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Grizzlies hit the break near top spot

The Victoria Grizzlies have gone into the Christmas break as the hottest team in the sa国际传媒 Hockey League and ranked No. 8 in the country by the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
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Myles Fitzgerald had five goals over the weekend for the red-hot Grizzlies. The tallies helped him win BCHL player of the week honours.
The Victoria Grizzlies have gone into the Christmas break as the hottest team in the sa国际传媒 Hockey League and ranked No. 8 in the country by the Canadian Junior Hockey League.

Myles Fitzgerald scored three goals 鈥 making it five in two games 鈥 as the Grizzlies downed the Cowichan Valley Capitals 5-2 on Sunday night, sending 900 fans home in a festive spirit from Bear Mountain Arena.

Brody Coulter and Dante Hahn also scored for the Grizzlies who capped a perfect weekend with three victories in three days, including a quick trip to Port Alberni on Saturday. Overall, Victoria has now won five consecutive outings.

鈥淲e talked about that, we talked about running the table,鈥 said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Bill Bestwick. 鈥淵ou never know for sure what could happen, so it was one game at a time and things worked out.鈥

Thanks to hard work and determination on the team鈥檚 part.

The Grizzlies are on such a fine roll that one almost hates to see it interrupted by the holiday season as Victoria has reached the 22-win mark, that鈥檚 one more victory than all of last season.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all really tired,鈥 said Myles Fitzgerald, who was named first star for the second straight night after scoring twice in his native Port Alberni on Saturday. 鈥淭his has been so special. No one thought our team would do this well and we鈥檙e proving everybody wrong.

鈥淣ow it鈥檒l be nice to see family and friends,鈥 he added of the break. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible to see how fast things can change by changing a couple of ingredients to a team.鈥

The transformation has been amazing, starting with Bestwick and his right-hand man Craig Didmon.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a real nice run, but the kids really need this break and deserve it,鈥 said Bestwick. 鈥淚t鈥檚 timely and it鈥檚 opportune for everybody to get away and re-charge. A lot of these kids haven鈥檛 seen their family for five months, so it鈥檚 a good time for them.

鈥淎t the end of the day, it鈥檚 the kids who have made a choice,鈥 Bestwick said of the success. 鈥淭hey knew that they appreciated the people they are surrounded by and they鈥檝e made good decisions. We鈥檙e discovering different ways to win, but we鈥檙e learning how to win. That鈥檚 what good teams do.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e starting to believe that we鈥檙e a pretty good team and that if we take care of the little things the big things happen and that鈥檚 in the win column. It鈥檚 a good group of kids and we鈥檙e proud of them.鈥

The team 鈥 which is 6-1 in December 鈥 will get back together on Dec. 27, two days prior to facing the Nanaimo Clippers at Bear Mountain Arena.

On Sunday, Jesse Neher and Keyler Bruce replied with goals for Cowichan Valley in a game that was tied 2-2 after the first period before the Grizzlies struck for two second-period goals, out-shooting the Caps 18-2 over the 20 minutes.

Brady Rouleau returned to the Grizzlies鈥 net and stopped 18 shots. Derek Dun faced 46 shots in the Cowichan goal.

Victoria improves to 22-8-0-2 on the season, just one point back of league-leading Penticton, which has played one more game and the Grizzlies now have an eight-point lead on Alberni Valley in the Island Division.

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