazy, but we like dogs more than we like Gary Coleman.