The Grizzlies are hitting the road again this weekend, and maybe it's a good thing. They can't seem to win anything at the Maverik Center, and last week's 1 of 6 points homestand did nothing for keeping them on top of the conference. They're currently sitting in second place in the Mountain Division, one point behind Idaho. Funny how once you get to that top spot, nothing else is good enough.
Anyway, not that we don't love our team, but the long distance relationship seems to be working out better for now. We have every confidence that things will turn around for the Grizzlies at home in the future. We just don't know how far in the future. We're hoping sometime this season.
The first stop on the map is Ontario, with whom the Grizzlies have a bone to pick after last weekend. Or at least in our mind they do. WE have a bone to pick with them for spoiling our home games, but we're kind of irrelevant in the hockey world.
We kind of wanted to say the Reign were on an upswing after they beat the Grizzlie
s twice (okay, once in overtime) last weekend, but then they went and got a butt whipping from Las Vegas on Wednesday, so there's really no excuse. Well, except that the Maverik Center is cursed, but we're not particularly superstitious so that's just silly. (Anyone know a good witch doctor? Preferably someone good at removing hexes. Email us.) All that aside, the record says the Reign have been struggling. They're lurking at the bottom of the Western Conference with 17 points (the Grizzlies have 26), which doesn't put them out of the running at all playoff-wise, but they're going to need a good ladder to start climbing out of the hole. Still, there's a lot of hockey to be played yet this season, and this could be the game they take the initiative to start climbing. Utah will have to be at the top of that ladder with a hose, making sure they don't get too close. That means not letting their guard down for a minute, even though Ontario doesn't look like the toughest opponent on paper. Last weekend - perfect example. (We just wanted to add another set of parenthesis to this paragraph.)
s twice (okay, once in overtime) last weekend, but then they went and got a butt whipping from Las Vegas on Wednesday, so there's really no excuse. Well, except that the Maverik Center is cursed, but we're not particularly superstitious so that's just silly. (Anyone know a good witch doctor? Preferably someone good at removing hexes. Email us.) All that aside, the record says the Reign have been struggling. They're lurking at the bottom of the Western Conference with 17 points (the Grizzlies have 26), which doesn't put them out of the running at all playoff-wise, but they're going to need a good ladder to start climbing out of the hole. Still, there's a lot of hockey to be played yet this season, and this could be the game they take the initiative to start climbing. Utah will have to be at the top of that ladder with a hose, making sure they don't get too close. That means not letting their guard down for a minute, even though Ontario doesn't look like the toughest opponent on paper. Last weekend - perfect example. (We just wanted to add another set of parenthesis to this paragraph.)Stockton, on the other hand, currently has the same number of points in the standings as Utah. They just finished a sweep of three games against Victoria last week and have won 5 of their last 10 games. They play Bakersfield on Friday night before meeting up with Utah, and are in somewhat of the same situation the Grizzlies are - trying to pass up Idaho. With the top 3 in the conference being so close, any of them could end up on top by Monday. The battle is heating up already and it's only December. We like that.
According to the AHL transaction report from yesterday, Jake Gannon was released from his PTO in Peoria. According to Adrian Denny's game day blog, the Grizzlies captain will be back in the line up tonight in Ontario. Having their captain back can only be good for the team. His experience can help them in situations where they may otherwise lose focus or intensity. Gannon has always been a hard worker and a good leader. Now we'll get to see where he can take the team. Also from Denny's blog, it looks like J. P. Lamoureux will be in the net for Utah tonight to start the weekend.
Tonight's game against Ontario starts at 8:00 pm MST and can be heard on 1230 KFAN on your AM dial. Tomorrow's game in Stockton starts at 8:30 pm. We're all about the away games these days.
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