The Grizzlies first have to focus on the Langley Rivermen tonight at 7:15 before crossing the border to face their American foes before the weekend trip concludes on Sunday afternoon in Surrey against the Eagles.
The Grizzlies are 25-6-3-4 and were three points behind the front-running Wild prior to Thursday night鈥檚 play. The Rivermen are 16-14-5-2 and Surrey has had its struggles at 14-21-2-0. Victoria is also just two points back of the Penticton Vees for second place overall, having played one more game.
鈥淟angley鈥檚 a good hockey club. They have a lot of offence so we have to make sure we鈥檙e paying attention to details and playing a good road game,鈥� said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon, who does not want his club looking past this first game on the trip, but knows its importance.
鈥淵eah, we want Wenatchee. They鈥檝e beat us three times over the two years and I still don鈥檛 think they鈥檝e seen our best lineup or best performance. We want to cut into that [overall] lead. We鈥檙e in third place and we definitely want to cut into that. Our goal is to get that first regulation-time win there [this season],鈥� he said.
The Wild 鈥� which defeated Victoria 3-1 on the Island on Dec. 10 鈥� are an amazing 17-0-2-0 at home while the Rivermen and Surrey both have strong records in their own buildings at 10-5-1-2 and 9-5-1-0, respectively. The Grizzlies are a solid 11-2-2-3 on the road, however.
鈥淪urrey isn鈥檛 an easy team at all. They have a lot of speed and it鈥檚 going to be four games in five nights so it will be a battle of attrition. We鈥檙e going to need all lines firing,鈥� Didmon said of the trip finale.
Didmon is expecting captain Cody Van Lierop and Lucas Clark back for the weekend. Van Lierop has been out with a lengthy illness and Clark missed Wednesday鈥檚 6-2 win in Nanaimo.
Cole Pickup netted a pair of goals in Wednesday鈥檚 win and now has 17 on the season and leads the team in points with 46 in 33 games.
The 20-year-old, who has committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha, is two points shy of his total from last season, which was a career best 48 points with 20 goals.
The Grizzlies 鈥� who have won three straight and have points in their last five 鈥� return home Wednesday to face Nanaimo at 7 p.m. at The Q Centre.
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