Post Game: Wranglers 2, Grizzlies 1 (SO)

Grizzlies lose, but gain a point in a shootout.

Fortunately, there was a season high crowd at the Maverik Center for this one because the B2 kept cutting out on us at home. From what we saw of the game, the boys looked good. Denny mentioned in his postgame that had this been a post season match that Utah would have taken it. We have to agree. The boys' energy during OT was phenomenal.

Unfortunately, the Grizzlies couldn't make it past Ouzas in the shootout. Vegas's goalie was more than on top of it tonight, and we have to hand the majority of Utah's defeat to his game. Utah definitely got their chances, tallying 34 SOG on the Wranglers' netminder. Nice job by Carpentier on getting one past him to spoil a shutout.

Would have liked to see a few better moves in the shootout. Thumbs up for Mendleson mentioning that in the post game.

We were looking forward to seeing the new d-men on the ice, but we didn't get to see enough of them to offer an opinion. We blame the B2.

Better luck next time, Grizzlies. Well played.

Stars of the Game -

1. LV - M. Ouzas
2. UTA - H. Carpentier
3. UTA - P. McIlveen

Links -

post game || Season-High Crowd Watches Utah Rally: Fall In Shootout
gamesheet || Las Vegas at Utah - 3/23/11
highlights || Game Highlights 3/23/11 vs Las Vegas
interview || Leigh Mendleson 3/23/11 post game
interview || Matt Sorteberg 3/23/11 intermission

18 more: 9 at home, 9 away

Rough weekend for the Grizzlies, losing both games to the Wranglers. Two things come to mind when thinking over these games: Shoot more, and quit taking penalties at the end of the game. Sounds easy to us, right? On Friday, Las Vegas out shot the Grizzlies in the second period by some atrocious ratio around 4,395 to 4. Saturday, the Grizzlies were leading until the last 3 minutes, when they took some penalties which lead to Las Vegas scoring 2 power play goals for the win. Like I said, sounds easy to us office working, desk sitting, internet-surfing-for-hockey-news mortals.

In happy news, Saturday's game drew a big crowd as nearly 7,000 people (and a couple hundred dogs) watched the game. Over $12,000 was raised for the Angel's Hands Foundation.

More happy news: Andrew Engelage (who was called up last week to the Toronto Marlies) won his debut on Saturday in a shoot out, and again today saving 33 of 37 shots. Way to go, Andrew. Do we keep cheering him on, hoping he continues to do well and stay at this level level, or do you want him to end up back in Utah? It's kind of a catch 22, isn't it?

Our NHL affiliate, the Calgary Flames shut-out the Montreal Canadiens in the Heritage Classic yesterday. (Totally random note: I like the set up and look of that game re-cap page) It sounds like the game was a fun (like outdoor games should be), cold game. Good thing they had heated benches! The Flames are currently in a play-off position.

Post Game: Wranglers 3, Grizzlies 2

Grizzlies lose. Again.

For a while, we were looking at the same game as before. Vegas scored early, a Utah goal waved off in the 2nd, Grizzlies with the go ahead in the 3rd . . . the main difference was the boys held on until 3 minutes left instead of 7.

Utah killed themselves with penalties. Las Vegas, who's power play currently stands at 15th in the league, went 3 for 4 against Utah's 5th ranked penalty kill. 2 of those power play goals came in the last 3 minutes of the game to snatch the win for the Wranglers. Seriously, boys - What gives with the special teams lately?

Colley did call out his team stating: “Tamio gave us a chance to win and I feel sorry for him, he just had no help in front of him.” But there we disagree. We were sitting right behind the net. We saw the amount of effort that went into getting that puck cleared after the initial stop by the goalie and saving him from making those additional rebounds that he looked like he had a snowball's chance in hell of stopping. Now, we're not discounting the massive amount of effort that we saw from Tamio. Hell, that was probably one of his best games in his career (if we can be so bold), and he deserves ever bit of recognition from his star of the game performance. But the reflexes just weren't there like we're used to seeing with Engelage (naturally), or even past goalies like Mole. But we're glad he pulled off what he did. We also recognize the massive amounts of help he had with the rebounds and covering openings. We would have liked to see a better effort on the forecheck, however, and it will be interesting to see if the Grizzlies help Tamio develop those reflexes or pick up someone new.

Here's to wins on the road.

Stars of the Game -

1. LV - B. Goers
2. UTA - S. Ferguson
3. UTA - T. Stehrenberger

Links -
post game || Nearly 7,000 and Over 300 Dogs See Vegas Win Late
gamesheet || Las Vegas at Utah - 2/19/11
highlights || Game Highlights 2/19/11 vs Las Vegas
photos || 2/19/11 - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers
interview || Kevin Colley 2/19/11 post game
interview || Brian Kilburg 2/19/11 intermission

Post Game: Wranglers 5, Grizzlies 2

Grizzlies lose.

What a crazy game. And for about 30 seconds we thought Utah was going to win it. And then . . .

We looked everywhere for a clip of that accidental shorthanded Vegas goal Rinfret allowed, but no luck. Honestly, the poor kid was hanging in there until that crappy bounce. Then he lost all confidence like the Hiphopopotamus when he's freestylin'. And that was pretty much the game. Marc allowed 3 quick goals after that point and let a frustrated Vegas team break away to claim the win. Talk about a bad day at the office . . . But a great job by the defense in getting the rebounds out.

And speaking of bad days - Um, power play? Where did you go? Four 5-on-3 situations and only one goal?

Giffen Nyren had a good game, scoring both Utah goals that COUNTED (we're still confused about the one that was waved off); but we were also delighted to hear what Colley had to say about Giffen in the post game: "He's got a nice shot . . . he just needs to pull the reigns back though. He's a bit of a riverboat gambler - he just needs to let the puck do the work, trust his teammates, and not try to do too much." Yeah, Giff - good job, but stop with the fancy.

And now for the important business: Parnham - NOO!! Not sure what got injured on the kid, but he looked like he was in some serious pain. The team is gonna feel it with Brett out of the line. Hell, we refer to him as "Visa" over here: he's just everywhere you want to be. Hope he's feeling better soon.

Stars of the Game -

1. LV - A. Power
2. UTA - G. Nyren
3. LV - M. Ouzas

Links -
post game || Las Vegas Takes Utah Late 5-2
gamesheet || Las Vegas at Utah - 2/18/11
photos || 2/18/11 - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers
interview || Kevin Colley 2/18/11 post game
interview || Brock Wilson 2/18/11 intermission

Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers

Is it just us, or does it seem like Las Vegas is ruling our lives lately?

Believe it or not, after this weekend the Grizzlies only have one more regular season game against the Wranglers in March. However, with the standings looking the way they have, it's very likely they'll meet at some point in the playoffs. We'd prefer it be later rather than sooner. We're getting tired of them.

The Grizzlies blew their shot to go into this weekend ahead of Las Vegas in the standings, so that makes these two games even more important in their quest for the #1 spot in the conference. Utah currently sits right behind Vegas with 61 points to the Wranglers' 63. (Stockton is right behind them with 59.) The good news is that in the 8 times Utah and Vegas have met this season (seems more like 88 times), the Grizzlies have come out on top 6 times with 1 shootout loss, and have earned 13 points. Not a bad record so far. Kevin Deeth leads the Grizzlies against the Wranglers with 11 points. Also a good sign. Our #2 sign, however, is getting a bit old. We'd prefer the Grizzlies get 4 points this weekend and the Wranglers get 0 points so we can stop posting it.

Somewhat like the Grizzlies recently, Vegas has been flailing a little bit, winning only 4 of their last 10 games. They've lost their last 3, so they're on a bit of a losing streak. The Grizzlies themselves have a bit of a streak going themselves, losing their last two, but since their streak isn't as long, it won't be as painful if they have to end it. We're sure they'll be willing to sacrifice their own losing streak in order to keep the Wranglers' going. They're kind and unselfish that way.

The Wranglers recently acquired goaltender Billy Sauer from Gwinnett. We don't know why. We also don't know whether he'll be in the net against the Grizzlies or not. And there's some debate on which name is easier to taunt - Sauer or Ouzas. That may need to be tested this weekend.

One thing that doesn't need to be tested this weekend is the power at the Maverik Center. With Wednesday's outage, something seemed to go out in the Grizzlies too. Their last two games have been somewhat lackluster, and Wednesday's game even caused Coach Colley to say he was going to dissect everyone. That's got to be a messy business. Hopefully he got everyone put back together in time for tonight's game. And let's keep the power on this time.

It's Hockey Weekend Across America, and the Grizzlies have a bunch of promotions going on for Friday and Saturday. We don't know if the two are related, but we're going to say they are. For tonight's game (Friday) fans are encouraged to bring a can of food for the Utah Food Bank. It's especially encouraging since you can get $5 off any ticket for each can donated. There will also be a post-game skate for fans and the team. Bring your own skates, or rent some for $2. On Saturday it's Pooch on the Pond where fans can bring their dog and sit in the special pooch section. This goes right along with Bring a Friend to the Rink Day. Nice. The Grizzlies will also be sporting special jerseys for the Angel's Hands Foundation that will be auctioned off after the game. Proceeds go to the Angel's Hands Foundation which helps families dealing with rare diseases. And don't forget the Try Hockey For Free activities going on at 4 different ice rinks across Utah on Saturday the 19th in conjunction with HWAA.

The fun starts at 7:00 pm tonight at the Maverik Center. Three games left against the Wranglers. Two games this weekend. One chance to get ahead of them in the Western Conference.

Post Game: Grizzlies 3, Wranglers 2

Grizzlies win.

It was pretty awesome to see this game decided by May's penalty shot. Just goes to show you how decisive a penalty can be in any game situation.

Speaking of, both of Vegas's goals were on the power play. Really, Utah? You have the 5th ranked penalty kill and allowed 2 goals in 6 shorthanded situations against the Wranglers' 15th ranked power play? Since the Grizzlies won, we won't give them too much guff, but we wouldn't mind seeing the PK tightened up a little.

Both goals tonight were from Ferguson. Nice to see him getting in there with the goal scoring. Taking the lead against Vegas is a major aspect of any game against them, and he helped out with that with some style.

Glad to see the Crowders & Carpentier back together. Tonight they looked good, meshing well again as usual - but now we want to see them pick up some goals. (Yes, we're demanding and we don't care.)

Stars of the Game -

1. UTA - S. Ferguson
2. UTA - T. May
3. LV - N. Ross

Links -
post game || Grizzlies Win 3-2 In Las Vegas
gamesheet || Utah at Las Vegas - 2/10/11
highlights || Game Highlights 2/10/11 at Las Vegas
interview || Paul Crowder 2/10/11 intermission

Game Day - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers

There seems to be a shortage of games this week, and nothing at home for the Grizzlies. Hopefully you've already pulled out your Costco card and picked up your rations to make it through the famine. ($2.50 off a giant tub of cookie dough with coupon until the end of the month.) They'll make up for it next week, when they have 4 home games in 5 days. But for now, there's only one game, and it's tonight in Vegas, baby.

The Las Vegas Wranglers currently lead the Western Conference by 4 points. The Grizzlies are in 2nd... still. Utah has its next three games against, Vegas while the Wranglers have a couple of games this weekend against Victoria sandwiched in the middle. So again, the Wranglers come out with the upper hand, having more chances to get points than Utah. That makes these games against Vegas all the more important. The Grizzlies can't just worry about earning points, they've got to be about keeping Las Vegas from getting them. NO OVERTIME!!! Just our suggestion.

Another suggestion would be to not let the Wranglers score first. They have a record of 21-3-3 when they get the first goal in a game. This is kind of a weird statistic and we don't really know what it means, but they always report so it must be important. We are all for getting the first goal anyway. Or not letting your opponent score first. Either way works for us.

We know that Andrew Engelage has been stellar in net for the Grizzlies, and again earned Goalie of the Week honors, but Las Vegas recently got Michael Ouzas back from Peoria. Oddly enough, this is where Utah just sent captain Jake Gannon. We're kind of confused about this, but then again, we're confused about most things to do with moving players around, so everything is status quo. Anyway, Ouzas is currently ranked 6th in the league in GAA (goals against average). Engelage is 3rd in that statistic. We're thinking that last meeting between the two where Engelage got a shutout and Ouzas gave up 5 goals may have had something to do with that. We'd like to see a repeat performance. However, we think Vegas might still remember that, and might possibly be ticked, so we'll settle for a win. In regulation.

The Grizzlies will get Paul Crowder back in the lineup tonight. This is perfect timing - before he went out with injuries, he had two goals and two assists in two games against the Wranglers in November. It would be great if he picked up right where he left off. We're sure Timmy will be happy to see Paulie back in the game. Especially if they're also roommates, because having to watch your brother play while you can't has got to make a guy kind of cranky.

Only game of the week tonight. Puck drops at 8:05 pm. Hang with Adrian Denny on 1230 KFAN while you inventory your toilet paper and cookie dough.

Monday News: It snowed in Utah

Captain Jake Gannon was "loaned" to Peoria of the AHL today. No mention why on either team's site.

Our current standing: 2nd in the conference to Las Vegas. We're only 2 points behind, so if Vegas loses tomorrow and the Grizz win at Vegas on Thursday it's tied! Or we might be ahead because we'll have won more games, but have the same number of points. I always get confused on the standings when things like that happen. Either way, Go Grizzlies!

Tomorrow you can listen or attend the "Grizzlies Live" from Chili's.

Here is to planning ahead: the next home game won't be until February 15th, and it's crazy busy hockey after that--4 games in 5 nights. 3 of those games are promotion nights. You can do anything from getting 2 for 1 tickets, donating food, or taking your dog to a hockey game. Do dogs enjoy hockey? All the pooches and their human handlers will be in one area, lucky for those of us not taking a dog and who don't want to worry about any unpleasant surprises. A pleasant surprise would be the Grizz winning all the games!

Random Grizz alum now in the NHL mention (hmm...maybe I need to come up with a better title than that): Andrew MacDonald took a 10 minute misconduct penalty during the New York Islanders' game against the Ottawa Senators February 5, 2011.

Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Stockton Thunder

The Grizzlies are on the road this weekend in Stockton, California, home to the ever-popular Asparagus Festival. Fortunately that isn't until April, so there should be no distractions for the team. Let's just hope they don't play Stockton in the playoffs.

The Grizz are coming off a recent successful home stand where they came up with 7 of 8 points. Their last game against Vegas was won in particularly commanding fashion, cutting down the current conference leaders 5-0. That's right - we said the Wranglers are the current conference leaders. We're not necessarily complaining about that, but the Grizzlies are 2nd, and only two points away, which makes this weekend pretty important. The Grizzlies have two games this weekend followed by 4 days off, then one game next week and another 4 days off. That's a lot of not playing hockey, so they need to make these games count to stay in the race. The Wranglers will play 6 games in the time Utah plays 3.

Stockton has been on a tear lately, winning 7 of their last 10 games, and moving up the conference ladder. They're 6 points behind the Grizzlies, with only Idaho in between. It should be easy enough to climb over those potatoheads, as long as it's not at the Grizzlies' expense. The Thunder are 20-8-6 when outshooting their opponent, so we think it will be important for the Grizzlies to 1) take plenty of shots on goal, and 2) keep Stockton's shot count down. Of course, that's nothing they shouldn't be doing anyway, so we'll just keep our coaching advice to ourselves. What do we know anyway?

With the way they played at home recently, we're hoping Utah can keep it up for their next three games. This will depend a lot on goaltender Andrew Engelage staying on top of his game and healthy. According to Coach Colley, Engelage is the team's backbone. He has consistently been able to bail the team out when they have breakdowns and keep them in the game. Not to mention that pretty slick 5-0 shutout on Wednesday night.

Now, you may or may not recall that Stockton and Utah don't really get along very well. In fact, the last time these two teams got together for a weekend, the infamous stick-tossing incident occurred. Not that it wasn't one of the highlights of the season, but starting that game off with a fight didn't seem to be the right choice for the Grizzlies, as everything kind of went ice jungle from there on out. We would say it would be wise for the team to stay out of as many distracting, momentum-killing altercations as possible while in Stockton. We don't want any Rick DiPietro situations. (Out 4-6 weeks from a punch in the face - ugh.)

Chance for 4 points this weekend. We're going for Grizzlies win and Wranglers lose. Stockton is in there somewhere. The fun starts at 8:30 pm.

Post Game: Grizzlies 5, Wranglers 0

Grizzlies win.

We can honestly say we weren't expecting this one. We thought the game would be a bit tighter, but the Grizzlies really broke out here to make for one amazing game. Denny said that the boys caught Vegas on an off night, but we'd rather look at it as Vegas caught Utah on an ON night.

The name of the offensive game for the Grizzlies was timing. Timing made Carpentier's goal work, we can't say enough about May's timing on the shorthanded goal, and Parnham swooping in just in time to push a rebound in for the fourth goal was brilliance. Both Deeth (3a) and Ferguson (1g, 2a) had three point games, while Hugo picked up 2 points (1g, 1a).

Engelage was on fire: 40 saves for the shutout. And while the boys may have hung Andy out to dry a bit in the 3rd as Colley put it, we have to say that they made just as many necessary defensive clears on rebounds as Engelage made saves. Just a great performance from everyone.

On to Stockton . . .

Game Photos -



Stars of the Game -

1. UTA - K. Deeth
2. UTA - S. Ferguson
3. UTA - A. Engelage

Links -
post game || Grizzlies Blank Las Vegas 5-0: Win Battle Of Division Leaders
gamesheet || Las Vegas at Utah - 2/2/11
highlights || Game Highlights 2/2/11 vs Las Vegas
photos || 2/2/11 - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers
interview || Kevin Colley 2/2/11 post game
interview || Hugo Carpentier 2/2/11 intermission

Game Day: Las Vegas Wranglers

Top two teams in the Western Conference tonight.

According to the stats, the Wranglers can be deadly when scoring first. They've gone 19-3-3 when they tally the first goal in a game. So, Utah will want to stop that from happening if possible. We expect to see a defensively played game on the Grizzlies end, since Vegas loves to create odd-man rushes with the speed of their players. David Schulz is out currently with an injury, but it looks like Matt Sorteberg will be stepping in on defense for the Grizzlies.

The Wrangler to watch out for in this game is Ryan Huddy. He currently leads Las Vegas with 23 goals. Damn. However, the Grizzlies can counter with Kevin Deeth who has the alternate statistic of 23 assists, then follow that up with secret weapon Tim Crowder who has scored 5 goals against the Wranglers this season.

Goalies are another area where we should see a duel between Vegas and utah. According to Denny's blog: "Las Vegas goaltenders Joe Fallon and Michael Ouzas, along with Utah’s Andrew Engelage and the recalled J.P. Lamoureux rank fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively in the ECHL in goals-against-average." Though, Engelage has the upper hand as the only unbeaten goaltender (4-0-0-1) in the series between the two teams. Denny has more interesting stats regarding the battle of the netminders on his blog.

Utah has dropped to 3rd on the power play, which still isn't bad. But of course, we're spoiled. We liked seeing the boys in the number one spot, so we hope they pick that up tonight.

Puck drops at 7:05pm.

Playing Around at Midnight

The Grizzlies begin their week tonight, or this morning, in Las Vegas playing the Midnight Holiday Round Up against the Wranglers. This is the first time they have played in a midnight game. Seems like they are just trying to prolong their Christmas Break! Both teams are just about neck and neck when it comes to who wins after leading after 2 periods. The Grizz are 12-0-1, while the Wranglers are 11-1-2. (Or 14-0-0, depending on this ECHL.com article you read. Let's go with the first stat, shall we?)

We'll bet (this is Las Vegas, after all) on Tim Crowder scoring or at least getting a point. He has 4 goals and 6 points against Las Vegas.

The Grizzlies haven't played since before Christmas, so they could be rusty. Or they could be super rested up. Las Vegas, however, played yesterday and lost 6-5 in overtime.

Check out the jerseys the Wranglers were wearing before Christmas.

Post Game: Grizzlies 4, Wranglers 1

And Utah completes its sweep of the Wranglers.

While we know the boys have it in them, we weren't expecting this, particularly with the slow start the Grizzlies had in the 1st. But Utah picked things up and by the 2nd period, the match was looking a lot more like Wednesday's game.

The PK was looking sharp once again, killing all 5 short-handed situations.

Matt Clarke was awarded a goal after being smacked down in front of an empty net. It seemed a bit odd to us, but apparently it's standard to award a goal if a player is hauled down on an uncontested breakaway in front of an empty net. Hey, we're not going to complain.

Andrew Engelage was on his game tonight, stopping 38 of 39, with the one goal allowed a serious beauty of a slapper through traffic from the point. Any other chances Vegas had were stopped short by the 6'5" goalie, whose save percentage now sits at 0.923. Awesome job.

Victoria tomorrow night at 7:05pm.

Stars of the Game -

1. UTA - C. Donovan
2. UTA - B. Parnham
3. UTA - A. Engelage

Links -
post game || Grizzlies Beat Vegas Again: Win 4-1
gamesheet || Las Vegas at Utah - 12/17/10
highlights || Game Highlights 12/17/10 vs Las Vegas
interview || Kevin Colley 12/17/10 post game
interview || Michael Gergen 12/17/10 intermission

Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers and Victoria Salmon Kings

Las Vegas is still in town, and so far the Grizzlies haven't made it much of a Christmas vacation for them. Utah is looking to continue their home win streak as they face the Wranglers at the Maverik Center on Friday and the Victoria Salmon Kings on Saturday Saturday. Yes, we know the streak is only one game so far, but we're optimists.

The Grizzlies finally won a game at home on Wednesday when they beat Las Vegas 4-2. It was an entertaining game which saw Utah jump out ahead in the first, and Vegas catch up in the second and third. The Grizzlies were able to hold on though, and a goal from Gergen with a little more than half the period gone was enough for them to get the win.

And there was much rejoicing.


With a great game like that under their belt, and the knowledge that they are once again at the top of the Western Conference in the standings, the Grizzlies could have the confidence and motivation to start that nice home win streak we asked Santa for. Hey, it would save the big guy in the red suit some mileage.

When these two teams meet, it's all about special teams. The Wranglers have the top penalty kill in the league by a small margin, but Utah has been one of the few teams that have had success against it. According to Adrian Denny's game day blog, the Grizzlies have gone 4 for 21 on the power play against Las Vegas. They also haven't allowed a power play goal of their own in three of their last five games, so this will be a key for the Friday match up. If we were coaching, we'd tell the team to stay out of the penalty box, but try to draw penalties on Vegas. Maybe get them to punch you in the face in front of the refs or something. Needless to say it's a good thing we're not coaching.

The Wranglers have won 7 of their last 10 games, and had won 4 in a row before falling to the Grizzlies on Wednesday night, so the Grizz really have their work cut out for them on Friday. Just because their city looks like the Griswold's front yard doesn't make them all flash and no substance. They are two points behind Utah in the conference standings, but they have played four fewer games. This next game could easily put them on top if the Grizzlies don't stay focused for a full game.

Utah takes on the Salmon Kings Saturday night, who will be straight off the bus from Idaho. Hopefully this will give the Grizzlies and advantage. Victoria currently stands at 10-13-3, but is 9-0-0 when leading after two periods, so a Grizzlies' game like Wednesday's will come in handy.

Grizzlies home win streak continues Friday and Saturday. Puck drops at 7:05 pm.

Post Game: Grizzlies 4, Wranglers 2

Awesome to see the boys win at home.

A great game to watch all around. The Grizzlies did a spectacular job of coming out ready in the 1st and controlling the puck. Of course, a couple of lulls in the 2nd after Utah's third goal by Crowder and at the top of the 3rd made us a little nervous, but the boys held on and added another goal from Gergen to snatch the win from the Wranglers.

The boys went 3 for 3 on the penalty kill and 1 for 3 on the power play against the ECHL's top ranked PK. Utah also managed to pick up some 5 on 5 goals, which we know Colley wanted to see. Special teams have been a big factor in Utah's success rate this season. But in a game with as few penalties as this one it's necessary to be successful in 5 on 5 play, and the Grizzlies pulled it off with style.

Kevin Deeth ended the game one goal shy of a hat trick. He had some nice looks in the 2nd, but just wasn't able to knock a 3rd one home. We were definitely hoping for some pizza, but impressed by Deeth nonetheless. Nicely done.

Chris Donovan picked up the last Utah penalty of the game. Denny mentioned his animation in the penalty box during the post game, wanting to know if Chris had some plan as the Grizzlies scored 20 seconds after his release. Colley's response? "Well, he had 2 minutes to think about it."

Game Photos -



Stars of the Game -

1. UTA - K. Deeth
2. UTA - S. Ferguson
3. UTA - N. Tuzzolino

Links -
post game || Grizzlies Beat Las Vegas 4-2
gamesheet }} Las Vegas at Utah - 12/15/10
highlights || Game Highlights 12/15/10
photos || 12/15/10 - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers
interview }} Kevin Colley 12/15/10 post game
interview || Kevin Deeth 12/15/10 intermission

Game Day: Las Vegas Wranglers

Las Vegas tonight.

The Grizzlies haven't had the best of luck on home ice so far this season and with Vegas sitting at the top of the Western Conference, Utah will have their work cut out for them. However, midweek games seem to be successful for the boys as Adrian reported in his blog that the Grizzlies are 3-0 on Wednesdays so far this season.

Were not sure if Michael Ouzas is slated to be in net tonight, but we've got our fingers crossed that he's not as Ouzas is currently sitting at first in GAA with a 1.88. Add to that mix Vegas has the reigning ECHL Player of the Week in captain Tyler Mosienko, who scored 5 goals and tallied 3 assists last week, and the Grizzlies had better be on their toes tonight.

If Utah can score early and clean up their defense, they should have better luck against the Wranglers, who are 12-0-0 when leading after two periods if we go by stats alone. Tim Crowder is definitely the man to help the boys out with this, as he leads the Grizzlies in scoring against Las Vegas with 5 points (3g, 2a).

Jake Gannon is on the IR, unfortunately, as he's been essential on defense this season. But Utah has gotten used to playing without their captain during his periodic stints in the AHL, so we hope to see this trend continue.

Puck drops tonight at 7:05pm.
Let's go, boys.

Post Game: Wranglers 3, Grizzlies 2

Um, Grizzlies? Where were you tonight?

Earlier in the season, we got used to Utah going up by a count of 2 or 3, then blowing their lead. Tonight, they seemed to sit back after a one goal lead and nothing seemed to shake them out of this mindset.

Let's talk about the stellar 5-on-3 kill. Utah had two defensemen in the box, and managed to kill a 1:46 shorthanded situation with few changes, two forwards, and one defenseman on the ice. Both the crowd and the benches were on their feet for the full situation. Yet this didn't change the momentum. We thought the boys would be at Def Con One after this kill, but no such luck. Surprising.

It just seems like the mental game is not there for Utah at home like it is on the road, particularly the last road trip. Granted the boys have had some upsets in their roster, adding two new defensemen and a good portion of the team out with injuries (or suspensions), so it may take a game or two for the changes to meld.

However, the Grizzlies still have some very strong players in place - Parnham, Ferguson, Snetsinger, Tim Crowder, Ruegsegger, Tuzzolino, Carroll, Fredricks - and that's only naming a few of the top of our heads. So we just expect more from these boys.

Lamoureux was amazing again tonight. 41 of 44 saves and a 2nd star of the game performance. Vegas's late 3rd goal was a hard one to take with his performance through the rest of the night. Overall, beautifully done.

Tomorrow against Ontario. Let's go.

Game Photos -

*Have some good ones, but are having computer troubles. Will get them up ASAP.

Stars of the Game -

1. LV - G. Collins
2. UTA - J. Lamoureux
3. UTA - B. Parnham

Links -
post game || Conference Showdown Goes To Las Vegas
gamesheet || Las Vegas at Utah - 12/2/10
highlights || Game Highlights 12/2/10 vs Las Vegas Wranglers
photos || 12/2/10 - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers
interview || Kevin Colley 12/2/10 post game
interview || Brett Parnham 12/2/10 intermission

Weekend Preview - Utah Grizzlies vs Las Vegas Wranglers and Ontario Reign

No, they're not playing both teams at the same time, although we'd totally be up for 3-way hockey. Don't know where they'd put the extra net though...

The Grizzlies play Las Vegas on Thursday night, and then go two games with Ontario Friday and Saturday. And believe it or not, they're playing in the Maverik Center. Yes, we do actually have a team IN Salt Lake City, not just FROM Salt Lake City.

Unfortunately, the Grizzlies haven't had the best record on home ice so far this season. The good news there is that they haven't played many home games yet - in fact, only four - so they still have a lot of time to improve that record.

We can't complain about their record on the road so far. Much has been made about the recent road trip in which the Grizzlies went 4-0, playing those 4 games in 5 nights. Utah has won 6 of its last 10 games, and 7 of its last 10 road games. That top spot in the Western Conference is giving them a good view of their two weekend challengers - Las Vegas and Ontario - which may give them a little boost going into these next three games. We don't want them getting overconfident though. We mentioned before that we liked what Coach Mendelson during Grizzlies Live on Tuesday night: "By yourself you can look at the standings and smile, but as a team you need ot keep a clear mindset each night." In other words, just because they're on top right now doesn't mean they don't have to work hard every shift. Like Brian Burke says, "The minute you think you know all the answers you start falling behind." And since we're quoting people, "Keep the lead on the gas, Grizzlies!" (Okay, so we said that ourselves. It's still a quote.)

As fans, we're just focusing on enjoying this great run. We get to see our team in action live for the next three days, and we're really hoping the streak continues. We won't be seeing Ric Jackman, as he's off to Europe, but we'll get to see the debut of the 'Burgs - Matt Sorteberg and Brian Kilburg will be in the line up for the first time this season on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing those two back in action. Oh, and best of luck to Jackman in Europe!

The Wranglers have had some good winning streaks going recently, including a 4 game winning stretch in November that was only broken by a 7-1 schooling at the hands of Bakersfield. They learned something in that school because they then won three of their next four, the last game being a shootout loss to Ontario. (Did we mention the Grizzlies have won FOUR of their last four? Just checking.) Vegas will be a tough team for the Grizz to take on starting their weekend.

Ontario, on the other hand, has lost 6 of their last 10, including the game against Utah last Sunday. They're currently at the bottom of the Conference, which is all the more motivation for them to beat the team at the top. Hockey is a funny thing - just when you might think you've got an easy win coming your way, the hockey gods eat your lunch right in front of you. We'd rather not say anything that might get our lunch stolen. We kind of like eating.

Speaking of eating, if you haven't heard already, the Grizzlies are offering all kinds of ridiculous deals on concessions this weekend. You can probably double the amount of food you ate over Thanksgiving for a fourth of the price. And if you're feeling a little paunchy by Saturday, stop in to the team store and pick up a Grizzlies jersey to go with your fat pants. It's remarkable what those things can hide.

Three games, three nights, two opponents, and one spot at the top of the Western Conference. It all starts tonight at 7:05 pm.

And we would like our keeper back thank you very much!

Yesterday Colley announced that we got our goal keeper J.P. Lamoureux back from the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat, which is good news for our games this weekend. J.P. is one of our newest players yet seems to be fitting in great and is an awesome asset to the team. He has the drive and the skill to help take us a long way this season.

We have games coming up this weekend against the Alaska Aces. I think we proved to them on the road that we have what it takes to become a fighting power in the ECHL. We won our last game with a 3-2 over time win - it was a nail biter! The Grizzlies are currently ranked number one in the Western Division and Alaska is ranked number two. Our team has been doing so well, to mess it up this weekend would cost us the number one seat. And seeing as many of us Grizzly fans aren't okay with the Aces having the number one seat, the boys need to come out on top this weekend.

Just a note Brad Snetsinger is ranked number 11 in scoring stats for the ECHL!

In other ECHL news, Peter Vandermeer, who played for the Grizzlies last year but is currently with the Victoria Salmon Kings, had an interesting game against Las Vegas. Peter got multiple penalties in this game including smacking Mosienko below the belt. Vandermeer continued to try and beat him up after the officials had already pulled them apart. He was called for spearing among other things during the game so he spent a lot of time in the penalty box.

Don't forget out two home games this week on the 19th and 20th against the Aces! Friday the 19th is maverick day so bring your receipt from maverick and get a ticket for 5$!

Go grizzlies!

Peace :)
GrizzGirl

The Life of Riley

We're very happy to report the Grizzlies picked up 3 out of 4 possible points in the standings this weekend against the Las Vegas Wranglers. This moves them up to second in their division with 12 points, right behind Alaska who has 14.

The Grizzlies did this without their captain, Jake Gannon, who was loaned to Peoria of the AHL on Friday and left early that morning. We'll definitely miss him, but as always, we wish him the best of luck with the Rivermen.

Joining the Grizzlies this weekend was Riley Armstrong, which we were very excited about. Seriously, two of us were at an NHL game in Phoenix when we got the news, and we probably cheered over that louder than we cheered for the previous goal. Those of you who followed us last year may remember us being fans of Armstrong when he was with Abbotsford, and we're very happy to have him here in Utah. Now we actually have a reason to follow him on twitter.

In other Riley news, Riley Emmerson has been placed on 3-day IR as of November 6th. No news on whether or not he'll be in the line-up for Wednesday's game at Bakersfield. Check out the Grizzlies' official website for more information on the last leg of the road trip.