Just a brief Preseason Review

It was great to hear the slap of the puck and the scrape of skates on the ice once again as the Grizzlies took on the Idaho Steelheads in their two preseason games last weekend. Nothing is quite like the ECHL hockey season, especially when it's Grizzlies vs Steelheads. And while we're still out of practice from the off season, here's your preseason review!

Friday, October 8th:
The Grizzlies found themselves in a 4 goal deficit at the top of the 2nd, as Idaho packed on the points. However, Utah was able to cut the lead to a single goal before the end of the period, 4-3. But unfortunately, the Grizzlies weren't able to even the score before the end of the match, and Idaho picked up an empty net goal to end the game 5-3 in the Steelheads' favor.

This preseason game wasn't open to the public, but you can read the official postgame on the Grizzlies' site: Late Idaho Empty-Netter Ends Utah’s Preseason Comeback Effort.


Saturday, October 9th:
On our way to the game in Logan, we stopped by Le Nonne for some eats. We honestly just wanted to give these guys a shout out because their spinach ravioli is amazing. But now on to hockey . . .

The Grizzlies took the lead halfway through 1st with a goal by Parnham. And a beautiful goal it was. You could see it coming from the blueline. But our favorite part was the look on Riley Emmerson's face as the team jumped up to celebrate the goal. (We're still depressed we didn't get a picture of this.) 6'8" Riley got a goal of his own in the 2nd on a power play to increase the Grizzlies' lead to 2-0. Then Utah piled on another goal at the top of the 3rd to widen the gap, before Idaho struck back, 3-1. Both the Grizzlies and the Steelheads picked up additional goals to end the game 4-2 in Utah's favor.

You can check out the official postgame for Saturday's preseason game on the Grizzlies' site: Grizzlies Beat Idaho 4-2 To Complete Preseason.

It was nice to see JP Lamoureux in action for the Utah side. He stopped every shot he saw during the match.

One change we did see from last year's preseason game was the 3rd period. There was no coasting on the lead in the 3rd. The boys put in a lot of hard work for a full 60, which elated us to no end. We hope to see this trend continue and improve throughout the season.

Here's to a great 2010-11, Grizzlies!