Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Ontario Reign

The Grizzlies take up arms tonight and Saturday against the Ontario Reign. They're going into this weekend on a 1 game winning streak, which isn't really a streak at all, but we're pretty sure they're planning on turning it into one, so we're going with it.

Streak or not, Utah has won 7 of their last 10 games and has been getting excellent play from everyone on the team. They are still at the top of the Western Conference despite a tiny little setback in Idaho on Tuesday. No big deal - they aren't going to win every game, no matter how much voodoo or fairy dust we throw out there. (Just for the record, combining voodoo and fairy dust is a bad idea. Or so we've heard.) Still, we're keeping our standards high and expecting 4 points this weekend.

Ontario may only have 21 points in the standings to the Grizzlies' 44, and they may have only won two of their last 10 games, but the truth of the matter is they can be a tough team for Utah to play against. The two teams have matched up four times already this season, and Ontario has won twice, both on the Grizzlies' home ice. Utah needs to look at this weekend not as an easy four points, but as a chance for payback in Ontario. We're not too worried about this team taking a vacation though. Maybe toward the beginning of the season they were guilty of that on occasion, but they seem pretty determined to stay on top now. They don't want the curse of Coach Colley on their heads. Plus it looks like the weather in Ontario is going to be crappy this weekend. (Maybe that IS the curse of Coach Colley. We have no idea what kind of powers he has.) Anyway, the Reign are 7-1-1 when leading after 2 periods, so the Grizzlies will want to get to work early. No pulling a Russian World Junior this weekend. (Our sympathies to all our Canadian friends out there - hopefully no one jumped.) If we were coaching, we'd tell the team to get ahead in the first two periods and stay there. Useful advice, but that's pretty much the extent of our plan, so it's a good thing we're not coaching.

For the Grizzlies, Marcus Carroll and Chris Donovan currently have 4 game point streaks going, and Kevin Deeth has two mulitple point games in a row. Ontario has new goaltender Alex Petizian from Alaska/Portland. Brock Wilson has a 1 game streak without suspension.

If you happen to be in Ontario for the game, try to be one of the first 3,000 people in the arena - it's Bud Holloway bobblehead night.

Games start tonight at 8:00 pm MST. You can listen on 1230 KFAN. Second win of the latest win streak.

Cheap food and other news

You know what cheap food means? Long lines at the concession stands. This weekend, hotdogs, corndogs, tacos and beer will be cheap at the Maverik Center for the weekend home-stand. ($0.50 hotdogs! $2 beer if you're into that sort of thing)

Anyways, onto the real news.

Congratulations to Brett Parnham, our newest player of the week! That's right, fans, two Grizzlies have been named the ECHL player of the week already this season. Parnham's nomination could have something to do with the hat trick he scored during last weekend's awesome round of games.

The Grizz are currently second in the league for scoring on the power play. The team has been doing amazing this season, so keep up the hard work for this weekend, boys!

Players missing from the line up for a game or two: Paul Crowder and Brent Gauvreau were placed on the injured reserve. Send these two good vibes to aid their healing. Chris Donovan was suspended for a game. He'll miss Thursday's game against Las Vegas.

Post Game: Grizzlies 3, Bakersfield 2

Three straight wins is pretty damn awesome.

Utah did a great job controlling this game from start to finish. Even though Bakersfield outshot the Grizzlies 42 to 18, the defense stopped a lot of the Condor speed without penalty which lead to fewer genuine scoring chances. And while the Grizzlies captured a win in the Robobank Arena on Wednesday, the boys looked much stronger on the backcheck tonight.

But of course we don't want to undermine the brilliance of JP Lamoureux here, either. JP stopped 40 of 42, where the first goal he allowed was generated from a breakdown in defense giving Condors numbers and speed on the goalie and the second in a 6 on 4 situation. On top of the numbers, Lamoureux again pulled out the stops to save the Grizzlies from their mistakes with some spectacular saves that left us cheering in delight and the Condors scratching their heads.

On the scoring end, we saw a lovely power play goal from Ruegsegger in the 2nd to increase the Grizzlies lead to 3-0. We'd been waiting to see more from this kid, so this makes us quite satisfied. Congrats to Brock and Marcus as well for their goals.

Also wanted to shine on Chris Donovan for his grit. Several times, Donovan controlled the puck and forced Bakersfield to chase him down, allowing for his teammates to complete a line change. At one instance in the 2nd after hitting the ice, Chris regained the puck and kept four Condors busy in the corner for at least 5 seconds. Color us impressed.

Just one more! Grizzlies vs Reign - Sunday, 6pm.

Stars of the Game -

1. UTA - J. Lamoureux
2. BAK - V. Trukhno
3. BAK - S. Goulet

Links -

post game || Grizzlies Roll 3-2 In Bakersfield; Win Third-Straight
gamesheet || Utah at Bakersfield - 11/27/10
highlights || Game Highlights 11/27/10 at Bakersfield
interview || Jason Fredricks 11/27/10 intermission