Normally, being big, strong and fast is a good thing in hockey, but that鈥檚 not the case for Ryan Nolan so far this sa国际传媒 Hockey League season.
Nolan is a top-six forward for the Victoria Grizzlies who brings an aggressive forecheck and good set of hands to the Grizzlies鈥� attack and penalty-killing unit.
But so far, the big winger from just outside Chicago, who鈥檚 in his second season with the Grizzlies, has been the focus of BCHL referees who seem to have been given a memo from the league to call a penalty every time Nolan gets close to an opposition player. The 20-year-old has two goals to his credit already, but after a two-minute hit-to-the-head penalty on Friday night against the Powell River Kings, Nolan is now second in the league in penalty minutes with 20, just two minutes back of Cowichan Valley鈥檚 Lucas Vanroboys.
鈥淭hat call [on Friday against Powell River] is typical of how his season has gone so far,鈥� said Grizzlies GM and head coach Criag Didmon, whose club returns to action today at The Q Centre with a 2 p.m. game against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
鈥淭he other guy tries to hit him after the whistle and he puts his hands up to protect himself and he gets called and the other guy gets nothing.
鈥淚t really seems like [he鈥檚 got a target on his back], but he鈥檚 a big guy who plays hard and what we鈥檙e finding is guys are going down really easy when they鈥檙e hit. We teach our guys to play with integrity and you hope the other team does as well, but you didn鈥檛 see that [Friday night]. Guys are going down too easy and we鈥檒l be sending in tape to the league on Ryan鈥檚 behalf to show just that because it鈥檚 pretty obvious in our eyes.
鈥淎nd Ryan is a clean player who plays physical and is a key part of our team. He鈥檚 a top-six guy who you put out there in key situations, and when he鈥檚 sitting in the penalty box at key times, that鈥檚 tough for us.鈥�
The Grizzlies prevailed 3-2 on Friday, but spent most of the night shorthanded. The Kings had seven man-advantage situations, including more than three minutes of 5-on-3. And even though Powell River only cashed in on one power play, the Grizzlies鈥� attack kept getting stopped in its tracks with all the whistles.
鈥淚t makes it tough, for sure,鈥� said Didmon, whose club had just one power play on Friday.
鈥淏ut our guys did a good job of weathering the storm and adversity early in the season is sometimes a good thing. We鈥檙e a young team and we can use this as a learning experience.鈥�
Nolan, one of the Grizzlies assistant captains, is at a loss for words to describe all the early penalties.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating, especially when you see the same stuff on the other side not being called,鈥� said the 6-foot-2, 185-pound winger, who after eight games has nearly half as many penalty minutes as he had all of last season.
鈥淲e can put up with penalties that are a little soft if they call them both ways, but if they鈥檙e only one-sided you start to wonder.
鈥淎nd being a bigger guy I guess I鈥檓 drawing attention, so I鈥檓 trying to stay away from the little after-the-whistle stuff, but you still have to play hard, fast hockey so I don鈥檛 want to change that part of my game.鈥�
The recent parade to the penalty box does have one bright side:The Grizzlies鈥� penalty-killing unit is starting to return to last year鈥檚 form that saw them finish with the fourth-best penalty-killing unit in the league.
鈥淭he kill is about effort and keeping your legs going and our guys are doing a good job of that now,鈥� said Nolan, who along with Cam Thompson, Jordan Guiney and Marty Westhaver, are counted on to kill the bulk of the Grizzlies penalties up front.
The Grizzlies survived against one good team on Friday, but now they鈥檙e staring at another top team, with the 7-2 Chiefs coming to town.
鈥淐hilliwack is always tough,鈥� Didmon said. 鈥淭hey have good speed and skilled young guys this year who are playing really well right now. We鈥檒l need to be on top of our game.鈥�
LOOSE PUCKS: After a slow start, Grizzlies captain Alex Newhook has climbed to 11th in league scoring with 10 points, thanks mainly to six points in his last three games and he鈥檚 been named the first star in all three of those games. . . . After today鈥檚 home game, the Grizzlies head back out on the road next weekend with games in Prince George on Friday, Salmon Arm on Saturday and West Kelowna on Sunday.
