Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Ontario Reign

After a nice little All-Star break, the Grizzlies welcome the Reign to the Maverik Center this weekend. We hope they've got their heads all cleared out, and maybe had some good practices, because the Grizzlies are no longer at the top of the Western Conference.

Shocking. Absolutely tear-jerking.

The fall from the top spot was a combination of the Grizzlies having a few not so great games, and Las Vegas really picking it up and winning 7 of their last 10. We know it's not the end of the world, and we're not all that upset - 2nd is still pretty good. But 1st is better than 2nd. Hence the numbering system. We're posting the sign until they're back from 2nd.

Anyway, the Reign are currently in last place in the conference, and have lost 6 of their last 10. So have the Grizzlies. Just an odd little congruency we thought we'd throw in for no particular reason. The Reign, however, are also last place in the league with only 28 points. This is exactly the kind of position that can make a team dangerous because they have nothing to lose. Sitting back and trying to hold their spot makes no sense, so they may as well go all-out and see what happens. Utah is going to want to keep this in mind, as sitting back is probably not their best option at this point either. There is still a lot of hockey to be played between now and April, and anything could happen. Oh, and keep an eye out for Ontario's lone All-Star representative, Aaron Lewadniuk - we hear he's got a great shot. Plus we really liked this feature on him.


According to Adrian Denny's game day blog, the Grizzlies should have their All-Star Captain (that has a nice ring to it), Jake Gannon, in the lineup tonight. It will be good to see him back on the ice here in Utah - we've missed him. We'll also see the two new guys - Brandon Milnamow and Maxime Tanguay. We're looking forward to seeing how they fit in. No updates on Andrew Engelage, which is maybe good news. We hope to see him uninjured and back in the net. The rest of the cast should be ready to play as well, and we're looking for them to rebound after some disappointing games last week. If you haven't yet read the article from Kyle Goon of the Salt Lake Tribune (no, we didn't make that up), check it out. Great article, and it really shows how these guys want to win together. A few little setbacks aren't going to cloud their overall goal - to win a championship.

With Friday being a "Pack the House Night" where all tickets are $5 with a Maverik receipt, we expect a great crowd to cheer the team on and start this weekend right. If you haven't got your tickets already, you'll want to hurry - they've gone fast in the past.

Games in town Friday, Saturday and Monday. Come see the Grizzlies claw their way back up to the top.