Jobs will be on the line as the Victoria Grizzlies鈥� sa国际传媒 Hockey League exhibition season begins.
The Grizzlies open the preseason tonight at 7 at the Island Savings Centre in Duncan against the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The two teams then shift to Juan de Fuca Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. with tickets listed at $10 for adults, $5 for children or $20 for a family of four.
A tailgate party, sponsored by the booster club, will be held prior to Sunday鈥檚 game.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at 50 per cent of the team playing in both,鈥� said Grizzlies head coach and general manager Craig Didmon. 鈥淭here will be a mix of guys competing for jobs and a mix of guys we鈥檙e looking at for the future.
鈥淭hese kids looking to be first-year players for us need to step it up this weekend. The speed and physicality of the game will be much greater now. We鈥檒l see how the younger guys compete.鈥�
Didmon is expected to start Mitchell Benson in net tonight and he will split the game with Sam Gartner. On Sunday, local Chris Smith and No. 1 man Matthew Galadja will handle the netminding duties.
The Grizzlies continued training off-ice and on-ice on Friday in preparation. Afternoon practices for Teams Benn and Bozak were held at JDF, followed by an evening scrimmage.
A team meeting is slated for this morning with non-roster players for tonight鈥檚 game then skating from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Some cuts are expected to come following the game in Duncan.
Players have anxiously awaited suiting up in pre-season play and that day has finally arrived.
鈥淓xhibition season starts [today] with a few games coming up and that will help get the pace back into it,鈥� said rookie Tyler Welsh.
The Grizzlies will then play a home-and-home series with the Nanaimo Clippers on Tuesday at Juan de Fuca Arena and Wednesday up-Island at Frank Crane Arena.
Victoria then plays a home-and-home with Port Alberni, away on Friday and back at home a week from today, but this time at Westhills Arena. All start times are 7 p.m.
The regular season then begins Sept. 11 in Duncan against the Capitals.
IN THE DEN: The Capitals feature a trio of former Grizzlies 鈥� Ayden MacDonald and Chris Harpur, who went over as the future considerations portion of the trade for Thomas Gobeil at last year鈥檚 deadline, and the much-travelled Mitch Meek. Meek played in Victoria and Vernon and was traded in the off-season to Prince George before the Capitals made a move to pick up the veteran defenceman. 鈥� Victoria鈥檚 Brayden Gelsinger is a former Capital, traded to West Kelowna last November and picked up in the off-season by the Grizzlies for Garrett Forster.
