Fake Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Idaho Steelheads

We know it's not really the weekend, but since an actual weekend preview would read something like this...

We expect Santa to be dropping by sometime tonight to bring us presents. Or coal. We're not sure how good we've been.

...we're just going to move the traditional Weekend Preview post up a little bit.


Tuesday and Wednesday the Grizzlies host the Steelheads at the Maverik Center. For at least one game - the game on Tuesday - both teams will be down a player. Idaho will be missing Kael Mouillierat due to a one game suspension, and Utah has just traded forward Brad Snetsinger to Bakersfield for a player to be named later. We don't know how much later, but we're not sure they'll get it announced in time for the game tonight. We could be wrong though - it's happened before. Either way, we're not all that excited about the prospect of our team playing against Snetsinger - we rather liked him on our side. But such is life in the ECHL, and we wish Brad the best of luck in Bakersfield. (Except when playing the Grizzlies.) We'll miss him. Merry Christmas, we guess.

Even though the Grizzlies are tied with Vegas for points, they're not quite at the top of the Western Conference right now, since the Wranglers have played fewer games. But they are at the top of the division. It's a pretty close race and Idaho is only two points behind them, so the games this week are going to be important in determining who goes into the Christmas break on top. Four points for the Grizzlies could put them at the top of the conference, since none of the other western teams play until the 26th. Conversely, four points for Idaho could put them on top. The standings are a complicated place this season.

The Steelheads just finished losing three games - one in Victoria and two in Las Vegas - so they are looking for a good showing in Utah. Streaks of any sort don't typically last too long in hockey, and especially in the ECHL, so the law of averages says they're about due for a win. It will be up to the Grizzlies to make sure that doesn't happen.

Utah just wants to keep getting a good effort from everyone, because we've seen as long as they can do that, they get the results they (and we) want. They lost their last one at home - a close one - but their play has been improving in the Maverik Center. We're very grateful for that. We'd rather not see them digress. We think it's best that they win at home before going into the break so they can spend it full of holiday cheer. And maybe a little egg nog.

Two games against Idaho for the fake weekend. Puck drops at 7:05 pm. Happy Holidays, everyone!